Excerpts from issue No. 12, Vol. 11, December 2007

The travel agencies in Germany achieved commissioned sales of 21.1 billion Euro in the tourism year 2006/2007 (ending October 31st), plus 1.5% compared to the tourism year before, according to the German Travel Association (DRV). The growth is mainly attributed to business travel. Germany has about 11,400 travel agencies, which translates into 12.7 agencies per 100,000 inhabitants. German tour operators achieved a sales growth of almost 3% in the last tourism year. Sales of travel packages to long-haul destinations increased by almost 7%, of flight packages by 2%, and of packages with surface transport by about 4%. Sales for cruises jumped by almost 9%. Short-haul destination winners were Egypt, Morocco, Turkey, mainland Spain and Italy. On the long-haul side, the UAE, Thailand, the USA and Canada enjoyed growth, while the Canary Islands, Cuba and the Dominican Republic experienced less incoming numbers. Of all packages sold, over 75% were Mediterranean-bound. 58% of all booked travel products in Germany remain packages.
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The public discussion concerning green issues has no impact so far on holiday decisions. As the Europäisches Tourismus Institut (ETI) of Trier University found out, 98% of Germans surveyed said, considerations connected with climate change have not affected their holiday planning. 80% said they plan a holiday trip in 2008, plus 8% compared to last year. Every fifth German plans to spend the holiday within the country.
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European outbound trips increased by 3% from January through August – led by Spain (+11%), Russia (+10%) and Italy (+7%), with Norway, Ireland, Sweden and France also achieving above average growth rates. Germany and the UK, have turned in disappointing performances this year so far, and are not expected to show much improvement before the end of 2007. These are results of the 15th World Travel Monitor Forum in Pisa, sponsored by ITB Berlin and organised by IPK International in co-operation with the European Travel Commission. In Germany’s case, the market’s sluggish performance was attributed by Pisa participants to uncertainties over employment prospects, together with the negative impact of the three percentage point rise in VAT at the start of the year. Nearly 40% of all European trips – up 13% on 2006 – are now booked at least partially online, while travel agents’ share of total bookings has slipped by a further one percentage point to 25%. Close to 60% of all trips are also packaged including both transport and accommodation – even if they are self-packaged online. In line with forecasts made at the Pisa Forum in November 2006, consumers are demanding more and more control when making their travel arrangements, and this is likely to stimulate online booking further.

Excerpts from issue No. 11, Vol. 11, November 2007

Customers of German tour operators are not totally happy with the products, Munich-based Servicebarometer AG found out (“Kundenmonitor Deutschland“). While operators had received a rating of 2.07 the last two years (the scale reaching from 1 to 5), the result this year dropped to 2.12. Still tour operators rank among the best compared with 18 other commercial activities. Customers mostly critizised the difficult availability of dedicated tour guides at the destinations. The worst result with 2.30 goes back to 1996.
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One out of four air passengers in Germany flies with a low cost airline, that is one of the results of the new “Low Cost Monitor” of the German Airports Association ADV in cooperation with DLR, Germany's national research center for aeronautics and space. The average price for a one-way ticket was about 50 Euro plus 25 to 45 Euro for taxes, charges and fees. The total number of passengers in the low cost sector was 22.8 million in the first half of this year, up 16.4% compared to the first six months in 2006. The five largest carriers (Air Berlin, Germanwings, TUIfly, Ryanair and asyJet) make up 89% of the flights and 92% of available seats. There are 55 domestic low cost routes (not counting competing carriers twice, plus 17 routes compared to last summer) and 458 international connections, plus 108 routes. The number of available flights grew by 23.5%. The “Low Cost Monitor” identified 8.2 million boarding and disembarking passengers for domestic flights, 3.5 million passengers to/from Spain, 2.4 million to/from the UK, 2.3 million to/from Italy and 1.1 million to/from Austria.
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Prices for domestic flights and for hotel rooms in larger cities in Germany will grow up to 4% next year, American Express predicts in the “Global Business Travel Forecast 2008”. The exception is Berlin, where hotel prices might drop as much as 10% because of oversupply. In other German cities, prices for hotel rooms in the medium category are expected to go up by 7-9%, in the premium category by 10-12%.
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German holiday spending might grow by up to 4% next year, according to the „ITB Berlin-Reise-Indikator“ of the Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung (GfK), commissioned by Messe Berlin. Young people especially are seen as travel-active, while adults at the moment seem to wait how much inflation affects their available income. By 2008, dropping unemployment figures and favorable results of collective bargaining should induce travel spending.

