Excerpts from issue No. 11, Vol. 14, November 2010
71.2% of Germans intend to go on a longer vacation next year, according to a representative poll of automobile club ADAC, plus 6% compared to the poll in 2009. 28% plan a vacation in Germany, 11% in Italy and 10% in Spain. About 60% plan a trip during the remaining weeks of this year. Of those who admit to be in a bad or very bad economic situation, 41.1% plan a vacation trip until New Year, plus 6% compared to the poll in 2009. 79% of all Germans expect higher prices for rail tickets, 72% for scheduled flights, 63% for charter flights, and almost half of them for package tours, hotels and cruises. The research was conducted in July.
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51% of all Germans have at least once used the Internet to inquire about holiday travel. 29% have actually booked a trip online or travel modules. These are findings of FUR-Reiseanalyse. Those who researched accommodation and flight alternatives for their main holiday trip 2009 online, have in large numbers also booked the services in the Internet (53% respectively 55%). With rail tickets and rent-a-car services the conversion rate was 50% each. Travel packages came to a conversion rate of only 38%, entrance tickets of a mere 36%.
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Travel ranks high with Germans who think about their life aspirations. When asked “What are your dreams when you reach an older age?”, relatively most (47.5%) said, they don’t want to be bothered by anything. But rank 2 (40.9%) is taken by “I want to make a trip around the world or go on a cruise”. 23.3% want to move to a more sunny place than Germany. 19.0% are curious to learn a foreign language. And 15.2% want to buy a mobile home and explore Europe. Life insurer Hannoverschen Leben had asked 1,002 Germans between 18 and 60 years and comments, that wishful thinking and fulfillment are two sides of the same coin: 6 of 10 Germans have made no privisions so far for additional private financial security.

Excerpts from issue No. 10, Vol. 14, October 2010
12.4% of the coaches operated in Germany show significant deficiencies, according to the TÜV Bus-Report 2010/11. 55.8% of the buses under examination were without any deficiencies, 31.6% had minor shortcomings. While the deficiency rate of 1-year-old vehicles was 3.8%, that of 5-year-old buses came to 9.7%, that of 10-year-old buses to 13.9% and that of 20-year-old buses to 23%.
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46% of German holiday makers feel relaxed after three or four days of vacation, a study of GfK commissioned by Expedia.de found out. 57% care most about friendly hotel staff, about 50% appreciate a quiet atmosphere, 45% enjoy a sumptous breakfast, 8% are attracted by a swimming pool.
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The effect of mouth-to-mouth propaganda was subject of a study by trnd AG in cooperation with ESCP Europe. It found out that very negative experiences are communicated to an average of 8.25 persons, while very positive experiences are communicated to an average of 7.4 persons. The prejudice that negative experiences are communicated much more than positive ones thus proved to be wrong. But asked which kind of opinions they remember, 89% said positive ones and only 7% negative ones. 

Excerpts from issue No. 9, Vol. 14, September 2010
Only 75% of Germans actually use up all free days they are entitled to, researcher Ipsos found out. One in four Germans lets vacations days expire. But in comparison mere 58% of employees in Asia and 57% in North America use all free days.
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42% of Germans younger than 30 years are considering to book a river cruise, Emnid found out in a study commissioned by TUI. In the age group 50-59 years the share is 48%. The share of those with river cruise experience is 8%. River cruise tourists expect “good service” (89%), “a diversified side program“ (75%), „high quality food and drinks“ (74%), “German-speaking staff” (70%) and “a new ship with high-quality facilities and spacious cabins” (66%). In another study, Mair-Dumont Media compared the image of high sea cruises and river cruises. While 67% of the consumers classify high sea cruises as “unique and exclusive”, only 42% rank river cruises in this category. 75% perceive high sea cruises as “expensive”, 43% think of river cruises this way.

