Guests are booking very early and with pleasing stability, affordable luxury remains a trend - this is the positive conclusion of the DERTOUR Group. With 12,000 hotels, the summer portfolio was geared towards the strong demand. Further good news: DERTOUR Group's hotel division continues to grow and travel agencies remain the strongest booking channel.
The new summer catalogues for 2025 are fresh on the market - traditionally an opportunity to look ahead to the coming holiday season for the DERTOUR Group and its tour operator brands DERTOUR, ITS and Meiers Weltreisen. "We are seeing encouraging stability in travel behaviour: Already established trends and developments are consolidating. We are also seeing record levels of incoming bookings for the coming summer. This is a very good starting point for a successful 2025 summer season," explains Mark Tantz, Managing Director of DERTOUR Germany.
DERTOUR organisers have geared their portfolio for the coming summer to the strong demand: They are offering a total of around 12,000 hotels, including 1,200 new properties as well as 365 exclusively bookable hotels, primarily in Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Austria and Turkey. The range includes a variety of holidays from
From luxury holidays to offers for cost-conscious travellers. Early booking discounts of up to 45 per cent also ensure particularly attractive prices.
The programme for summer 2025 also includes a wide variety of travel options. "The classic package holiday is more colourful than its reputation," explains Sven Schikarsky, Head of Product at DERTOUR and its sister brands ITS and Meiers Weltreisen, adding: "Next year's portfolio is so extensive that we can cater to the wishes of a wide range of target groups and travel interests."
The DERTOUR tour operators closed the past tourism year with a significant increase in guests of 21 per cent compared to the previous year. "We are at pre-corona levels," says Tantz happily. The positive development was characterised by increased demand on long-haul routes (+37 percent) and strong growth in Mediterranean destinations. They benefited from the unstable weather conditions in Germany in the summer. In addition, destinations offering excellent value for money, affordable luxury and high-quality all-inclusive offers were in vogue. In particular, Turkey (+51 per cent), Egypt (+40 per cent), the United Arab Emirates (+52 per cent) and Thailand (+48 per cent) recorded strong growth in guest numbers. This led to a 39 per cent increase in 5-star bookings and, in combination with the increased demand for long-haul travel, to a significant 33 per cent increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
Booking update winter 2024/25
The positive booking trend is also continuing in the current winter season and is even picking up speed with a 39 per cent increase in guests compared to the previous year. "We are seeing another strong long-haul winter," says Tantz. Sunny destinations such as Thailand, the Indian Ocean, the Caribbean and the United Arab Emirates are the top 5 most popular long-haul destinations this winter, along with North America. On short and medium-haul routes, Spain, Turkey, Egypt, Germany and Portugal are the most popular winter destinations.
Outlook for the travel summer 2025
With significant guest growth of 21 per cent compared to the already very strong summer of 2024, DERTOUR tour operators are starting the 2025 holiday season with a record: "Never before have summer holidays been booked so early as for summer 2025," explains Tantz. One of the reasons for the early bookings are attractive early booking discounts of up to 45 per cent, which allow guests to secure the best rates: "84 per cent of summer holidays were booked in 4- and 5-star hotels, and 61 per cent of our guests opted for all-inclusive holidays. This means that our guests value quality and treat themselves, but are also cost-conscious and secure the best possible prices by booking early," explains Tantz.
Against this background, the DERTOUR Group is also focusing on growth in other areas in the coming year: "We want to achieve this by focussing on our own hotels on the one hand and by continuing to work closely with travel agency partners on the other. In this way, we are responding to travellers' desire for high quality, individuality and personal advice," says Tantz.
The DERTOUR Group's hotel division continues to grow and has 10 brands and 120 high-quality hotels in 14 countries worldwide for the 2025 summer season. Further new openings will be added to the portfolio of the Group's own hotels in 2025.
The expansion will focus on the destinations of Egypt, Greece and Tunisia, which are popular with DERTOUR guests. The Sentido and ananea brands will be expanding their portfolios in these regions with three and four new hotels respectively for the 2025 summer season. The premium club brand Aldiana is offering its guests a new club in Italy for the coming summer season. In addition, three new clubs in Zanzibar, Egypt and Austria will be available for the summer season for the first time. This reinforces the brand's strategic commitment to investing in high-quality club facilities and new destinations.
DSR Hotel Holding, whose majority shareholder is the DERTOUR Group, is also starting next summer with an expanded portfolio and is consolidating its position as a leading provider in the German holiday hotel industry. By integrating the Travel Charme Group, the company is adding first-class hotels to its portfolio, which will be managed under the renowned A-ROSA and aja brands.
65 per cent of all DERTOUR holidays in the 2023/24 tourism year were booked through a travel agency. The proportion is significantly high for long-haul and speciality holidays: Almost three times as many of these holidays were booked through a travel agency instead of online. This is not least due to customised offers and additional services. The recommendation rate (NPS) also shows that travel agency customers are up to 19 points more satisfied than online customers.
DERTOUR has integrated the tour planner into its own booking platform Travel Compass so that travel agency partners can advise their customers even better when planning and organising car hire and motorbike tours. With this tool, travel agencies in 22 countries can put together round trips according to the individual wishes of their customers by selecting and adapting existing route suggestions or putting together a completely customised itinerary from the outset. The tour operator is thus responding to holidaymakers' desire for maximum individuality on round trips and providing the best possible support for the experts at the counter when advising joint customers.