Excerpts from issue No. 10, Vol. 11, October 2007

The German Travel Association DRV has monitored prices for air tickets in different sales channels of ten selected IATA airlines including Lufthansa, Air France and British Airways and five holiday and low-cost carriers including Air Berlin, Condor and Germanwings. The survey conducted in a period of six months found price differences of up to 4000 Euro for the same flight. DRV found no systematic price preferences whether Internet or GDS but rather random results. The findings prove the necessity for expert advice from travel agents, the trade association comments.
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The German aviation market will experience drastic changes in the holiday sector, as Thomas Cook Group plc will merge its stake in Condor Flugdienst GmbH with Air Berlin PLC, Germany’s second-largest airline. Air Berlin thus becomes one of the leading European airlines and will be able to enlarge its long-distance flight business, which it runs since the acquisition of LTU. Both partners expect positive synergies of at least 70 million Euro.
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TUI AG and Carnival Corporation announced that they will withdraw their anti-trust filing with the relevant authorities for a joint venture to develop a new cruise brand. As reason for the withdrawal “the extremely difficult environment with regards to competitive law” was named making it impossible to close the transaction in Carnival’s current business year. Failure to do so would create adverse tax consequences for the companies and would have a severe impact on the economies of the transaction.
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Germany was the stage for hotel investments totaling about 6.6 billion Euro between 1997 and 2006, according to consultant company Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.

Excerpts from issue No. 9, Vol. 11, September 2007

In 2006 one in three employees in Germany took at least one business trip. 158 million business trips led to spending in the amount of 47.4 billion Euros, translated into 148 Euros per business traveler per day. These are some results of “VDR Business Travel Report Germany 2007 in co-operation with BearingPoint”. Almost half of all business trips do not include an overnight stay, a trend that has been on the rise since 2003. During the same period, the share of business trips lasting six or more days has been halved. The average length of stay has dropped from 2.6 to 2.2 days. About 2.5 billion Euros were spent on foreign hotel stays. The average worldwide cost of an overnight stay, taking into account all types and categories of accommodations, went down 8 Euros in 2006 to 134 Euros. 70% of the companies surveyed anticipate the same number of overnight stays, but one in five expects to see some growth. The number of hotel stays is thus set to increase further in 2008.
Transport is placing an increasing burden on the corporate travel budget. Today, 54% of all business travel spend is for transport, a jump of no less than five percentage points in a single year. 65% of companies use telephone and video conferences.
Nine in ten companies plan the same number or more business trips in the year 2008. Every fourth company will be focusing more on air travel; new fields of business and a positive order volume are cited most frequently as the reasons (78%). More employees who travel is the second main reason companies name for greater travel volume using all modes of transport. New business destinations will be added by every fourth company that predicts growth in travel.
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The proportion of fair visitors among decision makers of the German economy is on the rise. According to AUMA - Association of the German Trade Fair Industry, 85.6% of the 2.26 million decision makers attend fairs (2005: 83.6%; 2003: 77.3%). 67.5% of these go to one fair (plus 1.8 percentage points), 40.1% attend more than one event (plus 1.2 percentage points). Most faithful fair visitors are decision makers from Research&Development/Construction and Sales&Marketing.
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Kinkaa, an Internet search engine, has published a ranking of their most popular destinations between April and June. Bangkok (6%), New York and San Francisco (each over 2.5%) were the most wanted long-haul destinations, Palma de Majorca (over 5%), London (2.6%) and Barcelona (2%) lead the European list. 

