German market news week 13
German market news week 13
Dear all,
Please find hereby the weekly market news:
Market News:
- Rules for mask wearing as of 2 April: The Corona rules in Germany have been greatly relaxed. However, the incidence rate is still high in most federal states. Will the mask requirement be abolished everywhere from 2 April onward? The dispute over the so-called hotspot regulation for more extensive corona requirements in critical areas is not abating. The states are only allowed a few general protection rules from Sunday, 2 April 2022. With the removal of most Corona rules, many are wondering about wearing a mask. Masks in supermarkets, schools, 3G or 2G access rules - this weekend the federal Corona measures expire. The federal states may continue them due to hotspot regions, but most are planning not to. Resentment still runs deep in the states that the federal government single-handedly reduced the toolbox for containing the pandemic, making it more complicated for everyone. Because of high infection rates, the first federal states are preparing longer protective measures. However, it has not been legally specified what makes an area a hotspot.
- Where Germans want to travel at Easter: In the first quarter of 2022, the travel book publisher Michael Müller, together with the market research institute Argyou, took a close look at the online search behaviour of Germans when planning their trips. The results show that Germans wanted to use the Easter holidays to travel, the Erlangen-based travel book publisher announced. The current trend is Europe. Destinations in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, France and Great Britain are especially popular. Some people are looking even further: the Indonesian island of Lombok is leading the way for island holidays. The very high search volume indicates the strong increase in anticipation among holiday seekers. The search queries of 71 million German internet users in search engines and social media were examined. Lake Como in Lombardy was at the top of the list of German travel wishes, with an average of 13,960 searches per channel, followed by Vienna (13,637), Paris (12,323) and London with 9,890 searches. Normandy was searched 9,872 times. With the Harz Mountains (9,807), a German region is also at the top. Rome (9,411) and Prague (8,653) are also popular Easter destinations. The Austrian region of Carinthia is in 9th place with 8,434 searches
- Booking peak shifts to February: The otherwise typical booking peak in January shifted to February this year. Compared to 2019, the booking gap reduced significantly, but the further outlook is uncertain, according to analysis data provided by Travel Data & Analytics (TDA). The booking wave reached its peak in mid-February, according to the evaluation of holiday travel bookings in stationary travel agencies as well as online on the travel portals of tour operators and online travel agencies (OTAs) with a focus on package tours. In total, holiday travel for almost 1.9 billion euros was booked in travel agencies and on online travel portals in February 2022 – 24 percent more than in January and 13 percent more than in February 2019 as a comparative figure to pre-Corona levels. With the strong booking volume, the balances of the current winter and upcoming summer seasons improve quite significantly: the shortfall of the winter season 2021/22 is reduced by seven percent to 39 percent, that of the summer season 2022 went down by ten percent to minus 38 percent. Compared to the previous month, the booking volume for holidays in March and for Easter in April in particular rose sharply in February: A good quarter of the monthly turnover is accounted for by these two travel months, so that the winter balance sheet can significantly improve. With two-thirds of the monthly turnover, the upcoming summer holiday 2022 dominates the interest of German citizens willing to travel. The current booking volume is highly concentrated: 75 percent of the turnover is accounted for by the holiday destinations around the Mediterranean. Bookings for Spain in February are higher than Greece and Turkey combined. The extent to which the war in Ukraine and the sharp rise in energy prices will continue to affect the good holiday mood cannot be estimated right now, according to the market researchers.
- Cooperation for more climate protection: DER Touristik is the first tour operator in Germany to offer travel including CO2-neutral Lufthansa flights. 80 percent of the CO2 emissions are offset by climate protection projects in Germany and other countries and 20 percent by the use of sustainable biofuels. The trips can initially be booked at Dertour and Rewe Reisen. In the monthly flyer for March, which is available in Rewe stores nationwide, a South England round trip and a Sicily round trip are offered, for which the CO2 emissions of the outward and return flights are offset. At the end of March, the third edition of the Dertour magalogue "Bewusst Reisen" with sustainably certified hotels and experiences will be published. Twelve offers from it can be combined with CO2-neutral Lufthansa flights. These include trips to Majorca, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. With this new cooperation, DER Touristik and Lufthansa want to gain initial experience in the direct integration of flight compensation offers in tour operator travel. In the future, DER Touristik is considering extending the offer to other tour operator brands. "Lufthansa will offer its customers around 50 percent more sustainable offers in the next three years," announces Executive Board member Harry Hohmeister. By 2030, the company's own net CO2 emissions are to be halved compared to 2019, and by 2050 the Lufthansa Group wants to achieve a neutral CO2 balance.
Tour Operator News:
- Neckermann - Restart with about 1,000 hotels: With the insolvency of Thomas Cook in autumn 2019, the tour operator brand Neckermann Reisen also disappeared - now it is celebrating a comeback. The Anex Group, which acquired the brand rights at the beginning of 2020, is offering Neckermann package tours again from 5 April. Around 1,000 hotels in Spain, Greece, Turkey and Egypt can be booked for the summer. Offers for Bulgaria, Italy, Croatia, Portugal and Tunisia are to follow in the course of the season, as well as for the self-drive destinations Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Neckermann is planning a print catalogue for the winter season. The Anex Group currently works with around 4,000 agencies in Germany. The marketing and sales boss is convinced that the number of travel agencies will increase rapidly because of Neckermann's comeback. Top tour operators TUI and FTI are both seeing clear upturns in bookings for this year, enabling the Hanover-based group to 'return' 700 million euros worth of unused state financial support provided during the pandemic.
