Informe semanal noticias Alemania realizado por la Oficina de Turismo de Tenerife en Fráncfort.
Aviation News:
- Condor: More frequencies in summer: Due to a fleet expansion Condor takes off even more frequently to the US and Canada, as well as to destinations on the Mediterranean in the summer of 2019. Condor is traveling to North America with 17 long-haul jets. Compared to last year’s summer, there is now an additional weekly flight to Las Vegas (five per week), Portland (five per week), Phoenix (three per week), Calgary (four per week) and Halifax (five per week). With three additional aircraft and a total of 41 short- and medium-haul jets, there are also more flights to Italy, Croatia, Turkey and the Balearics in the timetable. It was clear for the summer of 2019, the favorites Greece, Turkey and Italy, reports Condor CEO Ralf Teckentrup. «In order to meet the wishes of the customers for these target areas, we have shifted capacities and offer so many connections to the most popular goals of the Germans.»
- Ryanair could buy more small airlines: Ryanair could acquire one or two smaller airlines like its separately branded Polish and Austrian units in the coming years, but nothing big, chief executive Michael O’Leary has said. You’ll see in the next couple of years, I’d like to see Ryanair evolve as kind of a group of different airlines. We will have Ryanair based out of Ireland, you’ll have Laudamotion based out of Austria, you’ll have Ryanair Sun … in Poland,” he said, adding they would have to bring new bases in Europe. His comments came as Ryanair said it had acquired the remaining quarter of its Austrian unit Laudamotion for an undisclosed price. The company previously owned a 75% stake in Laudamotion. Former Formula One racing champion Niki Lauda, who last year bought back and rebranded the airline he founded, gave Ryanair the option to buy the whole carrier.“Laudamotion is now a 100%-owned subsidiary of Ryanair Holdings plc,” Laudamotion said. It gave plans to expand rapidly, to 7.5 million passengers and 30 aircraft in 2021 from four million passengers and 19 aircraft this year. Ryanair also said its cabin crew in Spain has voted in favour of a recognition agreement with workers’ unions. The airline and the unions are working on a collective labour agreement which they both hope to conclude on or before April 30.
- Eurocontrol predicts another summer of flight chaos: According to fvw, Airlines, airports and passengers are likely to suffer a second successive summer of flight chaos in Europe because of more flights, according to a senior Eurocontrol manager. The European aviation industry is flying towards another chaotic summer following widespread problems last summer, Joe Sultana, director of network management for the European air traffic control organisation, told the European Aviation Symposium at Munich Airport. The number of flights in Europe is expected to increase by about 3.3% this summer, he explained. However, fewer controllers are available in France and Germany to manage this growth, Sultana said. At the same time, the option for planes to fly lower to take full advantage of airspace capacity has been used up, he pointed out. Looking back to summer 2018, Sultana said the latest statistics showed that delayed planes had landed at their destination 49 minutes late on average between the end of March and the end of October. The worst offender, according to Eurocontrol figures, was Eurowings (which operated 734 flights per day on average), while parent company Lufthansa (1,529 flights/day) accounted for 23% of all delays. Low-cost carriers Easyjet and Ryanair were also among the leaders for unpunctual flights last summer with the highest total figures. At Ryanair, 30.9% of its average 2,302 daily flights were delayed. Easyjet performed even worse, with 31.8% of its 1,791 daily flights arriving late. Looking ahead, Sultana said that growth in flights in Europe is expected to slow down over the coming decades. The latest studies predict the total number of flights per year will increase from 11 million in 2018 to 16.2 million in 2040. This would be an average annual rise of about 1.9% compared to earlier predictions of 3% annual growth. But even so, flight delays are likely to remain on the agenda in the years ahead. More than 40 experts spoke at the two-day event, which attracted some 200 participants. The event was organised by aviation consultants Prologis, fvw and the Travel Industry Club.
