Hotelbeds Group has announced that bookings measured by room nights from the German source market for its brands–including Hotelbeds, Bedsonline, Tourico Holidays, and GTA—for this summer have already surpassed last year’s. In particular, long-haul destinations are emerging as the preferred choice for Germans on holiday, including traditionally popular U.S. destinations New York and Las Vegas.
Hotelbeds Group’s figures show an overall 12 percent rise in Germans travelling to Asian destinations this summer, led by high growth in Indonesia (Bali), Thailand, and Japan, with noticeable growth for Singapore too. Additionally New York, a traditional summer destination for the German market, has increased significantly from last year and is the second most reserved destination this summer.
German holidaymakers are also flocking back to both Turkey and Egypt, with Turkey experiencing significant growth and Egypt seeing a very high increase in bookings. For example Antalya in Turkey has moved up from 53rd position to 8th place as the most popular destination for German travellers this summer.
Despite the overall growth in room nights for Hotelbeds Group’s bedbanks and increase in both long-haul travel and bookings for Turkey and Egypt, this growth has been offset by a slight downward trend of European city trips. In particular, cities such as London and Barcelona have seen a drop in bookings.
Commenting on this summer’s German travel trends, Carlos Muñoz, managing director of Bedbank, Hotelbeds Group, said, “According to bookings via our bedbank portfolio, Germans are showing higher interest in holidays than this time last year, perhaps reflecting the recent positive economic trends in Germany.”
“But long haul travel is once again a trend for German travellers and perhaps this year’s surprise,” Muñoz continued. “Asian inbound trips have increased by 12 percent and Indonesia, Thailand and even Japan are all seeing strong growth.”
Traditional destinations still however prove irresistible for many German travellers, with Mallorca remaining the favourite destination for German tourists, followed by New York, Crete, and Las Vegas.
