The German tourist market, which is key for many resorts in the world, has outlined the main vacation destinations in 2023. At the ITB Berlin exhibition, the president of the German Travel Association (DRV), Norbert Fiebig, named the top 5 countries where Germans are heading en masse.
During the opening of the annual world-class fair in Germany, the head pointed out that trends indicate an optimistic forecast for this year’s travel, unlike previous ones when the coronavirus pandemic and related restrictions shackled tourism around the world. “Germany wants to travel! “The early birds are back, and travel agencies and tour operators have burst in full speed this year,” Fiebig noted.
The top five travel destinations for German travelers this year are as follows:
- Turkey
- Spain
- Greece
- Egypt
- Portugal
According to research conducted by Travel Data + Analytics (TDA) for DRV, almost 40% of total booking revenue for next summer will come from destinations in the Eastern Mediterranean, including Greece, Turkey, and Egypt.
“This gives us confidence in 2023, despite the well-known uncertainty of global political and economic events. We almost reached our goal in the summer of 2022. Only 2% is not enough to break the summer record of 2019,” the official added.
In his view, despite geopolitical turmoil, rising inflation, and a natural disaster in Turkey, the signs for the entire holiday year are good, as they are based not only on optimism but also on the resurgent early booking trend for the summer. Fiebig emphasized that a large part of tourists who plan to go on vacation are still booking places for the winter season, which will last until the end of next month.
As for the data for the period until Easter 2023 (Catholic — April 9, Orthodox — April 16), the majority of Germans booked package tours in the following directions:
- Egypt
- Canary Islands and Turkey
- Balearic Islands
- Maldives
- Greece
- United Arab Emirates
- Thailand
- Portugal
- Dominican Republic
In May, the resorts of Spain, Greece, and Turkey account for 65% of the total number of tourists.
Fiebig emphasized that the number of cruise bookings has also increased significantly this year. “The cruise sector has already achieved an impressive recovery last year after suffering severe losses from the ‘corona’. The Germans want to return to cruise ships – both by sea and rivers. The travel agents we interviewed consider cruises to be the main trend this year,” he said. As for long-haul destinations such as the USA, the Maldives, and Mauritius, there was also a noticeable increase among German tourists.
In addition, against the background of data on the high popularity of tourist trips, Fiebig also recalled the chaos that occurred at German airports last year. He said much more needs to be done for air tourism to meet the high demand in major destinations. We will remind you that last summer there were long queues and delays at German airports due to a lack of staff, and thousands of flights were canceled.