Informe semanal de noticias del mercado alemán de la Oficina de Turismo de Tenerife en Fráncfort
Destacamos:
ITB creates exhibition area for luxury travel: As Counter vor 9 says, the new «Home of Luxury by ITB» moves into the Marshall-Haus. This statement was announced by the creators of the Berlin travel fair in cooperation with Loop and Luxury Hotels. This will give the fast-growing travel segment an exclusive platform for the first time from 4 to 6 March 2020.
- Market News
Hope for Latin America in spite of conflicts, protests and bloody riots: According to Travel News at the World Travel Market in London, LATA now presented the trends for the last quarter. But in spite of the situation that countries like Nicaragua or Chile have been living in this last year, there are also quite positive numbers that Olivier Ponti of Forward Keys could announce on behalf of the Latin American Travel Association (LATA) at the World Travel Market (WTM) in London. For example, for Nicaragua. A planned social reform of the government ignited there last spring a bloody conflict, which demanded hundreds of human lives. Not surprisingly, the number of bookings immediately collapsed – by two-thirds. Since the beginning of this year, both the number of bookings and the number of arrivals have been rising sharply again. For the last quarter of 2019 – compared to last year – a plus of more than 98 percent can be recorded. Colin Steward, Chairman of LATA, said to Travelnews that because Latin America is still often perceived as a big destination, they have to educate people here and clearly show where the critical places are and how far they are from the tourist hotspots.
Travel industry must become a pioneer in climate protection: According to Counter vor9, Climate researcher Hans Joachim Schellnhuber sees tourism at a crossroads in the fight against global warming. He challenged the travel industry to make tourism become part of climate-neutral mobility, if possible, even a pioneer.
- Aviation News
Strike at Lufthansa has begun: According to Counter vor 9 the strike of Lufthansa’s flight attendants continues. Today about 700 flights are cancelled, tomorrow 600 connections were cancelled. The strike called by Germany’s UFO flight attendants’ union started at midnight on Wednesday and is due to last today until midnight. The union UFO and Lufthansa have agreed on exploratory talks for the weekend in order to reach an arbitration. But UFO wants to strike again in case of failure. As far as customers are concerned Lufthansa said it would run an alternative flight schedule where possible, and that passengers could rebook their journeys for free or swap their flights for train tickets.
Tim Clark plans new strategy for Emirates: According to an interview with the president Tim Clark of Emirates conducted by the fvw, Tim Clark, who helped found Emirates back in 1985 and has run the carrier since 2003, discussed how the market is changing and admitted the carrier has some “growth pains” at present. Although Emirates current economic situation is performing well, Tim Clark says that, achieving a more significant Emirates growth, has been more challenging today than it was in the past. This because wherever you look, there are many difficulties: for example, in trade between the USA and China, but also elsewhere in the world. In addition, the price of oil is difficult to calculate, and concerns about climate change are growing. In short, there are a number of short, medium and long-term events that affect demand. Emirates and other industry players have to deal with them. In spite of that Tim Clark wants to further develop Emirates route network. He still sees many opportunities in India, Germany and Africa.
New summer destinations from Condor: As Counter vor 9 says, the airline announces further routes as of May 1, 2020 and will take up flights to Montenegro and for the first time also to the Côte d’Azur. From Frankfurt, the route runs twice a week to Tivat, the city on the Bay of Kotor. And three times a week Condor takes off from Frankfurt in the direction of Toulon.
- Tour Operator News
Thomas Cook Germany faces possible 1.000 job losses due to insolvency: Despite intensive talks, no investor has been found for the company as a whole, with some 2,100 employees, or for its overall tour operator business. And this would result in accordance with the fvw that the company, based in Oberursel, will probably officially stop trading on December 1, 2019. Stefanie Berk, the company’s managing director, said that «Thomas Cook Germany is a profitable tour operator and has been blamelessly dragged down by the insolvency of its British parent company. I thank all our employees and partners deeply for their devotion and loyalty.» Concerning affected customers, Thomas Cook Germany’s insurance company Zurich Versicherung expects to start paying out compensation in December to customers affected by the company’s insolvency. But it is unclear how much they will get back as the overall size of the damages is not yet known, according to a report published by the fvw.
- Cruise News
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings 2020 ahead in Bookings and Price: According to Cruise Industry News, total cruise operating expense increased 6.7% in 2019 compared to 2018, primarily due to continuing effects from the redeployment of Norwegian Joy during the second quarter of 2019 and incremental direct costs related to air promotions. Gross Cruise Costs per Capacity Day increased 8.9%. Adjusted Net Cruise Cost Excluding Fuel per Capacity Day increased 11.0% on a Constant Currency basis and 10.2% on an as reported basis.