Informe semanal de noticias del mercado alemán de la Oficina de Turismo de Tenerife en Fráncfort
- Market News:
CEOs expect business travel to increase in 2020: As reported by Travel Inside, Switzerland’s leading travel trade magazine, the climate debate has an impact on business travel: Two-thirds of companies have already adapted their travel policies to take account of this. The number of business trips will nevertheless increase in 2020. At least 61 percent of the CEOs and top managers surveyed by Airplus International are convinced of this. One third expect the number of business trips to remain unchanged (36 percent), while only 3 percent forecast a decline. This is the result of a recent survey of the business travel management provider among more than 400 board members and managing directors from Germany, USA, China, Italy and France. The most important reason for a further increase is cited by company managers as general sales growth or business expansion. Among those expecting more business travel, 94 percent cited this as one reason. 83 percent see an increasing importance of personal exchanges with customers, and the same number expect expansion into foreign markets. Despite the expected increase, climate protection is playing an increasingly important role in business travel. Without measures in this area, the number of trips and flights would probably be even higher: one third of companies have already limited the number of trips for this reason, and another 38 percent plan to do so. Four out of ten have replaced flights with trains or other less CO2-emitting means of transport, and a further 41 percent are planning to do so. Nevertheless, air travel remains important for many journeys: 81 percent said they could not do without air travel.
- Aviation News:
About 200 flights are cancelled due to UFO strike: Due to the three-day strike by the cabin union UFO at the Lufthansa subsidiary Germanwings, a total of around 200 flights were cancelled – more than 70 of them on New Year’s Day alone. A spokeswoman of the Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings told this the German Press Agency late Wednesday evening. Germanwings is flying for Eurowings with about 30 aircraft and about 1400 employees, but is to be merged with their flight operations. In total, more than 85 percent of the 1,200 flights planned from Monday to Wednesday could have been carried out, the spokeswoman said. All passengers affected by cancellations had been transported to their destinations by other means. The cabin union UFO had announced on New Year’s Day that it would end the strike – after having threatened to extend it in the meantime. The official reason for the strike are regulations on part-time work for cabin workers, which according to UFO are unfulfilled. Lufthansa and UFO have been at loggerheads for some time. This is not only about collective bargaining issues, but also about the recognition of UFO as a trade union. In the conflict there had been a warning strike at four Lufthansa subsidiaries as well as a two-day strike at the core company Lufthansa. About 1,500 flights with about 200,000 affected passengers had been cancelled in November.
Berlin Airports achieve passenger record: According to fvw, in the year prior to the BER opening, the Berlin airports Tegel and Schoenefeld set a new passenger record: Around 35.5 million passengers have departed from the two airports in the past twelve months. This was announced by Airport CEO Engelbert Lütke Daldrup to the German Press Agency. Although the two airports got long in the tooth, the number of passengers in the capital city has increased by another 2.2 percent. This is almost twice as high as in 2006, the year in which construction of the new Capital Airport BER began. After years of delays, it is scheduled to go into operation this autumn.
Condor returns to Berlin-Schönefeld: In summer, Condor starts from the capital and operates flights mainly to the Canary Islands and the Greek Islands, fvw reports. For this purpose, a machine is stationed in Berlin-Schönefeld. Condor had stopped flights from Berlin-Schoenefeld in 2018. The holiday airline will return to the capital with an Airbus 320 stationed at the airport. «The great commitment of the tour operators makes it easier for them to make the economic decision to offer connections to the popular destinations of the Berlin and Brandenburg residents. The island of Samos will even make Condor the only airline from Berlin to offer flights to the island», says Ralf Teckentrup, Chairman of the Condor Management Board. With the return to Berlin, Condor will be represented at all major airports. In the summer flight schedule, Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Fuerteventura will be served twice a week from Berlin, while in Greece, Heraklion (Crete) will be served twice a week and Rhodes and Samos once a week each. There are also flights to Olbia (Italy) on Wednesdays and Sundays.
- Cruise News:
The cruise industry sees itself as a pioneer: With the turn of the year, shipping will become less environmentally damaging, fvw reports. The fuel for marine diesel engines may only contain 0.5 percent sulphur instead of the previous 3.5 percent, according to the regulations of the international shipping organisation IMO, which are now coming into force. The cruise industry is also affected by the new regulations. However, many shipping companies such as Aida Cruises, TUI Cruises or Hurtigruten emphasise that they have been complying with the stricter regulations for a long time and that cruise shipping is considered a pioneer and innovation driver in this sector. Large ships require 100 to 200 tons of fuel per day, depending on size and cargo. Bunker costs are a significant part of operating costs. The new fuel is about 50 percent more expensive than the old one. The container liner shipping company Hapag-Lloyd expects additional costs of around one billion dollars a year; the world’s largest shipping group Maersk expects two billion. According to an analysis by the Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, experts expect additional costs of 60 billion dollars in total.
Forsa survey – What Germans appreciate about cruises: According to touristik aktuell, the route remains the most important booking criterion for German cruise customers. This is the result of a Forsa survey on behalf of the cruise association Clia. According to the survey, 79 percent of the approximately 500 respondents estimate that they can discover a variety of destinations in a relatively short time. 76 percent rate the comfort of a cruise higher than a holiday on land, and 73 percent emphasize the leisure and cultural facilities on board. «Cruises are a great way to make a very comfortable round trip», says Helge Grammerstorf, National Director of Clia Germany. «There is no other form of travel that allows holidaymakers to make the most of the time between two destinations as well as on a cruise ship.» The catering offer on board is particularly important to 82 percent of those surveyed. In second place are the pool and outdoor areas (53 percent), in third and fourth place entertainment facilities and the show programme (41 percent each). According to the Clia Annual Report, the most popular cruising area in 2019 was Northern Europe (27 percent), followed by Central and Western Europe (23 percent) and the Canary Islands (nine percent). The dream trip par excellence for two out of three respondents would be a trip around the world. Just under half named the Caribbean including Bermuda and the Bahamas as their dream destination. According to the survey, 99 percent of the participants would book a cruise again – 81 percent even plan to do so in 2020.
