Stuttgart
Corona has ruined a number of travel plans in recent years. Holidays are now possible again almost without restrictions – if there weren’t so many worries about the travel budget.
Despite inflation and economic uncertainties, Germans have rediscovered travel after the Corona restrictions. However, the way to the pre-pandemic level will not be easy in view of the holes in some household budgets, as shown in a study by the research association Holiday and Travel (FUR) published before the Stuttgart travel fair CMT.
Accordingly, in 2022 the number of vacation trips lasting at least five days increased to an estimated 63 million. That is 13 percent more than in the previous year, but 12 percent less than in 2019.
Majority is planning one or more vacations
For the current year 2023, study author Martin Lohmann expects a slight increase to over 65 million trips – in 2019 the number was 71 million. According to the survey, two-thirds of Germans are already planning one or more vacations – even though significantly more people than in previous years assume that they will be in a worse financial position in the coming year. However, around one in four also stated that a trip in 2023 will fail because of money – and thus more than ever in the more than 50 years of travel analysis. For 2022, only about one in eight had said that.
There is a small part at the lower end of society for whom travel will not be possible, said Lohmann. “It’s not a big problem for tourism because these people have traveled less before. But that’s questionable from a social point of view.” 80 percent of people with a net household income of over 4,000 euros are definitely planning a vacation. Where less than 2000 euros end up in the household budget every month, it is only 47 percent.
“I am sure that if there is money, there will also be travel, and the Germans will realize their vacation plans in 2023,” said the President of the DRV Travel Association, Norbert Fiebig. The Germans’ desire to travel is back. According to the FUR analysis, those who want to travel place their holidays very high on the list of consumption priorities. Lohmann said that traveling is a “cherished habit” that people want to stick to if at all possible.
Domestic destinations remain in demand
Top travel destination for Germans stay on Germany. During the corona restrictions, many people would have headed for well-known domestic destinations. But: “We don’t have any indication that the typical Turkey tourist is now going on to Lake Constance,” says Lohmann.
According to current figures from the Federal Statistical Office, tourism in Germany is still lagging behind the level before the Corona crisis. In November 2022, hotels, guesthouses and other accommodation establishments booked 29.8 million overnight stays by domestic and foreign guests. That was 21.8 percent more than a year earlier, when tourism was severely restricted by the fourth corona wave. Compared to November 2019, the month before the corona pandemic, a minus of 8.1 percent was recorded.
The number of overnight stays by guests from Germany rose by 17.9 percent to 24.7 million in November compared to the same month last year. The pre-crisis level was undershot by 6.2 percent. Cross-border tourism lagged even further behind. With 5.1 million overnight stays by foreign travelers, the level before the pandemic was missed by 16.2 percent.
Lohmann expects 456 million overnight stays for 2022 as a whole, an increase of 147 percent compared to the previous year. In 2019 it was 496 million.
Number of flights to the Mediterranean is increasing
According to him, a number of Germans are now turning to destinations abroad again. The number of air trips – especially to the Mediterranean region – is increasing. Also because of the recent rise in prices, not everyone is going along with it, which is why he does not assume that the level of 2019 will be reached.
Interest in camping has grown steadily in recent years. Compared to the corona-driven camping hype in 2021, however, it has returned to a “realistic level”. Around eight percent of all vacation trips in 2022 were in this area.
According to the FUR analysis, international tourism is only back to where it was in 2010. For 2022, the researchers are assuming 920 million arrivals worldwide. After years of constant growth, almost 1.5 billion arrivals were counted in 2019. And in some travel destinations, such as in the Asia-Pacific region, the numbers are still well below the 2019 level.
The CMT travel trade fair opens its doors in Stuttgart on Saturday and, according to its own statements, is the world’s largest public trade fair for tourism and leisure. In the last regular opening year of 2020, around 300,000 visitors and more than 2100 exhibitors came. This year more than 1600 exhibitors are represented. Those responsible did not want to give a visitor forecast.