Market News:
- Germany loses importance as source market for South-East Asia:According to fvw, Germany’s leading travel trade magazine, Germany is losing importance as a source market for many destinations in South-East Asia. The growth rates from intra-Asian tourism are much higher than from Western Europe. The travel desire of the new middle-classes from China and India is filling guest beds not only in Thailand but above all also in Vietnam and Malaysia. Moreover, there is the demand from Russia, where Thailand has become the most popular long-haul destination. In the beach resorts of Vietnam visitors from Europe can see that restaurant menus and advertising banners are in Cyrillic letters at least as often as in Latin ones. Staying with the example of Vietnam: with about 200,000 arrivals Germany ranks number 14 in terms of international markets, a long way behind China (4 million), South Korea (2.4 million), the USA (614,000) and Russia (574,000). Although the neighbouring states of Singapore and Malaysia cannot complain about a lack of demand from Germany, both countries face the question of how they can become more attractive for German visitors. In Singapore, the tourism authorities want to promote the city state more strongly with its diversity, multi-cultural lifestyle and attractive landscape. At present, the image is characterised too much by the picture of a clean but faceless metropolis, they say. With 335,000 arrivals, an increase of 1.8 per cent, Singapore was the second most popular destination for Germans in the region in 2017. However, the average length of stay there is very low at three days. In addition, only 62 per cent of visitors are “real” tourists. The others are business travellers and stopover visitors. While Singapore profits from good air connections, Malaysia had to suffer the cancellation of direct flights to Germany in 2015. But this is set to change. In winter 2018 Condor will launch flights to Kuala Lumpur, with three planned weekly flights from Frankfurt. “Then we will get back into the market,” says Mirza Mohammed Taiyib, Director-General of Tourism Malaysia. At this year’s ITB, the country plans an initial promotion campaign focusing on Malaysia as a beach and cultural destination. Tourism Malaysia hopes for a further boost in 2019 when Malaysia will be the partner country of the world’s largest travel fair. Myanmar can look back on a successful year in 2017. With its continuing opening-up and domestic stability – apart from the conflicts with ethnic minorities – demand from Germany has grown substantially in the last five years. In contrast, the Philippines are stagnating at a high level and want to win more German tourists to the country with increased marketing activities.
Destination News:
- Majorca’s dilemma: The question of how much tourism the Balearic island can cope with, whether the term Overtourism is appropriate and how Majorca should deal with the whole topic, is driving many around – even in Germany. Hardly a week goes by, in which the topic is not taken up. From the boulevard to business, political or cultural magazines, hardly a single genre can escape the conflicting topic. The most popular destination of the Germans has just exceeded the demand in this country anyway. Significantly fewer tourists came from Germany than in 2017 and also for the current year, organizers report of weak booking figures. Thus, the Majorcan newspaper «Diario de Mallorca » quantifies the booking minus on the basis of a survey during the Fair Fitur currently at 17 percent. It is expected that the number of German tourists compared to last year will fall by ten percent, they say. Andreas Rüttgers, head of tourism at the Duisburg-based organizer Schauinsland Reisen and frequently in Majorca, believes that some things are confused in the current Overtourism debate. «In Palma, there is sometimes a problem with cruise, which come in large numbers in the old town,» he admits. In addition, the population of the island capital suffer from rising rents, but in no way caused by the classic package holidaymakers who rented in the holiday hotel industry. Rather, the cost explosion based on the fact that Palma has become attractive for many Europeans as a place of residence. Rüttgers is annoyed that the picture of Majorca in the media is dominated by the occasional demonstrations and the tourist tax. As previously reported, he launched the «Mallorca Looks Forward to You» campaign with major Majorcan hotel chains such as Iberostar, Viva Hotels, Zafiro Hotels Fergus Hotels and BQ Hotels and one of the Balearic Islands’ largest destination agencies just before Christmas, which advertises until the beginning of March on billboards and with TV ads for tourists from Germany. The hoteliers on the island have been confused or shocked by the picture that has arisen in Germany, reports Rüttgers. Even he himself would not have thought three years ago «that you have to make a campaign that says that you look forward to guests,» he says in a conversation with Reise vor9. In fact, not only the hoteliers, but also their staff were happy each year to the visitors, among whom are numerous regulars. The tourism tax, the Ecotasa, which is often labeled as a rip off to the tourists, Rüttgers sees in a positive way. After all, the money is not simply used to improve public funds, but flows into sustainable projects. For example, last year’s funds were used to mark numerous cycle paths for more safety on the roads, and the Levante Natural Park was extended by the purchase of a large finca. «At the Ecotasa it is not, if visitors do not come,» Rüttgers is convinced. Rather, the hotel prices, which have risen in the past five years by about 20 percent. Although many hoteliers have invested in their quality and upgraded their facilities, a critical point has been reached, according to the experienced tourism expert. Greece, on the other hand, has been more sensitive to the price issue in recent times. Therefore Rüttgers also believes that this year will be difficult for Mallorca. Just to hope that the bookings are yet to come, at least not enough. After all, many hoteliers had already signaled during Fitur at the end of January that they were ready in terms of prices for concessions. For example, early bird prices would be extended and prices would be further adjusted during the season. With some hotels Schauinsland also has long-term contracts, so that the price increases of recent years have not come to fruition everywhere. And also in matters of sympathy Rüttgers will not let up.
