Informe semanal noticias Alemania elaborado por la oficina de Turismo de Tenerife en Francfort
Tour Operator News:
- TUI concentrates on online sales: TUI boss Fritz Joussen already told in an interview at the beginning of January, that he wants to convert his company into a digital enterprise. According to him, travel sales via stationary offices have two serious disadvantages. One is the supposedly high costs, as the commission averages more than ten percent. Even more serious is the fact that TUI often does not know the customer who is served via the travel agency. The dispute about the forwarding of customer data by travel agencies to tour operators has been a controversial topic for ages. The market share of travel agencies is falling everywhere, says Joussen, and the reason for this is not primarily the price. It is because the service on the internet is getting better and better, technology is making progress and the “use of customer data in the interests of customers» is also progressing. As a result, the share of internet sales is growing. At TUI, it has now reached the 50 percent mark, with distribution costs averaging ten percent of the travel price. The easiest and best way for bookings is the mobile distribution, especially by using the app. The advantages are the low distribution costs, which are nearly zero, and that the offers could be very individualized.
- Strong growth in tour operator market in 2018: In the tourism year 2017/18, German tour operators recorded a stronger growth in turnover than expected. In addition to the corporations, cruise operators and many medium-sized specialists were the main winners. The growth was even stronger than that of individual travels, according to the new fvw Dossier
Market News
- Undertourism is the new overtourism: According to Travel Commerce, one of the leading German travel trade portals, travelers increasingly want to move away from mass tourism and places with misuse of regulations for holiday apartments and bed taxes. Instead they prefer holidays in untouched regions without many tourists.
- Summer bookings turn negative because of weak January: January is a disappointing booking month for travel sales. The booking turnover generated with winter holidays for the current winter season is six percent below the previous year. However, the decline in summer holidays is even more severe with a decline of nine percent. The only consolation for sales is that the new travel summer is running against a strong previous year. The strong growth of sales in the previous year’s month regulates the current situation. Nevertheless, the comparatively weak demand for holidays in the German market is irritating. According to the study, online travel sales in January will not be able to match the previous year’s summer bookings; they will be one percentage point lower. Sales of summer holidays booked in travel agencies are now declining for the third month in a row, whereas the winter balance remains positive.
Destination News
- Construction of new international airport in Crete set to begin: According to reisevor9, one of the leading German travel trade portals, the Greek government expects next week to ratify a contract for the construction and operation of the new international airport in Heraklion, Crete. The construction of a new airport at Kasteli, which is expected to be completed within 60 months of the launch date, would become the biggest construction project ever on Crete and one of the largest private investments made in the country. Heraklion’s Nikos Kazantzakis Airport, with more than 8 million passengers, was the second busiest airport in the country in 2018 after Athens’ Eleftherios Venizelos. The current Heraklion facility has a single runway, a small terminal building, and aging air and land side facilities, which are no longer sufficient to serve the growing air traffic in the country. The new airport will have a dual 3.2 km (2-mile) runway which falls within acceptable international standards. An apron of 400 acres, on which approximately 30 aircraft can taxi and park, is envisaged for the new airport.
Aviation News
- Flight chaos of 2018 could repeat in 2019: After the chaos summer of 2018 with many flight cancellations and delays, the next chaos summer threatens in 2019. The reason: there’s not enough room in the sky. European air navigation services are now planning restrictions for 100,000 Lufthansa flights. Many flights to and from Germany should fly detours in order to avoid the heavily frequented sectors. Although diversions relieve the burden on busy routes, they cost more money and pollute the environment due to the longer distances.
- Lufthansa and Ryanair are interested in Cook airlines: Thomas Cook just announced the interest of the sale of the airline division, when the first potential buyers are already in position. Lufthansa Executive Board member Harry Hohmeister, responsible for the premium segment in the Group, is interested in the airlines of the British travel group according to an interview with “Handelsblatt”. Interested is also Ryanair, but only in parts of Thomas Cook Airlines, said marketing director Kenny Jacobs. In this case the flight divisions of the Thomas Cook group would have to be separated again.
- Numerous parties allegedly interested for insolvent Germania:According to the provisional insolvency administrator Rüdiger Wienberg, more than 30 potential investors have already shown interest, ten of them are currently examining the company’s figures and data. It is unknown who is interested in Germania. He merely stated that these were companies from the industry. 22 of a total of 27 Germania aircraft would still be available. In order not to lose their operating license, they must be flown every two weeks. All aircraft are leased. Wienberg described a concentration on lucrative routes with a reduced fleet as the most likely scenario for a restart of Germania under new owners. Not all Germania routes were loss-making, the insolvency administrator explained.