Excerpts from issue No. 8, Vol. 11, August 2007

74.1% of German holiday makers use the airplane as transportation, 20% the car, 5% the train and 2% the bus. This is one of the results of a representative study of Votello.de. The top destinations this year according to the survey are Turkey, Spain, Egypt, Greece and Italy. 17% of holiday makers book a 5 star hotel, 43% a 4 star hotel and 25% a 3 star hotel.
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The total number of air passengers departing from German airports to foreign destinations amounted in 2006 to 65.7 million travelers which – compared with 1990 – means a growth of 24.2 million (+171.0%). In terms of continents outgoing traffic from Germany to European and Asian countries grew above average. In Asia the strong growth for this period was registered on itineraries to China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE); in 2006 each of these destinations showed 0.7 million passengers; this figure was 16-times resp. 17-times higher than in 1990. A stronger growth-performance showed only Qatar (0.2 million) which reached a level 64-times higher than 1990.
European countries (50.9 million) were the destination of 77.5% of the whole outgoing passenger-flow from Germany, thus presenting a volume which was about three times higher than in 1990. America nearly doubled its passenger-flow from Germany since 1990 (6.3 million; +87.9%), the increase for Africa (2.7 million) amounted to +115.7%. 13.8% of all passengers traveling in 1990 from Germany to other countries went to America, in 2006 that share went down to 9.6%; Africa saw a decline from 5.2% to 4.1%.
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The top 50 hotel companies in Germany achieved net sales of 5.8 billion Euro in 2006, plus 18.4% compared to 2005, trade publication AHGZ Allgemeine Hotel- und Gastronomie-Zeitung has researched. 90% of the top 50 report a sales plus last year (2005: 72%). The number of properties of the top 50 grew by 55 to a total of 1287, the number of rooms by 6.9% to 188,057. The average occupancy rate climbed 1.8 percentage points and reached 63.9%. 23.8% report "very good“ earnings, more than half “good” profits.
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21% of domestic holidays in Germany are packages or booked by using modular elements, Forschungsgemeinschaft Urlaub und Reisen (F.U.R.) found out in a study commissioned by Deutsche Zentrale für Tourismus (DZT). The share is higher for domestic study tours (28%) and wellness holidays (36%). Hotel reservation ranks number one for self-booking (45%), followed by transportation tickets (8%) and miscellaneous (5%). 27% of all domestic travels are undertaken without any prior bookings; this includes spontaneous trips as well as trips to self-owned holiday homes and friends and relatives. While only 37% of foreign holidays are self-organized, the share for the domestic market is 60%. 

Excerpts from issue No. 7, Vol. 11, July 2007

41% of German companies will send their employees more frequently to at least one foreign city in 2008, the VDR Business Travel Report Germany 2007 found out. London is in the lead here, but of the five foreign cities that will boom as destinations for German business travelers in the future, two are in China and one is in Russia. German business partner USA was also a frontrunner, especially with New York, but also with 15 other top destinations.
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The buying power of German visitors to a number of European countries has gone down, business magazine Capital reports. Especially in Italy, Spain, France and Greece tourists from Germany can buy less goods and services for their money than in comparison several years ago. Portugal is on par with German buying power. Better deals than before can be found in the USA, Switzerland and Austria. Top savings offer Poland, the Baltic States, Hungary and Croatia.
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German tourists pay on average 108 Euro per night in a hotel, according to the Hotel Price Index (HPI) of www.hotel.com. Highest spenders are Russians (156 Euro), followed by Britons and Norwegians (128 Euro), Poles (126), Swiss (125), Belgians (124), Portuguese (123), Danes (118 Euro), French, Italians and Spaniards (117 Euro), Austrians (116), Swedes (116), Dutch (114) and Finns (112).
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Two of three singles base the type of holiday on weather they are in a relationship or not. According to a study of Bildkontakte.de this influences the destination and activities. 27% say a relationship does not influence their holiday plans. About half of all singles prefer holidays with a good friend, male or female. Whereas only 1% have booked their holiday this summer with a tour operator specialized on single travel, 26% would consider choosing this product next year.