Excerpts from issue No. 8, Vol. 14, August 2010
Germans are keener now on traveling than ever before, with sales from bookings higher than in any other summer season over the past few years. Cuts in the price of vacations are bolstering booking behavior, researcher GfK Travel Insights found out. Travel agencies in Germany have evidently overcome the economic and financial crisis, having recorded a sales increase of 6% for the current summer season compared with the previous year. The highest number of bookings this year is for Mediterranean destinations, with Turkey and Egypt particularly in demand. Greece and Portugal have seen a decline in popularity. Long-haul destinations are also performing strongly compared with the same period of the prior year, recording growth of 11%.
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Only 14% of Germans plan a longer vacation this summer, s survey of researcher eResult found out. The study, undertaken end of June, revealed that 23% intend to go on a shorter vacation. 15% prefer to take their holiday at another season. 10% plan a number of shorter trips spread over the next months. 8% do not have specified plans but are sure that they will go on some sort of holiday. 17% will definitely not go on any holiday this year, while 13% are undecided. Of those who are holiday-driven, 30% plan a domestic city trip, 27% beach holidays somewhere in Europe, and 23% a trip to a European city. Long-haul destinations are planned by 15%, cruises by 5%. The generation 50+ prefers off-season holidays. 20% of senior citizens will stay home.
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52% of the members of the working population in Germany check their emails during vacation, a study by Emnid commissioned by Symantec found out. 34% use their private laptop or smartphone for that. While 63% of the males check their emails, only 39% of the females do so.

Excerpts from issue No. 7, Vol. 14, July 2010
Travel agents in Germany achieved 19.3 billion Euro sales in 2009, 12.1% less than the year before, according to fvw Dossier, prepared by the Hamburg-based trade publication. Agencies specialized in business travel finished the year with a sales crash of 23% (total sales: 5.8 billion Euro). Sales of holidays/private travel declined by 6.3% to 13.4 billion Euro. Online agencies on the other hand enjoyed a sales plus of 20% (total sales: 5.2 billion Euro). Although few of the online retailers disclosed revenue figures, expedia.de is seen as the market leader with revenues of 605 million Euro last year compared to 510 million Euro in 2008. Unister, whose brands include ab-in-den-urlaub.de and fluege.de, had estimated revenues of 460 million Euro, up from 330 million Euro in 2008. Rewe remained the largest German travel agency network in 2009 with revenues of 3.9 billion Euro (minus 9.7%). Second was the QTA mega-alliance, covering five cooperation organizations, with revenues of 3.7 billion Euro, followed by the TMCV agency grouping (revenues: 2.8 billion Euro) and TUI Leisure Travel (2.6 billion Euro).
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53.5% of Germans between 14 and 70 years (29.8 million) went on a 2-4 day trip last year, RA 2010 of Forschungsgemeinschaft Urlaub und Reisen e.V. found out. That amounted to 74.1 million short trips. The average number of short trips per traveler thus came out as 2.5. Holiday trips lasting 5 days or longer were made by 75.7% of Germans (49.0 million). That amounted to 64.8 million longer trips. The average number of longer trips per traveler came out as 1.3.
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Holiday bookings for this summer in stationary travel agencies in Germany increased by 5.9% until May, researcher GfK found out. In demand were travel products to Egypt, Turkey, Croatia, Austria, Tunisia, the Balearic Islands and the USA.

Excerpts from issue No. 6, Vol. 14, June 2010
Online sales of tourism products in Germany reached 18.6 billion Euro in 2009, according to researcher Ulysses Web-Tourismus. This is a growth of 3% in contrast to the decline of 5.6% in the total tourism market. Online sales now have a share of 41% of all tourism sales in Germany. Within the online segment, transport services remain dominant. 50% of all online tourism sales are for these services (2006: 64%, 2000: over 90%). While low cost carriers realize 93% of their sales online, scheduled airlines receive 41% of their sales from the Internet. Hotels now receive 27% of their revenue online, plus 10 percentage points compared with 2008. Tour operators for the first time realized more than 20% of their sales online. While small companies have a share of only 11% in the tour operator market, they realized 17% of all online sales of that segment. The top 10 with a market share of 74% made up only 69% of all online sales in the tour operator segment. Online portals made up 40% of their sales by transport services (2003: 71%) and 25% by tour packages.
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Two thirds of the Germans living in the East German states plan a holiday of at least five days this year, the Leipziger Institut für empirische Forschung (LEIF) found out. For that they intend to spend an average of 1053 Euro, plus 126 Euro compared to last year.
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A growing number of Germans plan their holidays individually, “ADAC Reisemonitor” found out. While last year that share was 56.6% it climbed to 61.7% this year. 85% of that group plan trips to domestic destinations.
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80% of hotels in Germany do not expect rising rates for meeting services this year, a survey of HRS revealed. 16% project decreasing rates. Only 5% think they can sell for higher rates. 48% expect a similar level of bookings this year as last year; 29% fear less business and 23% expect higher demand.
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27% of all incoming tourism to Germany in 2009 was business travel, according to the “Meeting- & EventBarometer”. That was a total of 9.6 million trips, minus 8% compared to 2008. The number of traditional business trips decreased by 3%, the number of MICE trips by 12%. The number of meetings in Germany reached 2.46 million, minus 10.9%. Over 300 million people attended those events, minus 4.8%. The share of foreign attendants was 5.5%.

