Finally, the bookings had picked up speed. But the fourth corona wave is now also taking its toll on the travel industry.
Frankfurt / Main (dpa) – The travel industry is threatened with difficult winter months in view of the aggravated Corona situation. In the first two weeks of November, the analysis company TDA noticed a slight downward trend in new bookings in travel agencies and online portals.
It is foreseeable that the corona numbers, which are currently rising sharply, would reduce demand for winter holidays again, TDA announced on Tuesday. In addition, there are currently uncertainties about the new Coronavirus variant Omikron.
In October, the bookings were reportedly still picking up speed. The current winter season was 31 percent below the level of the 2019/20 winter, which was largely unencumbered by the pandemic. In September the minus was 43 percent. Most recently, long-haul destinations such as the USA and Thailand as well as the Dominican Republic, the Maldives and the United Arab Emirates have been in demand.
“The uncertainty as to how the situation will develop is again leading to a noticeable reluctance to make a booking decision,” reported Norbert Fiebig, President of the DRV travel association, which represents tour operators and travel agencies. A significant recovery is not expected until the second quarter of 2022. “But we are optimistic for the coming summer and hope that we will continue to approach the pre-Corona sales level. However, we do not expect a sustainable recovery for the travel industry until 2023. ” The loss of sales at travel agencies and tour operators since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 is estimated at around 24 billion euros.