Excerpts from issue No. 6, Vol. 11, June 2007

53% of Germans plan a holiday trip this summer, a study of Forsa-Institut commissioned by magazine stern revealed, 41% plan no trip. A quarter of those planning a holiday say, they will spend more than last year. 55% expect to spend as much as last year, 18% count on fewer expenses.
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The hotel rating service Votello has made an online survey in Germany about vacation plans. 43% of the respondents prepare for a 2-week vacation, 36% for a 1-week holiday. 42% say they plan two vacation trips per year, 33% go on holidays once a year. Most popular holiday months are July, August and September, but also May, June and October are selected. 26% book a 3-star hotel, 43% a 4-star property and 17% go for 5 stars. 38% say a beach is a must for the hotel selection, 20% look for special features for kids.
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Online tourism sales in Germany reached 8.5 billion Euro last year, GfK and Bitkom report. Of all 127.1 million trips, about 30 million were booked in the Internet.
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There is no clear sales channel in Germany for consistent ticket prices of IATA airlines, the German Travel Association (DRV) found out in a survey conducted in March (“Flugpreis-Monitoring”). Sometimes prices quoted on airline homepages are better than in other channels, sometimes GDS prices are lower, and sometimes prices are identical. DRV sees the results as preliminary and will continue the monitoring, which will be carried out by ASNM New Media. The outcome shows the relevance of travel agents to find the best offers on the market, DRV President Klaus Laepple commented.

Excerpts from issue No. 5, Vol. 11, May 2007

International meeting planner, who choose German destinations, prefer big cities and “history” for their events, according to the “Meeting- & EventBarometer 2007“. This study of the Europäisches Institut für TagungsWirtschaft (EITW) commissioned by Deutsche Zentrale für Tourismus (DZT), GCB German Convention Bureau and Europäischer Verband der Veranstaltungs-Centren (EVVC), is based on interviews with 600 experts worldwide. 63.6% of them think that a metropolis or a historic town is the best platform for their meetings and events in Germany. More than 20% favor urban conglomerates and 16% natural surroundings. Berlin ranks number one among the favorite cities, followed by the Rhine-Main region, Munich, Cologne/Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart, the Ruhr region, Dresden and Hanover. In the European country ranking Germany leads the selection list, followed by France, Austria and Spain. This is based on the perception that Germany delivers the right “hardware” like infrastructure and sights as well as safety, service and language skills. 72% believe that Germany will further improve her image as an event destination.
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DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH controlled a total of 696,823 flights between January and March 2007, an increase of 5.4% compared to the first quarter of 2006. More than half of these flights took off or landed in Germany, while one third crossed Germany. 15.1% were domestic flights. Frankfurt still tops the ranking of international airports with 116,589 take-offs and landings in the first quarter (+2.4% over the same period in 2006). Munich Airport takes second place with 98,317 flights (+5.3%), followed by the three Berlin airports with 54,292 flights (+2.7%). Dusseldorf and Leipzig recorded particularly strong growth rates in the first quarter with +9.8% and +31.4% respectively. Of the regional airports, Hahn led the field with 8,843 take-offs and landings in the first quarter (+17%), followed by Dortmund with 5,809 flights (-12.9%) and Paderborn with 4,456 flights (+0.5%).
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The average number of passengers per aircraft lifting off in Germany grew from 69 persons in 1990 to 84 in 2006, according to the Federal Statistical Office.
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Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines have intensified their cooperation. Schedules between Germany and Turkey have been synchronized, frequencies and the number of destinations increased, connections in Frankfurt, Munich and Istanbul improved. Also the frequent flyer programs have been linked. In Munich, Turkish Airlines now uses the Lufthansa terminal. In September both airlines will increase their code sharing, e.g. Lufthansa’s US flights and Turkish Airlines’ services to the Middle East and CIS. Further code sharing for European flights and services to Canada and South America will follow. Turkish Airlines is in the process of joining Star Alliance.

