New bookings remain below previous year

Nuremberg, June 29, 2026 – Despite a visible pick-up in short-term holiday bookings, overall demand in the German tour-operator travel market remains disappointing: for the current summer season, incoming revenue in the completed booking month of May was 7 percent below the previous year. The cumulative summer balance has therefore slipped by a further percentage point compared with the previous month and now stands at only a small revenue increase of 1 percent. The booking declines for the coming 2026/27 winter season are even more pronounced (-19 percent), which means that the cumulative winter balance has already turned negative (-7 percent). Declining long-haul travel is weighing heavily on both seasonal balances.

Short-term holiday bookings picked up visibly in the completed booking month of May 2026: they accounted for 29 percent of monthly revenue - four percentage points more than in the same month last year. The last-minute segment, with booking and departure in May, performed particularly strongly. By contrast, revenue for the summer holidays in July and August is 7 percent below the previous year, while October autumn-holiday bookings are down by as much as a quarter in revenue terms. German holidaymakers appear to be taking a wait-and-see approach and currently prefer to book at shorter notice. Overall, booking revenue generated in May for the summer season adds up to a decline of 7 percent. Despite the fall in summer bookings over the past three months, the cumulative summer balance for 2026 in travel distribution is still positive at the current booking status (+1 percent). Growth is coming from the online distribution channels of tour operators and classic OTAs - in travel agencies, the current summer balance has already fallen to minus 6 percent. They are particularly strongly affected by the decline in long-haul travel (-16 percent). 

New 2026/27 winter season starts under negative signs

Advance bookings for the coming 2026/27 winter season, which begins with the travel month of November, are also disappointing: after initially stable early-booking demand, the new winter season already shows a cumulative revenue decline of 7 percent year on year at the current booking status following the sharp May losses (-19 percent). Missing long-haul bookings (-13 percent) are also weighing particularly heavily on the balance for upcoming winter holidays, while holiday destinations on the eastern medium-haul routes (-8 percent) and cruises (-7 percent) are also unable to keep pace with their previous-year levels. The western medium-haul segment is proving comparatively stable (-2 percent), and land-based holidays are currently in strong demand for the coming winter (revenue: +31 percent; pax: +18 percent). 

Legend:

The chart shows the travel revenue generated cumulatively by the end of May 2026 for the current 2026 summer season and the coming 2026/27 winter season, each compared with the previous year. TDA's analyses include holiday bookings made both in stationary travel agencies and online via tour operators' travel portals and Online Travel Agencies (OTAs), with a focus on package holidays. The left side of the chart shows the percentage share of revenue in the booking month of May 2026 attributable to the individual travel months and seasons.