Excerpts from issue No. 5, Vol. 14, May 2010
66% of German consumers plan their next holiday without squeezing their Euros, ADAC Reisemonitor found out. That is an increase of 1.6% compared to last year. Most important selection criteria are an attractive ambiance (90%) which offers good recreation possibilities (88%) and which is hospitable (83%). Low-price is the least-important consideration (56%). 30% of German consumers use the Internet and read daily newspapers during the year to gather ideas for coming holidays, 26% scan brochures of tour operators, 25% discuss the topic with friends and 23% watch TV programs for travel inspiration. For more detailed information, 32% use travel publications, 30% the Internet, 25% brochures of tour operators. During their vacation, 29% of German tourists carry a printed tour guide with them. Only 5% consult the Internet for further information once they are at the holiday destination.
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11% of German holiday makers plan to spend more this year for vacation than last year, Forschungsgemeinschaft Urlaub und Reisen in Kiel found out. 59% intend to spend the same as last year and 10% will cut their spending. 20% were unable to give a projection. Last year 22% have spent more than in the previous year, 54% used the same budget as in 2008 and 11% had cut down in holiday spending.
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82% of German customers in hotels and restaurants appraise the establishment during the very first moments of encounter, a study of TNS Emnid commissioned by P&G Professional found out. If the first assessment is not positive, a third of customers walk out. This can be attributed especially to dirt and unpleasant odor but also to staff which does not seem to be friendly. The walk-off customers often share their opinion with others, also online. Positive factors are flowers in the entrance area and pleasant odor, which seems more important to men than to women.
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Travelers staying in hotels in Germany spend an average amount of 131.60 Euro per day, Munich researcher dwif found out. That is 41% more than in the year 2000 (inflation was only 15%). 62% of that sum goes to the hotel, 18% to shops, and 20% to various service providers.

Excerpts from issue No. 4, Vol. 14, April 2010
Prices for organized vacation booked with tour operators (packages and modular holidays) have dropped between 5 and 8% this year compared to 2009, according to the German Travel Association (DRV). Travel agencies see good demand for Turkey, Egypt, Kenya, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Mauritius and Indonesia.
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The tourism year 2009 recorded tour operator sales of 20.8 billion Euro, minus 3% compared to 2008, according to the German Travel Association (DRV). The number of guests reached 38.2 million, a drop of 2%. The sales slump in the business travel sector was 25%. Consolidated sales of all stationary travel agencies in Germany (tourism and business travel) dropped by 13% to 19 billion Euro.
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Tour operators do not rank very high with German consumers when it comes to trust, “Reader's Digest” says in its recent study “European Trusted Brands”. While in 2002 a third (34%) of all consumers trusted tour operators very much or much, that share dropped to 25% this year. Pilots together with fire fighters and nurses are top of the list with a “trust ranking” of over 90%.

Excerpts from issue No. 3, Vol. 14, March 2010
42% of Germans plan at least one holiday this year, according to the “Deutsche Tourismus-analyse“ of the BAT Stiftung für Zukunftsfragen. 11% intend to go on two or more holiday trips. 35% are undecided. 22% plan a domestic holiday, 33% look for a European destination, and 10% consider long-haul destinations. 37% favor all-inclusive holidays. The survey was made in January 2010.
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14.8 million German consumers have booked their holiday “last minute“ last year, minus 52% compared to 2008, Ulysses Web-Tourismus found out. Expenditures for that segment dropped by even 58%, from 23.9 billion Euro in 2008 to 10.0 billion Euro last year. The total number of “last minute” bookings was 21 million. Most popular “last minute” destinations were Spain and Turkey. Two out of three Germans have made a “last minute” booking at one time of their life. The survey was made in January 2010.
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Germans who use their own car for holidays prefer to drive to domestic destinations, automobile club ADAC found out in a study of 3 million route requests in 2009. German destinations make up a share of 40%, followed by Italian destinations (16% share, plus 1.5%), Austrian destinations (7.5% share), Turkey (5.7% share) and Croatia (5.4% share).

