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German desire to travel continues
December 14, 2022
German desire to travel continues
The year 2022 was all about catching up on travel, ticking off long-held bucket list items and finally experiencing special moments again. In the last stages of a long-lasting pandemic, where strict entry regulations and hygiene controls got loosened almost everywhere, travel is now almost as possible as it was before the pandemic. The forecasts for 2022 were excellent until the war began in February, causing countless social and economic repercussions. The industry was worried, and the fear of slipping from one crisis into the next was real.
Holiday bookings bounce back from Covid
It was therefore all the more surprising when bookings for the summer season went through the roof. According to a recent TDA analysis, the summer of 2022 just missed pre-Corona levels and the industry was down only three percent from 2019. Another interesting trend: vacationers spent about 15 percent more on average after the hardships of the pandemic than before, often booking higher hotel categories or staying longer.
But after the successful summer season, and for the first time since the years immediately following WWII, inflation in Germany rose as high as ten percent in September. High inflation, combined with high energy prices and the economic slowdown, have meant that general conditions are difficult, but the current outlook for 2023 is promising nonetheless. This was shown at the recent DRV (German Travel Association) conference and also by current studies and surveys.
The travel outlook for 2023
It is true that more than half of Germans are worried that price increases for travel will affect their travel behavior, according to the GfK Household Panel, for which 18,000 households are surveyed every month. At the same time, however, a proud 85 percent said they planned to travel abroad in 2023.
Whereas 42 percent of households want to look for cheaper deals, two-thirds said their spending on vacations would remain the same or even increase in 2023. These findings were presented at the DRV meeting. A recent Skyscanner survey supports this: German travelers still plan to spend money on travel next year, with 75 percent saying they will spend the same, if not more, on foreign travel in 2023, while only 14 percent plan to spend less. Likewise, a survey conducted by the market research institute Lucid, and commissioned by the travel experience provider Collinson, showed promising results: Germans want to travel more in the coming twelve months than in the previous twelve months.
Even if conditions are difficult, the German desire to travel remains unbroken and vacationers seem determined to make up for lost time. The outlook for 2023 is therefore promising, as people plan to travel in greater numbers.
You can find out about FINN Partners’ work in this area through our travel and tourism practice.
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