Informe semanal de noticias del mercado alemán de la Oficina de Turismo de Tenerife en Berlín
- Tour Operator:
Turkish tourism entrepreneur buys up Thomas Cook stake:According to fvw, leading German travel trade magazine, Neset Kockar, founder and head of Turkey’s Anex Tourism Group, has acquired a 6.7 percent stake in Thomas Cook as Europe’s second-largest tourism group heads for a break-up into separate tour operator and airline companies. Thomas Cook announced yesterday in regulatory filings that Kockar had built up the stake in several stages. He apparently took advantage of the fall in the company’s share price over the last fortnight following the recent announcement about the planned financial restructuring. The Turkish entrepreneur, born in 1973, is founder and chairman of the Antalya-based Anex Tourism Group. This company owns tour operators in Russia, Eastern Europe and Germany, the leisure airline Azur Air, and incoming agencies and hotels in Turkey. Kockar has also invested in the Turkish energy sector. The main shareholders in heavily indebted Thomas Cook are China’s Fosun (20%) and diverse institutional investors such as banks and funds. Under the financial rescue plan announced two weeks ago, the loss-making group would be split up into two separate companies by the end of September and would get £750 million to cover winter 2019/20 trading and to finance forthcoming investments. Fosun would take a majority stake in the future tour operating company, with its large-scale businesses in Germany, the UK, Scandinavia and other European markets. This would give the Club Med owner new growth opportunities both in China and in Europe. The group’s airlines, including Condor, would be taken over by EU-based institutional investors, thus protecting their air traffic rights. The financial investors would swap debts of £1.6 billion for equity stakes while Fosun would gain a minority stake in the airlines. This financing plan means that the planned sale of the group airline business has been stopped. There were also several approaches for the tour operating business over the last few months. Commenting on the recapitalisation plan, CEO Peter Fankhauser said:“While this is not the outcome any of us wanted for our shareholders, this proposal is a pragmatic and responsible solution which provides the means to secure the future of the Thomas Cook business for our customers, our suppliers and our employees.”
Chameleon in considerable plus: As reported by touristikaktuell, after the massive growth in recent years, the Berlin group travel specialist is also in 2019 again brilliantly in the race. Bookings had increased by 25 percent in 2018 and currently stand at an increase of 17 percent. The current turnover is estimated at 80.2 million euros. There is also a strong upturn in 2020: an astounding 32 percent of demand is above the level at the same time one year ago. «All goals are positive, but Latin America, China and Vietnam as well as Tanzania are in great demand,» reports Lies. The short-term business is hardly an issue for Chamäleon: According to Lies, the average pre-booking time is six months: In July, guests had already booked «two-thirds» travel next year. The growth is made possible by the strong expansion of the Porfolio: This year alone, Chamäleon offers more than 100 trips to 45 countries. New destination is Israel, the Berlin organizer is countering the trend towards «extra portion of leisure» with the expansion of the «Sense» category. The capacities have been expanded with a simple trick: The most popular adventure trips in Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania can now also be booked in the opposite direction. This would be «over the luxury problem outdated classic». Furthermore, a travel guarantee applies to all trips and all appointments. «And that also applies from a person, just always,» assures Lies. The strong demand is also fueling a boom in Chameleon-issued rainforest certificates for every booking. So far, 113,297 certificates have been issued. This protects over eleven million square meters of rainforest against deforestation. «In 2020, we expect more than 20,000 guests, so at least two million square meters will be added», looks optimistically into the future.
Gebeco offers 54 new trips:As stated by fvw, earlier than usual, the Kiel organizer presents its program for study and adventure trips. The now published long-distance travel catalogs for the period from early 2020 to 2021 have some innovations. A package of seven catalogs is currently being delivered to travel agents. It contains brochures for Africa and the Orient, America, Asia and the Pacific, private travel, adventure cruises and the theme year. The Europa catalogs will follow at the end of September. The 54 new trips will take you to Australia, North Korea, Iran or Mongolia. In total, Gebeco has more than 600 tours in long-haul destinations in the program, which lead to 100 countries. The layout of the catalogs has also been changed. With the help of 16 different labels, customers should get a better orientation and find the journeys that are interesting for them faster. Among the labels you will find about «nature experiences», «the special journey» off tourist routes or «best price» and «small groups». The 38 particularly sustainable long-distance trips are highlighted accordingly. The topic of sustainability is a big topic in the catalogs, which according to Gebeco were printed climate neutral. Among other things, the organizer presents its own aid projects. All new trips are already bookable. For bookings with departures from 1 January 2020, the travel confirmations will be sent digitally. Customers will also receive a link under which they can select their desired travel literature using a points system.