Excerpts from issue No. 2, Vol. 14, February 2010
88% of Germans plan at least one holiday trip this year, eResult found out in a survey com-missioned by HRS. About 25% each said they plan either more or less trips than last year. 23% plan one longer vacation plus several shorter holiday breaks, while 18% want to go on several shorter trips but scratch plans for a longer holiday. 7% plan at least two longer holidays this year. Of all perspective holiday makers 23% want to limit their travel budget to 250 Euro per person and trip. 20% plan with a budget of up to 500 Euro, 15% with a budget of up to 750 Euro, 16% with a budget of up to 1,000 Euro, 13% with a budget of up to 1,500 Euro and another 13% with a budget of 1,500 Euro or more per person and trip. Dream holiday number one are beach holidays outside Germany (40%), followed by city breaks outside Germany (27%), city breaks within Germany (24%) and beach holidays within Germany (20%). 49% will pick a 3-star hotel, 26% a 4-star property, 22% a 2-star accommodation and 3% a 5-star luxury hotel.
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The segment of tour operators specializing in the German young adult market seems to be largely unaffected by the economic crisis. Over 80% of the members of the Deutscher Fachverband für Jugendreisen (the respective trade association) report a satisfactory business year 2009. For 2010 the survey “Reisenetz-Saisonumfrage“ sees growing sales. Purpose-oriented programs like language camps are winning over just-for-fun holidays. The share of the young adult market is given as about one third of the total German tourism market.
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Turkey and countries at the Baltic and North Sea (including Germany) will be the holiday winners this year, while desti-nations around the Mediterranean Sea will suffer declining tourist numbers from the German market, Commerzbank predicts in its annual travel study. Spain will continue to receive the lion’s share (11%) of German foreign tourist spending, followed by Austria, Italy, France and Turkey. Turkey’s share will double to 6%, while the combined share of Spain and Italy will drop by 5 percentage points.

Excerpts from issue No. 1, Vol. 14, January 2010
VAT for hotel accommodation in Germany now is 7% instead of formerly 19%. After a highly controversial public debate the German government succeeded to win the support of the majority of both legislative chambers in Berlin. Discussion is bound to continue since the new law suffers from many inconsistencies. Breakfast and other services such as catering and pav TV in the guest rooms are still taxed with 19%. The red tape connected with the new system is seen by experts as enormous, especially for corporate customers. Most hoteliers do not plan to pass on the monetary advantage to their guests, as surveys suggest, but rather use the windfall profit for renovations or staff qualification.
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The most important tour operators in Germany achieved combined sales of 16.7 billion Euro in the business year 2008/2009, ending October 31st, according to research of trade publication fvw. This result is based on the figures of 62 companies making up 80% of the market. The current outcome reflects a 2.2% decline compared to the business year 2007/2008. Customer numbers came to 32.5 million, minus 5.9%. Sales for air packages dropped by 4.9% after a rise of 4.4% the period before. Cruises enjoyed a sales plus of 13.5% with Aida Cruises, Arosa Flussschiff, MSC Kreuzfahrten and Nicko Tours as champions. TUI Deutschland remains the number one player but suffers a drop in sales of 10.3%, a slump of customer numbers of 15.5% and a decline in market share of 1.7 percentage points. The new number two in the market is the tourism sector of the Rewe Group with a sales plus of 2.2% and a growth in customer numbers of 5.0%. Thomas Cook (without Condor) stepped down to rank three with a decline of sales of 8.5%, of customer numbers of 12.1% and of market share of 0.7 percentage points. Nevertheless Thomas Cook ended the business year as the most profitable of the big players in the German tour operator market. Alltours remained the number four, suffering sales declines of 6.2%.
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German tour operators suffered a sales decline in the business year 2008/2009, ending October 31st. Combined sales amounted to 20.7 billion Euro, according to preliminary calculations of the German Travel Association (DRV), minus 3-4% compared with the business year 2007/2008. The number of customers remained unchanged, reflecting declining prices. While flight packages to short- and long-haul destinations experienced a sales decline of combined 6-7%, sales for cruises grew by 10%. Slightly better sales than in the last period were reported for short-distance destinations reached by private car, train or coach. Sales for domestic holiday packages grew by about 3%.
 

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