Inflation, rising interest rates, wars and conflicts: despite this - or perhaps because of it - many people in Germany are in a travelling mood. DER Travel and Tourism reports immense demand. The fact that our tour operators are selling so well may also be due to the fact that they are extremely attuned to the needs of their guests. Dr Ingo Burmester, CEO Central Europe DER Travel and Tourism Group, tells us how, and with what travel surprises.
Ingo Burmester, CEO Central Europe DER Travel and Tourism Group
one: Mr Burmester, you can read everywhere that people are travelling to Corona almost more than ever before. Is that also true for DER Travel and Tourism guests?
Ingo Burmester: Yes, absolutely! We are noticing a strong increase in demand on the German market. As a result, we believe that 2023/24 will be a strong year.
one: Does this apply equally to the beginning of winter and the coming summer?
Ingo Burmester: Especially for the summer. With DERTOUR, ITS and Meiers Weltreisen, we are currently heading for the best summer we have ever had in terms of guest numbers: Almost three times as many guests have already booked their summer holiday as last year. However, this is also due to a return to earlier booking behaviour. In addition, winter bookings are also currently booming.
one: Does that surprise you? In view of inflation and higher interest rates in this country, which should rather have an inhibiting effect on spending?
Ingo Burmester: We are still seeing great catch-up effects after corona. We also believe that our travel offers, which are strongly tailored to the current needs of our guests, are hitting a nerve - and thus enabling even more people to travel again.
1.600 family hotels with a variety of very favourable fixed prices for children: This is what DER Travel and Tourism has up its sleeve for the important "family" target group. © gradyreese - GettyImages
one: What do you mean by that: you are hitting a nerve with people?
Ingo Burmester: Sun-seekers are booking long-term again and taking advantage of our early booking discounts of up to 60 per cent. As things stand, over 40 percent of our summer holiday guests combined the early booking rates with a flex option from 59 euros, which enables last-minute changes or cancellations. We also have 1,600 family hotels with a large number of very favourable fixed prices for children.
In short: people want to travel, but are increasingly looking for security and savings. We have once again expanded these options in our new programmes.
High-quality holidays are booming - which is why DER Travel and Tourism is expanding its range of own hotel brands, such as the Sentido Heritance Negombo Sri Lanka © Copyright 2023 DER Travel and Tourism Central Europe GmbH
one: What types of holidays and destinations are particularly in demand?
Ingo Burmester: In the 2022/23 tourism year that has just ended, the trend towards higher-quality holidays was also noticeable. The number of guests who booked a 4- or 5-star hotel increased by 10 per cent compared to the previous year.
And in the coming summer, we expect demand for high-quality beach holidays in popular beach destinations to remain strong in addition to increasingly individual holidays.
In terms of the most popular destinations for summer 2024, Turkey is in first place for short and medium-haul holidays, followed by Spain and Greece. Holidaymakers are particularly drawn to the Indian Ocean, North America and the Caribbean. All-inclusive catering is also still in vogue. Those who don't have to pay extra for food and drinks have more control over the costs.
Travelling sustainably is becoming increasingly important to more and more DER Travel and Tourism guests. They can currently choose from 842 hotels that are certified according to GSTC (Global Sustainable Tourism Council)-recognised standards. © AscentXmedia - GettyImages
one: Can you tell us a few highlights from your new summer catalogues?
Ingo Burmester: For example, we have eleven new openings for our premium hotel brand Sentido, including in Egypt, Bulgaria, Italy, Turkey, Thailand, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
We also attach great importance to sustainable holidays: Our guests can currently choose from a total of 842 hotels that are certified according to GSTC (Global Sustainable Tourism Council)-recognised standards. By 2025, 25 per cent of our core portfolio should be certified accordingly - we are aiming for at least 80 per cent of our own hotel brands. In addition, the fourth edition of the "Conscious Travel" magalogue and the expanded online theme world "Sustainable Holidays" will bundle more sustainable package tours and excursions.
In order to do justice to the aforementioned trend towards all-inclusive holidays, we have around 3,000 hotels with all-inclusive offers in our programme for summer holidays in 2024.
News, tips and trends from the recently published DER Travel and Tourism summer programmes can be found here.
