Is Germany getting the travel bug again? The first travel giants, airlines, railways and bus companies are already increasing their offers for the summer. Hotel operators and restaurateurs in German tourist strongholds are hopeful about the summer. But how expensive will the vacation be in summer 2021 and which countries are the focus? FOCUS Online makes the big vacation check.
The travel industry looks to the summer with hope. Many travel agencies are bringing their employees back from short-time work and are putting promotional offers in their shop windows again. Also first Job offers are advertised in the network. The Duisburg tour operator Schauinsland-Reisen wants to bring its 450 employees back from short-time work on June 1st.
The optimistic mood in the travel industry has to do with increasing demand. It is now important for consumers: the earlier you book, the cheaper your summer vacation will be.
Industry experts consider last-minute bargains in July or August to be possible in summer, but extra requests are then difficult to implement. “If you travel on a certain day, arrive at a certain time or want to book a hotel in the best beach location, need a double room and don’t want to miss out on a sea view, you should go to a travel agency now,” says a Tui travel agency in Munich . “Since the incidence in the city fell to below 50, we have been busy again,” says the employee.
But what do consumers need to know for their summer vacation?
Travel industry wants testing but not quarantine
“Demand will not be our greatest challenge,” Norbert Fiebig, President of the German Travel Association (DRV), confidently believes. “What seems important for many families who have not yet been vaccinated is that the mandatory quarantine requirement is relaxed and replaced by mandatory testing,” said Fiebig in a press release.
CovPass app – digital vaccination pass: This is how the German app solution works
The European Union wants to put an end to the strict quarantine rule soon. At the start of a new entry and exit procedure, a distinction should no longer be made between vaccinated, recovered and tested people at the airport from mid-June.
If you want to travel within the EU, you only need the “Digital Green Certificate”. EU citizens and travelers to the EU should be able to travel without any problems with proof of vaccination or recovery as well as with a PCR or antigen rapid test. All quarantine regulations are to be dropped at the start of the certificate within the EU. Regions in which a virus mutation forms remain an exception.
Better book a rental car now
Many travelers want to be flexible on vacation, not tying their relaxation to bus departure times. Once again you want to be quiet, to join the long queue in front of bus stations. But travel experts warn: If you want a cheap small car in July or August, you should look for an offer now.
The prices rise with the increasing demand because the supply of small vehicles cannot be increased automatically. As the “Mallorca Zeitung” reports, surcharges of 300 percent for a small rental car are not uncommon.
- Case study Fiat 500: At the beginning of May, travelers were able to book the popular speedster on Mallorca for two weeks for a bargain of 370 euros. Makes a daily price of 26.40 euros. Back then there was not much going on on the island and demand was rather low. One month later, the Whitsun holidays are in Germany, the incidences are falling and the tourist prices are rising on the holiday island. Anyone who wants to secure the Fiat 500 for two weeks now pays 990 euros. That makes a daily price of 70.70 euros – and a price premium of almost 300 percent. During the Whitsun holidays there are hardly any vehicles on the island for less than 100 euros – and this could be repeated in the summer.
Bahn increases summer schedule
The summer schedule of Deutsche Bahn will be massively increased from the beginning of July. Then travelers can travel more frequently by train to popular holiday regions in Germany and Austria over the summer months of July, August and September.
These include the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, Rügen, East Friesland, Tyrol and Lake Constance. According to the press release, Deutsche Bahn wants to offer almost 10,000 additional seats in popular ICE and IC connections. If you strike now, you can get cheap offers for yourself and your family. A 50 percent discount is included if you book early.
- Good to know: The train is discontinuing the popular Baltic Sea ticket. Customers could use it to travel cheaply from Berlin or Brandenburg to the Baltic Sea. Travelers can book the ticket for 44 euros up to June 12th – for journeys up to June 26th. The offer will then be replaced by the Quer -übers-Land-Ticket (from 42 euros) or the Stadt-Land-Meer-Ticket (from 24.50 euros).
What applies to Flixbus and Co.?
Flixbus and BlaBlaCar are also planning a new start after a year of Corona. Flixbus gradually ramped up its offer at the end of March and is now on the important routes between Frankfurt and Munich, Dresden and Hamburg, and Berlin and Hamburg. The company uses active filters on its bus trips, which, according to its own information, can filter out 99 percent of the aerosols.
In an interview with FOCUS Online, bus drivers from Flixbus explain that many travelers still have concerns because tourism is not yet ramped up. “I think it will really start in mid-July,” says bus driver Peter Zell from Stuttgart. “In order to make travel destinations interesting, the price-performance ratio has to be right. We need excursion destinations, cafés, city tours, boat trips and also amusement parks,” he says.
Meanwhile, Flixbus competitor BlaBlaCar wants to bundle the business with carpooling and long-distance buses. From June 10th, the company will start again under the name BlaBlaCar. Consumers can already book their trips now. The company’s goal is to double the bus network across Europe by the end of 2022.
This applies to hotel and flight bookings
HRS boss Tobias Ragge held a conversation with him in mid-May FVW trade journal still coveredt. During the tough lockdown phase, hotel bookings fell by up to 95 percent, and HRS has since noticed an increase in demand. A lot is being booked again in Germany and for holiday accommodation.
For many hotel owners, however, it will be a difficult year because the heavy revenue losses from the previous year and from the first half of 2021 are putting operators under pressure. The travel industry apparently believes that there will be a cleanup. How many hotels will survive remains to be seen.
The Germans are still feeling the wanderlust. Many travel companies want to position themselves broadly during the high season in summer. According to board member Sebastian Ebel, TUI is focusing this year on Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Greece.
FTI expects that most of the in-house hotels in the Canary Islands will be fully available again from July. The first FTI hotels have already welcomed travelers from Germany. Here, too, one hopes for a booking push through simpler entry regulations. According to information from FOCUS Online, Fuerteventura should be the focus. FTI wants to offer direct connections with its own charter flights from several German airports. DER Touristik also mixes up the Canary Islands. The company cooperates with the Czech provider Smartwings to fly to Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura cheaply and directly from Germany.
What do Flex tariffs bring?
Pay a little more, but can cancel free of charge up to two weeks before departure without giving a reason: Tour operators are currently advertising such flex tariffs. However, vacationers should weigh up whether they really need such a tariff in addition to travel insurance.
Karolina Wojtal from the European Consumer Center in Germany points out that two thirds of all trip cancellations were made within the last 14 days before the start of the trip. The organizers’ flexible tariffs no longer apply here. Although they are a good addition, they do not completely replace the conclusion of travel cancellation insurance.
In addition, the flex tariffs do not apply to every offer made by the organizer. “Here I should take a closer look: Does this also apply specifically to my booking? If in doubt, I should have this confirmed again in writing,” advises Wojtal.
Is travel cancellation insurance worth it?
Travel cancellation insurance takes effect, for example, in the event of illness, accident, unemployment or the death of a close relative. Personal risks are therefore covered. However, the insurance does not pay, for example, in the event of a travel warning or if a lockdown is imposed again at the holiday destination.