- LOOKING BACK: THAT WAS ITB 2024: Two days of very well-filled halls, beautiful spring weather in Berlin, an optimistic mood and countless events at the trade fair or in Berlin event locations: ITB 2024 was able to build on earlier times in many ways. Read more
- AROUND 100,000 VISITORS AT THE ITB: At the three-day trade fair, which ended on Thursday, 2024 focused on shaping the future and underlined its claim to be a platform for business, innovation and networking. Despite extensive strikes, ITB recorded a slight increase in the number of participants. Read more
- TOURISM YEAR: EARLY BOOKING COMEBACK ENSURES STRONG SALES: The early bookers for summer vacations are back. And according to the DRV, the number of early bookers is higher than ever before. At the opening of the ITB, the world's largest travel trade fair, the tourism industry association took a look at the current tourism year 2023/2024. Booking data from travel agencies and online portals showed that 24% more Germans had already booked a tour operator trip for their summer vacation than in the previous year. Thanks to the return of early bookers, sales of package tours and modular tours are 30 percent up on the previous year (as at the end of January 2024). Interestingly, with an increase of 11%, it even exceeds the figure from 2019. Read more
- FUR STUDY: 2024 WILL BE A SUCCESSFUL YEAR FOR TOURISM: 73 percent of the german population are "definitely" planning to travel this year. 41% already know where they will be spending their best weeks of the year.? According to the Research Association for Holidays and Travel (FUR), these are "good conditions" for a successful tourism year in 2024. At 16%, the proportion of those uncertain about their vacation plans is at the same level as before the pandemic. And the proportion of those who are "definitely not planning a vacation trip this year" is ten percent. Read more
- HOW LUXURY TRAVEL IS DEVELOPING: In 2024, luxury travel will be all about hyper-personalization. Standardized travel experiences will be a thing of the past. Instead, travel experiences will be tailored to individual preferences. From private dinners with renowned chefs to personalized wellness retreats tailored to one's DNA profile, everything will be carefully planned to ensure it's a perfect fit for each traveler. Luxury travelers are becoming increasingly conscious of their carbon footprint, which is why the travel industry is offering more environmentally friendly accommodation and experiences.?Read more
- CONDOR: BACK TO ANTIGUA: After a break of several years, Condor is flying to the Caribbean island of Antigua again this winter. The first direct flight to ANU will take off on November 5, the return flight will be via Punta Cana until May 6. Read more
- EUROWINGS FLIES TO SAUDI ARABIA FOR THE FIRST TIME: Following the successful launch of the Dubai routes from Germany, Eurowings is expanding its flight program to Arabia for the coming winter. Jeddah in Saudi Arabia is a completely new destination. The airline has announced that the port city on the Red Sea will be served three times a week from Berlin and Cologne from November. Read more
- VIETNAM AIRLINES: WINTER FLIGHTS FROM MUNICH: Vietnam Airlines will take off from Munich Airport for the first time in the 2024/2025 winter flight schedule. The planes will take off twice a week for Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Flights to the capital of Vietnam will take place on Mondays and Saturdays, and those to Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesdays. From December, this frequency will be increased to two flights per week. Read more
- FIRST TESTS WITH SUPERSCANNERS AT ZURICH AIRPORT: State-of-the-art computed tomography (CT) scanners take three-dimensional images of bags, suitcases and rucksacks at airport security checkpoints. Laptops, tablets and liquids can therefore remain in hand luggage. This saves passengers a lot of time. Zurich Airport put tests that were planned with the superscanners at an early stage on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. Last summer, CEO Lukas Brosi announced that Zurich Airport would be purchasing 26 X-ray machines at a cost of CHF 40 million. All CT devices are to be installed at the security checkpoint by summer 2025. Read more
- LUFTHANSA REPORTS PROFIT FOR 2023: According to its own figures, Lufthansa achieved the third-best financial result in its history last year with an adjusted operating result of 2.7 billion euros. The Group is also expecting good figures for 2024, although the current strikes have already cost it around 100 million euros. Read more
- WHAT THE SWISS CO2 VACUUM CLEANER CAN DO: Together with the Lufthansa Group, Swiss is entering into a partnership with Climeworks. The Swiss company has developed an innovative technology to remove carbon dioxide from the air. The long-term partnership between the Swiss/LH Group and Climeworks aims to promote the removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air (so-called Direct Air Capture, DAC). Swiss and the Lufthansa Group are the first airline partners of Climeworks to sign a Carbon Dioxide Removal Agreement. Read more
