Tuesday, July 6th, 2021
Short-term booking continues to be popular
Delta does not slow down German wanderlust
The spread of the delta variant has not yet led to increased cancellations by tour operators. On the contrary: trips booked at short notice are still in demand. However, some companies consider the time to be too early to assess the situation.
According to their own statements, German travel providers have not yet felt any consequences of the delta variant in the booking behavior of customers. Organizers are currently not observing large-scale cancellations due to concerns about corona infections on vacation, as several companies reported on request.
“We are still seeing very high demand, especially for short-term trips during the summer holidays 2021,” said Ralph Schiller, head of the travel company FTI. Even in regions with a strong media focus such as Mallorca, guests reacted calmly, “so that we are currently not reporting any increased number of cancellations for the island”.
The provider DER Touristik is currently also noting “no increased cancellations”. The short-term bookings showed that many customers now want to make up for their summer vacation from 2020, said DER Touristik boss Ingo Burmester. “But we can also see from the inquiries in our service center that the discussion in the media is causing uncertainty among consumers.”
DRV: Too early to have any impact
Andreas Rüttgers, Head of Tourism at the tour operator Schauinsland-Reisen, has so far not seen any negative effects of the Delta variant apart from the most recent cancellations in Portugal. “Since Portugal will no longer be classified as a virus variant area from July 7, the tense situation could also change again here,” he said. All bookings are currently made at very short notice or for the coming winter.
The German Travel Association (DRV) stated that it was too early to quantify the effects of the delta variant on the booking behavior of customers. In general, people’s desire to travel is unbroken. In Portugal, which is particularly affected by the delta variant, organizers have not only canceled trips, but are not accepting any new bookings for the time being. “They closed the systems for a while,” said a DRV spokeswoman.
The world’s largest travel company TUI did not want to comment on the consequences of Delta worries on booking behavior. The organizer Alltours announced that it was too early to make a statement.
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