- TUI and FTI see clear improvement in bookings: TUI Group announced today (March 30) that due to the improving business trends it will return the first part of the credit provided by the KfW bank as financial support during the pandemic, amounting to 700 million euros. As a result of this, its liquidity will be reduced from 4.1 billion euros as of 28 March to 3.4 billion euros as of 1 April. Europe's largest tourism group stressed that it has continued to record good demand and high booking momentum since the start of this calendar year. "The overall booking momentum in our key markets remained largely unaffected by Russia's war on our European neighbour Ukraine. Only in the Nordic countries and in Poland the booking behaviour is more subdued since the start of the war," it commented. TUI Group now has 8.9 million bookings in total for the winter 2021/22 and summer 2022 seasons, with 2.8 million additional bookings since the end of January. As a result, winter bookings are now at 66 percent compared to2018/19. Meanwhile, FTI, Germany's third-largest tour operator, is confident that it can reach 80 percent of its 2019 revenue this year, thanks to improving demand following fluctuations over the past few months. In terms of destinations, demand is strong for Greece and Turkey, good for Spain but lower for Egypt and the UAE, the FTI chief said. FTI sales director Richard Reindl told the conference that customers are clearly ready to spend more on holidays this year and are continuing to book flexible tariffs with attractive cancelation options.
Aviation News:
- Air Baltic launches flights from Hamburg to Vilnius: The Latvian airline Air Baltic will launch a new route between Hamburg and Vilnius on 3 May. Three weekly flights are planned between the Hanseatic city and the capital of Lithuania, which will be operated with an Airbus A220-300. In addition, the airline will launch flights from Frankfurt and Munich to its new base in Tampere, Finland, starting in May. So far, Air Baltic offers connections from up to six German cities to the Baltic capitals: Riga from Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and Stuttgart, Tallinn from Berlin and Munich and Vilnius from Berlin and Munich.
- Air Horizont - From Berlin to Zaragoza: Berlin is getting a new flight connection to Spain. From 29 April, Air Horizont will fly from the capital to Zaragoza on Mondays and Fridays. The Maltese airline, which maintains a base in the northern Spanish city, will operate the route with a Boeing 737-400. Air Horizont normally operates as a charter and wet-lease specialist.
Hotel News:
- Ex-Jumeirah will be the first JW Marriott in Germany: Germany's first JW Marriott opens on 1 April. The striking high-rise in Frankfurt's city centre is not yet up to the usual JW Marriott standard. The high-rise in Frankfurt's "Palais Quartier" has been operating as a Jumeirah Hotel since 2011 and will be run by the Munich-based investment and management company MHP Hotel under the JW Marriott brand from 1 April. It is the first hotel of the luxury brand in Germany and has 218 rooms, a ballroom, four conference rooms, a restaurant and a wellness area with spa. MHP Hotel plans to bring the property up to JW Marriott brand standards over the next 12 months. "This includes the installation of a JW Executive Lounge and a 24-hour fitness area, the redesign of the public areas and the event rooms as well as a touch-up of the guest rooms," says Michael Wagner, Managing Partner of MHP Hotel. In addition, the F&B concept will be restructured.
- Lindner wants to reduce turnover tax in gastronomy: Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) has spoken out in favour of a permanent reduction of VAT in the catering industry. This is to apply to restaurant and catering services. In a letter addressed to the German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga), Lindner justifies this with the continuing difficult economic situation of the industry due to the Corona pandemic. So far, the reduced tax rate of 7 percent instead of 19 percent applies to food in the catering industry until the end of 2022. "Due to the economic situation of catering businesses as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic, I consider it appropriate that the reduced VAT rate for restaurant and catering services continues to apply indefinitely after this date," Lindner writes. He would therefore advocate within the federal government for the deferral. However, the reduced tax rate should not be extended to beverages.
Covid-19 Update :
- Germany lifts general travel warning: Germany now only warns against specifically defined high-risk and virus variant areas. It details the list of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). However, all travellers from abroad must have a negative Corona test on re-entry into Germany. Those who have been fully vaccinated and those who have recovered are exempt from this requirement. Unvaccinated persons coming from a high-risk area must also immediately go into quarantine for 10 days, from which they can be released after the fifth day. Vaccinated and recovered people are exempt upon presentation of a certificate. Online registration with the health office for returnees from high-risk and virus variant areas is mandatory in all cases. Upon return from a virus variant area, all returnees must go into quarantine - regardless of their vaccination status. Quarantine is mandatory for 14 days and cannot be shortened. In addition, proof of a negative PCR test is mandatory. The regulations apply to everyone six years and older. However, under-12s who are not vaccinated can be exempt from quarantine directly upon entry with a negative test. Currently, there are neither high-risk nor virus-variant areas.
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