Short-term summer business below previous year's high

Nuremberg, 30 June 2023 – The volume of bookings for holiday trips remained at a high level in May 2023: total sales exceeded the previous month by 4 percent and May 2019 by 38 percent. Only with the extremely strong booking volume in the previous year, the current summer bookings are not keeping pace (-25 percent). This means that the lead compared to the 2022 summer season has continued to melt away – by 9 percentage points compared to the previous month to an increase in sales of now 22 percent. Compared to the summer of 2019, the increase has grown to 3 percent.

In May 2023, Germans accounted for 78 per cent of monthly turnover and mainly booked holiday trips in summer (June to August: 47 per cent) and autumn (September/October: 21 per cent). 10 percent is accounted for by last-minute bookings with short-term departures in May. For around 1.2 billion euros, Germans booked summer holidays in May – 41 percent of them online on the travel portals of tour operators and online travel agencies (OTAs). In short-term business, the online share is growing disproportionately. Overall, however, travel agency sales are proving to be the fastest-growing segment this year at the current booking level: In travel agencies, summer sales have grown by 25 percent year-on-year to date, and by 10 percent in online travel sales.

Cumulatively, the current summer season shows a 22 percent increase in sales compared to the previous year at the end of May 2023. Since monthly sales receipts have fallen below the previous year's level since April, the increase compared to the 2022 summer season is visibly melting further. The summer of the previous year had started late due to corona and showed an exceptionally high short-term business.

The increase in sales compared to the pre-Corona level in 2019 has grown to 3 percent at the current booking level (+2 percentage points compared to the previous month). In view of the general inflation rate, the 2019 level has not yet been reached. In the case of booked persons, the tour operator trip is still missing a total of 21 percent at the current booking status. It is primarily the early bookers from the autumn and winter months that have not yet been able to be compensated. On a monthly basis, the number of booked persons has now normalized.

For travel periods from the coming winter season 2023/24, which begins with the travel month of November, the early bird seems to be finding its way back to its old strength. In May 2023, 16 percent of monthly sales were already due to holiday bookings for the winter months. A further 6 percent was accounted for by next year's summer season. Taken together, the cumulative accrued early bird sales significantly exceed both the previous year and the pre-Corona level at this early stage.

Legend:

The chart shows the cumulative travel sales generated up to the end of May 2023 for the ongoing summer season 2023 in comparison to previous years (summer season 2019). For the travel seasons, TDA compares the booking status adjusted for trips that were cancelled in previous years due to corona. Both holiday travel bookings in high street travel agencies and online on the travel portals of the tour operators and online travel agencies (OTAs) with a focus on package tours are included. The chart on the left shows the percentage of sales in the booking month October that belongs to the individual travel months or seasons.