- Market News:
Generation Z is inspired by Instagram: As fvw reported, for the generation Z (now 16 to 24 years old) travel has a high priority. This shows a global study with almost 22,000 participants from 29 countries of Booking.com. It is not only about their travel plans, but also how they match their life goals. The impact of phenomena such as Fridays for Future, the pursuit of more sustainability and environmental protection with aspects such as flying ash, the otherwise well-founded study only marginally. Many Generation Z have just come of age, but in terms of travel, this generation in Germany already has clear ideas: Generation Z has an optimistic view of travel and 74 percent of respondents look forward to all the places they want to travel in the future. Four in ten (38 percent) of respondents in Germany want to travel to at least three different continents in the next ten years and 21 percent want to study or live in another country (28 percent of female and 18 percent of male respondents). Generation Z is daring and 55 percent want to experience adventures like paragliding or bungee jumping while traveling, and 52 percent want to travel or hike to an extraordinary location. Many young travelers experience the world together with their family. Two-fifths (40 percent) of German Z-generation travelers said they did so mainly for financial reasons, as they could not afford the trips themselves. But as soon as this generation becomes independent, it would rather travel alone. Independence is of great importance to this generation. In the next ten years, one-third of Generation Z (45 percent) wants to travel alone at least once (61 percent of women and 32 percent of men). Do not be afraid of being alone – one-third (37 percent) of Generation Z prefers to travel alone (more than any other age group) and 20 percent would like to go backpacking alone or do a gap year trip. Almost two-thirds (62 percent) of Generation Z in Germany have already completed their wish list with all the things they still want to do in their lives. Among the women of the generation Z it is even 73 percent (in contrast to 56 percent in the men). 46 percent make a list because they like to think about where they want to travel everywhere. Just under a third (28 percent) of Generation Z would like to travel to at least five important places from their wish list in the next ten years. 34 percent were inspired by the travel of influencers to their own travels.
- Aviation News:
Brexit puts air traffic under new pressure : Asde says, a possible «No Deal Brexit» is becoming more likely. German and British companies warn of serious economic consequences. There are already regulations for air traffic, but these are limited in time. The new Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to lead his country from the EU by 31 October at the latest – if necessary without a deal. He wants to renegotiate the agreement between his predecessor Theresa May and Brussels. However, this is strictly rejected by the European Union. For air transport between Great Britain and the EU, regulations have even been issued that regulate the future of flying between Great Britain and the EU. With the botched Brexit at the end of March – the original withdrawal deadline – or the missed exit on 22 May, new uncertainties are now coming to the industry. Because the renewed postponement of Brexit does not simply push back the entire timeframe for the regulations that have already been passed. Since the transitional regulations were linked by the European legislator with concrete final data, shortening the respective periods for the transition, it was said by the Federal Association of the German aviation industry at the request of airliners.de. Until the conclusion of a bilateral air services agreement between the EU and the UK, but no later than 30 March 2020, the first to fourth freedom for British airlines will remain. For freight, the fifth freedom applies additionally. Thus, flights between the EU and the UK initially secured, but shorter than announced. In the event of an unregulated exit at the end of October, British airlines will be able to offer only five months more point-to-point connections between the UK and the EU Member States, instead of the transitional period originally scheduled for one year, and vice versa. The subject of «ownership and control» is another unresolved Brexit topic in aviation. Airlines that want to be registered in the EU in order to be able to use the EU’s Open Sky must be majority-owned by the owners of the European Economic Area. For companies such as IAG, Thomas Cook, Ryanair and Tuifly, this is likely to mean a restructuring of ownership in order to retain EU approval. The transitional period for the last Brexit appointment was last seven months after leaving. In order to operate flights to the EU, British airlines will also have to apply for new safety certificates for their aircraft at Easa, taking into account the new status of the UK as a third country. It may take several months for EU Member States and the European Parliament to be able to apply for existing allowances within the EU for the first nine months after Brexit. However, this agreement will end no later than 1 September 2020, or until the conclusion of a relevant agreement. For aviation, which is heavily dependent on the general economy, unregulated brexit is causing further uncertainty. Thus, the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) considers a collapse of German exports to Great Britain possible in view of the Brexit problems. DIHK President Eric Schweitzer said in Berlin: «A no-deal scenario would be the worst option for the German economy, and high tariffs would be particularly detrimental.» As a trading partner, the United Kingdom has already lost significant importance. » The DIHK expects the German-British trade volume to continue to decline. «For the year as a whole, we believe that German exports to Great Britain will drop by as much as ten percent,» said Schweitzer. From January to May German companies had delivered goods worth around 35 billion euros to Great Britain. That was 2.4 percent less than in the same period of the previous year. Imports from the United Kingdom declined even more. «Unclear recommendations, schedules, costs and complexity» of Brexit meanwhile also hinder the preparations of many British companies for a possible no deal, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said following a survey of at least 50 business associations and thousands of companies. Many larger companies, such as finance, have plans – but smaller companies are less well prepared. The EU’s no-deal preparations read: «The EU is still behind the UK in efforts to prevent the worst effects of a no-deal scenario.»
- Cruise News :
The Astor sets sail for around the world: According to fvw, on December 15, the Astor goes on a world tour. In 123 days, the cruise will take you from Hamburg via Madeira and Cape Verde across the Atlantic Ocean to the Brazilian city of Salvador de Bahia. The turn of the year sees the guests in the backdrop of Rio de Janeiro. The route then runs around South America to New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. After the last stop on Tenerife and Lisbon, the journey ends in Bremerhaven. The circumnavigation of the world can already be booked at DER Touristik. In Belfast, Northern Ireland, a new terminal for cruise ships was opened. With this the city responds to the growing cruise tourism. This year, 148 attempts are planned, 31 percent more than in the previous year. A total of 285,000 passengers are expected.