Excerpts from issue No. 4, Vol. 11, April 2007

The most popular transportation vehicle for German holiday makers remains the car with a share of 50.7%, followed by the airplane (38.6%, plus 3.4 percentage points), coach (2.9%) and railway (3.8%). According to “ADAC Reisemonitor“, lead-time for holiday planning is getting shorter: 37% of all holidays are planned six months or less before the trip, plus 9 percentage points compared with 1999. 48% go on holidays several times a year. 8% swap a long holiday for several short ones. January, February, October and November are becoming increasingly popular holiday months, while the time between May and September has lost 3% since 2002 in popularity. 67% use the Internet for accommodation bookings, 59% for buying air and 51% for buying rail travel.
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The share of German holiday makers who go on vacation several times a year has reached 43.3% in 2006 (2005: 40.4%), BAT Freizeit-Forschungsinstitut writes in the new “Tourismusanalyse”. The average length of a holiday of a city dweller is 14.9 days, of somebody with a more rural background 11.9 days. Spain remains the top foreign holiday destination: the market share in 2006 was 11.5%; all long-haul holiday destinations combined make up only 10.7% share.
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German hotels enjoyed an average growth in revenues of 10.7% last year compared with 2005, according to Deloitte HotelBenchmark. The average yield was 55 Euro per room.
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The German cruise market continues to grow. According to the annual DRV report „Der Kreuzfahrtenmarkt Deutschland“, there were 705,010 passengers on ocean-going vessels and 310,655 passengers on river cruises in 2006. Specialized tour operators for the high seas enjoyed total sales of 1.36 billion Euro, plus 11.2% compared to 2005. River cruise tour operators suffered a sales dump of 1.6% (364.4 million Euro in 2006 compared to 370.4 million in 2005).
The average price for a high seas cruise was 1,928 Euro (2005: 1.913 Euro). The average cruise length grew to 9.7 days (2005: 9.6 days). European routes continue to have a market share of 79%. 75% of the high sea cruises are sold by travel agents, 4.6 through the Internet. 76% of the high sea cruise operators expect rising sales this year.
For river cruises the average price was 1,173 Euro, plus 36 Euro compared to 2005. The average length of a voyage dropped from 8.06 days in 2005 to 7.64 in 2006. Most popular rivers were the Danube and the Nile. Only 41% of the river cruise operators expect rising sales this year.

Excerpts from issue No. 3, Vol. 11, March 2007

71% of German consumers plan a holiday trip of five days or more this year; twelve months earlier, only 68% had such plans for the running year. This is one of the findings of the 23rd Tourismusanalyse of the BAT Freizeit-Forschungsinstitut in Hamburg. 23.0% of those with firm holiday plans want to stay within the country, 47.1% intend to travel within Europe, and 10.6% prepare for intercontinental trips. 19.2% are undecided regarding the destination.
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Expenditures for "medical wellness“ in Germany amount to 73 billion Euro annually, according to ihs Institut Humpeler & Schobersberger, Austria.
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Published passenger numbers of German long-distance coach travel dropped to 71 million in 2005, after the Federal Statistical Office changed their survey methods. Previous numbers were in the region of 120 million. According to the recent findings, 4,150 operators offer non-scheduled long-distance coach travel in Germany. The average total driving distance was 360 km. 20% of passengers book international tours.
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Passenger numbers in German long-distance rail traffic reached 122 million in 2006, plus 2.5% compared to 2005, according to the Federal Statistical Office. The average travel distance was 287 km (2005: 283 km).

