Informe semanal de noticias del mercado alemán de la Oficina de Turismo de Tenerife en Berlín
- Market News:
- Hardly any bookings without research for online evaluations:
A Tripadvisor study published in Reisevor9, one of the German trade magazines, highlighted that despite all the news about bought reviews, consumers still see them as trustworthy sources of information for travel bookings. Accordingly, 85 percent are only convinced of their choice when they have read the opinions of others beforehand. Almost eight out of ten tend to book the hotel with the better rating if they can choose between two houses comparable for them. More than half say that they would never book a hotel that has no reviews. In the research process, the most important component for the respondents is that the content is up to date. Travellers want to read current community opinions, which is why 78 percent concentrate on the latest ratings. On average, members surveyed by Tripadvisor read nine ratings before making a hotel or restaurant booking decision.
Airline News:
- Eurowings will defend LH home markets as long as necessary: Countervor9, one of the German trade magazines, said that Carsten Spohr, LH’s chairperson, considers the prices of low-cost airlines to be too low, so that they are responsible for a whole series of problems in the industry. However, he does not want to give in to the fight of wear and tear with Ryanair and co. Mr. Spohr sees a big problem in the pricing policy of low-cost airlines in Europe. In an interview with the «Neue Zürcher Zeitung», the manager complains about massive overcapacities in the market, which would lead to flights regularly being offered for less than ten euros. This would clog up the airspace as low prices create artificial demand and make the industry the target of criticism. When asked about the fact that the Lufthansa airline Eurowings also offered some tickets for less than 35 euros, Spohr replied that if domestic markets were to be defended, it would not be possible to completely escape the fall in prices. The two largest low-cost carriers in Europe, Ryanair and Easyjet, would currently try to increase their market shares in Germany considerably. But they are losing a lot of money, more than Lufthansa with Eurowings. This strategy should be maintained as long as necessary, even if the price war leaves its mark on the crane.
- Pakistan is reopening its airspace: As stated by Tagesschau, Germany’s leading TV news format, Pakistan has reopened its airspace for civil air traffic after almost five months. Flights between Europe and South Asia can again fly more directly to their destinations. Previously, international airlines had had to fly large detours between Europe and South and Southeast Asia. This resulted in delays due to longer flight times and higher ticket prices. Many regional flights have been cancelled, including some direct flights between India and Afghanistan. Pakistan had closed its airspace after India had attacked targets on Pakistani territory with combat aircraft at the end of February. The attacks were supposed to be a retaliation for a terrorist attack in Kashmir a few weeks earlier. More than 40 Indian security forces were killed.
- Certificate trading is to become more expensive for airlines: Reisevor9 reported that the new President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced in her programme for the legislative period until 2024 a reduction in the allocation of free emission certificates for airlines. In addition, certificate trading is to be extended to shipping. The CDU (Christian Democrat Party) politician explained that this was necessary in order to achieve the European climate goals. Their plan envisages a reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030 and complete CO2 neutrality by 2050.
Tour Operator:
- Tour operators launch 2020 holidays: According to fvw, leading German travel trade magazine, the main tour operators in Germany are already taking bookings for summer 2020 holidays at the same time as trying to stimulate bookings for this summer. Amid weak sales for summer 2019, market leader TUI has opened up for travel agency reservations of the most popular hotels in Turkey and Bulgaria for summer 2020. The tour operator is offering holidays in more than 1,600 hotels in Turkey and about 100 in Bulgaria between April and October 2020. Properties include the group’s own brands such as TUI Blue, Robinson, Magic Life, Best Family and Suneo Club. In addition, TUI will offer its ‘biggest flight programme of all time’ to Turkey next summer. In parallel, TUIfly has opened its entire summer 2020 flight schedule for bookings. The airline is planning to operate 32 planes from a dozen German airports and Basel in Switzerland, with up to 460 flights a week to major holiday destinations. Meanwhile, Thomas Cook has also opened up its summer 2020 programme for reservations of package and hotel-only bookings. The German number two did not disclose how many hotels it is already offering through its main brands (Neckermann Reisen, Thomas Cook Signature and Öger Tours) for next summer but said these include destinations such as Spain, Greece, Turkey, Egypt and Cyprus, along with major long-haul destinations in the Caribbean, Asia, Indian Ocean and other regions. Rival DER Touristik has also made many destinations offered by its tour operator brands available for bookings for summer 2020. Short-haul destinations include Majorca, Antalya, the Canaries and North Africa, while there are also various long-haul destinations in Africa, Asia, Indian Ocean, the Caribbean and Latin America. Several specialist tour operators are looking even further ahead and are taking bookings for both 2020 and 2021. Travel agents can book the full 2020 programme of cultural holidays operator Gebeco (a TUI brand) and provisionally reserve dates of the current programme for 2021. Similarly, the entire 2020 programme of Wikinger Reisen can be booked from July 23 onwards.