- START-UPS WANT TO CONQUER EUROPE'S RAILS: Young companies such as Green City Trip and European Sleeper are driving forward sustainable travel despite many hurdles and are thus creating attractive new offers alongside the state railroads - in Germany too. Read more
- NUMBER OF CRUISE PASSENGERS REACHES PRE-CRISIS LEVEL AGAIN: 2,961,900 German passengers traveled on ocean cruise ships in 2023 - 18,500 more than in the previous record year of 2019. It is worth noting that sales in the cruise sector have not yet returned to pre-crisis levels, although shipping companies have been talking about higher prices everywhere. Read more
- CHINA: Finally visa-free travel to China. The visa waiver applies to travelers from Ireland, Hungary, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria and Switzerland. Travelers from Germany, France and other countries have been able to travel to China without a visa since 1 December 2023. Read more
- DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: After extremely strong figures as a result of smart decisions during the coronavirus pandemic, the Dominican Republic suffered a severe drop in the German market in 2023. With 131,000 arrivals, the result was significantly below the record year of 2022 with 187,000 German tourists. Read more
- EGYPT: Despite a temporary dip in bookings due to the Gaza war, Egypt has made a strong start to the 2024 tourism year. Inbound tourism figures were up by around seven percent in both January and February. Read more
- ?JAPAN: Japan is booming as a travel destination. It is also more popular than ever with Swiss tourists. This rush also has its downsides, including in the city of Kyoto. Because many visitors to Kyoto's geisha district of Gion misbehave too often, the city authorities want to ban them from visiting certain alleyways in future. Read more
- USA: Mega projects costing hundreds of millions of dollars are casting their shadows in Utah's tourism landscape. Not all US providers who came to ITB in Berlin had such spectacular news in their luggage. But they are all united by one ambitious plan: to grow strongly in the German market. Cinema release in Germany in August: "Horizon: An American Saga" is being filmed in Utah - directed by Kevin Costner, who also stars alongside other stars such as Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington and Jena Malone. Read more
- SINGAPORE: Despite a difficult global economic year, Singapore once again welcomed more visitors in 2023 than in the previous year and continued its growth trajectory. Read more
- SPAIN: The rail ticket experts from Rail Europe announced several new developments at ITB. For example, a sales partnership was concluded with the private Spanish express train operator Iryo. The partnership will take effect from April 15, 2024 and will enable passengers to view and select departure times and fares via the travel tech specialist's platform. The Iryo network includes many Spanish cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Seville. Read more
- SOUTH AFRICA: Tourism in South Africa has received a significant boost again after the pandemic - including from Germany. According to South African Tourism, almost 309,000 guests arrived from the DACH region last year. This represents an increase of 41.6% from Germany, 48.8% from Austria and 28.3% from Switzerland compared to 2022. Read more
- SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion is embarking on a new destination positioning strategy after a 15-year hiatus. The new global marketing campaign will include promotional activities in 12 key markets, targeting both first-time and repeat travelers in 2023. Read more
- THAILAND: Thailand has set itself the goal of generating total revenues of over EUR 90 billion from tourism this year and aims to become the aviation hub of Southeast Asia within the next ten years. This vision was presented by Thailand's Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin at ITB Berlin. Read moreParts of Thailand have been sweating for days under an unusual heatwave for the time of year. The north of the popular vacation destination and the capital Bangkok are particularly affected. Things are set to get even worse: According to forecasts by the local weather office, temperatures in all parts of the country will exceed the 40-degree mark at least some of the time in both March and April. Read more
- TUNISIA: The start was successful: in the first two months of the current year, Tunisia welcomed 20 percent more visitors from Germany than in the same period last year. According to Tourism Minister Mohamed Moez Belhassine at ITB, this figure is set to rise to around 400,000 visitors from Germany in 2024.? The conditions for this are good. For families in particular, Tunisia is once again more in focus as an attractively priced medium-haul destination than before the coronavirus pandemic. And the ministry has done a lot to help tour operators expand their programs and boost marketing. Read more
- TURKEY: Turkey is one of the most popular travel destinations in the world. But now inflation has risen again. What holidaymakers need to be prepared for this year. Hotel prices have risen by 10 to 15 percent, depending on the region. Vacationers will have to reckon also with higher expenses in the gastronomy sector. Read more?