Excerpts from issue No. 2, Vol. 11, February 2007

The holiday travel demand of Germans will be stable or even growing, Forschungsgemeinschaft Urlaub und Reisen (F.U.R) predicts. The total number of holiday trips with a minimum duration of five days will far exceed 60 million this year, according to “Reiseanalyse (RA) 2007“. 56% of German consumers planned a holiday trip this year in late 2005, compared to 54% in late 2004 and only 50% in 2003 for the following year. 34% of consumers are interested in city breaks, 16% in wellness holidays and 13% in cruises.
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Germans are anticipated to have somewhat more consumer potential in 2007 than last year. The trends of the previous years are being sustained and purchasing power is switching to the areas surrounding the major towns and cities and the former East German states are steadily catching up. These are the findings of the GfK 2007 purchasing power survey. The disposable income of German consumers is estimated at 1.488 billion Euro for 2007. Correspondingly, German citizens have an average purchasing power or disposable income of 18,088 Euro per annum to spend on the necessities of life and other consumer goods. Starnberg in Bavaria is Germany’s wealthiest district. Its inhabitants have an average per capita purchasing power of 26,120 Euro. The districts of Hochtaunus and Main-Taunus near Frankfurt and Munich city and region are also among the “Top 5” when it comes to purchasing power. Without exception, the former East German districts remain below average. The only districts where the inhabitants have weaker purchasing power compared to the previous year are Berlin and Potsdam. Nevertheless, the latter is the second strongest district in the new German federal states.
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Germans spent 60.5 billion Euro for travel in 2006, according to a study by Dresdner Bank, plus 3.5% compared to 2005. That translates into a 11% global market share. 6.7 billion Euro each were spent in Austria and Spain. German travel spending this year is expected to grow by 2.5%, reaching 62 billion Euro. As detrimental to more growth Dresdner Bank sees the VAT jump, which is outbalanced by the economic performance and declining unemployment numbers. The Euro is predicted to gain 7% compared to the Dollar.
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Accor, which previously owned a 34% stake in Dorint AG, has acquired control of 52 upscale and midscale hotels that were part of Dorint’s network of 93 hotels. Of the hotels, eight were previously operated under the Dorint Sofitel brand, 17 under the Dorint Novotel brand and 27 under the Mercure brand. In the first half of 2007, they will be rebranded as, respectively, Sofitel, Novotel and Mercure units. Also during the first half, Accor will buy out the minority interests for 75 million Euro, resulting in the group owning around a 90% stake in the new company. Ebertz & Partner has acquired all shares of the new company, which will operate 41 Dorint hotels under the Dorint brand.

Excerpts from issue No. 1, Vol. 11, January 2007

Travel packages for city and culture experiences would sell even better, if they would include a dedicated program for children, e.g. babysitting. This is one of the results of an online study with 1,200 participants of wissen.de and ITB Berlin. For those travelling to cities, expenses for culinary treats are most important; expenses for museums, theaters and exhibitions are rated as number 2 in the personal value range. Information for the trip is gathered by 33% in the Internet, by 18% through brochures, by 16% through friends and by 11% through travel agents. Bookings are made by more than 50% online and by 34% with agents.
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The image of Germany as a travel destination has improved through the FIFA soccer world championship. In the Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index, Germany gained two positions in comparison with 2005. Also TNS Infratest, commissioned by the German National Tourist Board (DZT), reports improvements. According to their research before and after the event, 55% of Dutch (plus 8 percentage points), 48% of Italians (plus 5 percentage points) and 55% of Brazilians (plus 20 percentage points) rated Germany as “international and hospitable”. 60% of the French (plus 7 percentage points) and 63% of Italians (plus 12 percentage points) called Germany an “ideal host” for sport events.
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Germans own an average of 4.5 plastic cards, a study of TNS Emnid commissioned by Loyalty Partner found out. 82% have an EC cash card, 77% carry a health insurance card, 32% use the Payback Card and also 32% a credit card. 64% always have at least one loyalty card at hand, and 34% automatically use loyalty cards for shopping. 36% are members of Payback, 18% of Happy Digits and 12% of Rewe. The most significant loyalty effects have Miles & More, Payback and the Douglas Card (drug stores). 34% said to have increased their bookings since owning a Miles & More card. The overall best benefits are seen with Payback (34%), Happy Digits (7%), Miles & More (6%), Ikea Family (6%) and Bahn Comfort (6%). 40% said, loyalty programs are “basically good”, 32% enjoy collecting bonus points. Most important features of a loyalty card are multi-use functions (76%) and exclusive offers (63%).
www.tns-emnid.com
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German business travellers produced 40 million trips with at least one overnight stay in the first half of 2006, according to a study from TNS Infratest, commissioned by the German National Tourist Board (DZT). 82% were domestic trips. 46% of all domestic trips with at least one overnight stay were induced by congresses and events, 28% by visiting business partners, 17% by fairs and exhibitions. Concerning international trips, 43% were induced by visiting business partners and 21% by congresses and events. Total spending of business travellers in the first six months of 2006 amounted to 18.5 billion Euro in Germany. 3.7 billion Euro was spent for transport, 5.5 billion Euro for accommodation. – It is the first time DZT looked at the business travel market. Because of a different research concept, the results are not directly comparable with those of the renown and established VDR Business Travel Report Germany.