Cruise News:
- Hamburg Cruise Days are Europe’s largest cruise event: Countervor9 announced that the Hamburg Cruise Days will take place from 13 to 15 September. Hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected to attend the event, which will feature a round-the-clock programme. Highlight is the parade on Saturday evening with five huge cruise liners and big fireworks. A total of twelve cruise ships will call at the Hanseatic city this weekend. The «Perla», «Aida Sol», «Aida Vita», «Amadea», «Costa Mediterranea», «Europa» and «Europa 2», «Mein Schiff 4», «MSC Preziosa», «World Explorer» as well as the two river cruise ships «Frederic Chopin» and «Sans Souci» are included. For the third time, Hamburg is bundling events on the subject of cruises and welcoming both the general public and the industry’s experts. With the «Business Deck», the Hamburg Cruise Days will in future have their own specialist focus and at the same time provide impetus for the future of cruises. The new, top-class workshop format will take place for the first time on 13 September. The Business Deck sees itself as an international, inspiring platform for industry dialogue, with discussions at eye level aimed at initiating approaches to solutions beyond the challenges of the industry and developing them across borders. Even before the Hamburg Cruise Days, Seatrade Europe, Europe’s leading congress trade fair for the cruise industry, will take place from 11 to 13 September.
- Cruise orderbook hits record high of over $69 billion: As stated by traveldailynews it is as important as ever to focus on trends and innovations that will make the cruise experience even more unique and inspiring, because cruising is becoming more and more popular across the globe. Design is a crucial factor when it comes to creating dreams for consumer and brand equity for cruise lines. As the cruise orderbook hits a record high of 118 ships with a total order value of over $69 billion, it’s no wonder cruise lines are taking the opportunity to invest in developing their fleet through introducing new passenger technologies and designing impressive passenger spaces. Creating spaces which evoke a sense of brand identity is key for cruise lines to present their identity to potential cruise passengers and in the age of social media technology, it is important for brands to create designs which encourage passengers to share their experience across media platforms.
Hotel News:
- Enquiries double for Germany and neighbouring countries: According to the latest fvw Hotel Ranking, Hotels in Germany and neighbouring countries saw a dramatic surge in enquiries from the travel industry in June while demand eased for some Mediterranean destinations. Enquiries for overland destinations easily reachable by car (or train) headed the growth rates last month. France (+159%), Germany (+120%), Italy (+114%) and Croatia (+113%) saw enquiries more than double, while Austria (+99%) and Switzerland (+75%) also saw much more interest. There were varying fortunes for ‘flight’ destinations. Some, such as the UAE (+51%), Portugal (+44%), Greece (+35%) and Morocco (+32%), enjoyed strong interest. Spain performed well with an 11% rise in enquiries while Tunisia generated a 10% rise in enquiries. But losers were Turkey (-9%), Egypt (-13%) and Bulgaria (-14%). In all, 14 of the 17 countries covered in the fvw Hotel Ranking were well ahead of the levels recorded for June last year. In terms of hotel recommendations, German holidaymakers were more satisfied with hotels in France (4%) and Tunisia (+1%), while Egypt remained unchanged. They were less satisfied with holiday hotels in Germany (-6%), Italy (-4%) and Portugal (-3%). The fvw Hotel Ranking is compiled in cooperation with data analysts TrevoTrend and ratings portal HolidayCheck. It gives an overview of demand trends, in terms of millions of enquiries through travel agents and tour operators that are analysed by TrevoTrend. In addition, it measures German customer satisfaction with leisure hotels in top destinations based on HolidayCheck evaluations.
- Hardly any bookings without research for online evaluations: