Route 66, New York, San Francisco: for years, the US has been the most popular tourist destination among Germans. But has that popularity lessened since Donald Trump became president? We gauge the mood.
"What does the US have in its favor? "Nature, history, the sun, the friendly people," enthuse two women in their mid-forties. They have just arrived at Berlin's Tegel Airport in a plane from Miami, both wearing shorts, and sporting suntans. They were in the Everglades in Florida. Their only criticism: "Florida in particular is too expensive."
A family with a baggage trolley loaded with large suitcases pushes past them. Tired out after the ten-hour flight from Miami, they have just enough energy for the son to give us a casual thumbs-up. Then his father turns back and says, beaming, "We'll definitely go there again."
Is Trump scaring tourists off?
Ever since Donald Trump was elected US President, experts have feared that many potential visitors from abroad would stay away. In March, Fred Dixon, President of New York City’s official tourism organization, said that Trump's harsh rhetoric and planned travel bans, although thwarted by the US judicial system, had tarnished the image of the US as a hospitable country.
German vacationers, however, appear to be unfazed. Berlin teacher Christiane Schraback is one of them. For 14 years she has organized school exchanges with the state of Missouri during the Easter holidays.
She knows many people in the US and Germany who view Trump critically, but says resolutely, “I will continue the school exchanges anyway.”
What annoys the teacher most is ESTA, the automated procedure that determines whether foreign nationals can travel to the United States without a visa. The students are eligible, but she says the procedure "is constantly being tightened, and not just since Trump has been president.
There are more and more questions about parents, about employers, and now about profiles on social networks. If Europe did that with US citizens, the outcry would be enormous.”
This year, their arrival at the airport in Chicago went well. Caroline, a student, said, “All they asked me was why I wanted to enter the country.” Christiane Schraback confirms that "US immigration officers have become friendlier in the past two years."
More short-notice bookings
Among travel agents, too, the ESTA procedure is much-discussed topic. Nadia Hönow, who owns the Berlin travel agencyReisen à la carte GmbH, reports that many of her customers ask her to help them fill out the forms, a service she is glad to offer. "We've already sold a lot of trips to the US this year.
To date, I have heard no negative comments from my customers. Instead, they've been positive." But she adds that many customers are more hesitant at first and don't jump at the idea of a US vacation. She has also observed another tendency: "Our customers are booking at shorter notice."
Uncertainty and hard numbers
So far, there has been no sharp drop in German travel. Trump's planned ban for travelers from six mainly Muslim countries was blocked by the courts, and the laptop ban applies only to direct flights to the United States from eight airports in the Middle East. To all intents and purposes, these restrictions don't apply to Germans.
Nonetheless, since Trump took office, they have become sceptical of trips to the US, as the market research organization GfK discovered. In January 9% fewer Germans with a general interest in going to the US planned to holiday there.
The organization said it surveyed 19,000 selected households. GfK spokeswoman Dörte Nordbeck confirmed that the survey results for February and March showed no reversal of that trend.
Tilo Krause-Duenow, founder of Canusa, a long-established tour operator in Hamburg that specializes in North American travel destinations, cannot confirm that tendency when it comes to his company.
He says that, since Trump's election in November, there have been stronger and weaker weeks as far as bookings and inquiries are concerned, but that at the end of each month there has consistently been a single-figure rate of growth between 5 and 9% compared to the same period last year. Currently, he says, demand is even increasing.
Krause-Duenow is sure that "more than 50% of our customers are repeat travelers to the US. They don't get let politics bother them very much."
The strong dollar isn't the whole explanation
The experiences of German tour operators have differed in the first quarterly period. When DW asked five operators, the spectrum ranged from a good plus in bookings, to stable numbers, to a reluctance to buy.
Peter Dorner's office is in New York City and he keeps a sharp eye on developments on the ground. He conducts operations for the travel group DER Touristik in the US. "Demand from Europe, and in particular from Germany, has dropped slightly.
One reason for that is certainly the strong dollar. But the discussions surrounding the presidential election aren't exactly good prerequisites for additional US business."
Should the euro strengthen, planes flying to the US would be full again, says Dorner, because "for Europeans, there are no effects once they arrive. The USA is still a very safe travel destination."
Travel offers more diverse than ever before
US national parks are especially popular with Germans. "German tourists want getaways, secluded locations, and adventure holidays," according to a spokeswoman from the official tourist organization BrandUSA, which is creating more offers tailored to German tourists in its current campaign.
Leading German tourism groups such as TUI and Thomas Cook Germany have expanded their US portfolios for 2017. Every year, two million Germans holiday in the United States, the sixth-largest number of international visitors according to country. Shopping in New York, surfing in Florida, driving through California in a recreational vehicle.
New to the range are cruises from Florida to the Caribbean and from New York City to Canada. Despite the subdued beginning to the year, the signs are good that, in 2017, the US might remain Germans' favorite travel destination - despite Donald Trump.
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Showing posts with label German tourists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label German tourists. Show all posts
Thursday, 27 April 2017
GREECE: German Tourists Flocking In To Greece
Tour operators assure that German tourists are regaining their trust and plan ahead for their holidays with Greece being a top destination choice this season.
The situation is very different from last year when tourists had been scared by the terrorist attacks in Paris, Istanbul and Brussels and were hesitant to book holiday packages.
"The willingness of citizens to travel abroad this year is great in all our markets despite the political and economic uncertainty that exists," says Peter Fankhauser, head of the Thomas Cook group and adds that reservations have increased by 10% compared to last year.
The same sentiment prevails in the announcements from Tui and DER Touristik while,baccording to the GfK Consumers' Institute, by the end of March bookings had increased by 5% having reached 64% of last year's total already.
However, last minute bookings are still open, mainly in July and it remains unclear whether reservations will reach or exceed 2015, a record year for tourism.
Greece is the country that attracts many holidaymakers, continuing thus the tradition of recent years. The popular destination benefits from the unstable political situation in Turkey. "At present, tourists are very skeptical about Turkey, and reservations are lower in 2017 than last year," said DER Touristik.
In particular TS, Jahn Reisen, Dertour, Meier's Weltreisen and ADAC are satisfied with the bookings. "Reservations for all destinations are up by single digits," says Rene Hertz, head of DER Touristik for Central Europe.
Having said all this, Spain remains the top preference of Germans. At the same time, tourism destinations in Germany are also greatly expanding, while Egypt is starting to experience a new period of rebirth, as 2016 was a very difficult year for the country and only 654,000 Germans visited it.
The consequences of the recent terrorist attack on the Coptic Christian minority with 40 dead and 110 injured remain unknown.
"Terrorism has an impact on tourist destinations and on travelers' behavior, but it does not affect travel," the FUR Institute reports.
Greek tourism officials are counting on a rise in demand from UAE travellers this year to support growth plans for the sector.
Visitor numbers from the UAE to the Greek capital of Athens jumped 20 per cent from 2015 to 2016, Elena Kountoura, the country’s tourism minister, told The National ahead of the opening of Arabian Travel Market in Dubai on Sunday.
She did not disclose exact figures.
The country now expects exponential growth in travel between the two countries since Emirates began operating a Dubai-Athens-Newark route in March.
The United States is home to the largest overseas Greek community in the world.
Mrs Kountoura said the Emirates flight was "very successful and the best flight they have right now for occupancy, beyond all expectations".
The increase in tourists to Greece from the UAE and wider Mena region, which showed 55 per cent growth year-on-year in 2016, is a promising development for a country beleaguered for almost seven years by a rolling crisis over its €321 billion (Dh1.26 trillion) debt pile, owed to domestic and international creditors, including other European Union member states.
"We expect 30 million visitors in 2017 assuming everything stays like it is," said Mrs Kountoura.
One million direct and indirect jobs
Tourism is worth 20 per cent of our GDP with one million direct and indirect jobs. It is hugely important to us and we have focused on extending the season, promoting different sectors like cultural tourism and religious tourism, pushed to open new markets, like the UAE and China.
Mrs Kountoura said that there was the possibility of meaningful cooperation on the tourism sector between Greece and the UAE.
Dubai has done an amazing job adding attractions and high-end tourists. Greece is known as a value-for-money destination where you can get great deals, and the cost of living is not high.
We were one of the first countries to agree to participate in Expo 2020 because we see the chance of working together. It is a totally different market as our target groups are not the same, we offer a cultural and ancient history combined with an island experience.
The ebullience of Greece’s tourism market, where the UK is third on its list of visitor numbers, could be tempered by the UK’s Brexit decision but is sanguine over the effects.
It has been suggested the no-frills operators such as Ryanair and easyJet may have to leave the UK if they still want to ply their trade in Europe.
We have spoken to UK businesses and they believe everybody want to make a successful business,said Mrs Kountoura. I am not going to second guess complicated conversations but focus on the positive.
The number of inbound tourists from China to Greece in the summer season of 2017 is expected to rise significantly, according to data. The projection is confirmed by a notable increase in tax free sales in Greece in the first 3-month period of 2017 compared to 2016.
A mere 150,000 Chinese tourists visited Greece last year, a number that is estimated to be much higher this year. Data released by Premiere Tax Free Greece show that visitors from China are choosing Greece as a destination, reoccupying first spot among the nationalities, as 31% of all Tax Free transactions was covered by Chinese in the first 3 months of 2017.
Chinese national spend an average of 330 euros with a preference to jewellery and clothing.
Russia, FYROM and the US choose our country with great fervour and contribute to a 60% rise in profits via Tax Free transactions in Athens, Rhodes and Thessaloniki”, said Aggeliki Kalogiannidou, marketing manager of Premiere Tax Free Greece.
She went on to add that purchases were up by 109% for Chinese, 65% by Russians, 87% by Americans and 37% by FYROM and Israel, a 200% rise compared to the first 3-month term of 2016.
Athens Tax Free is on top accounting for 52% of Tax Free transactions, while Thessaloniki came in second. It should be noted that two Chinese cultural exhibitions are scheduled to officially open on Thursday, April 27 in the framework of Sino-Hellenic cultural exchange year at the Byzantine and Christian Museum.
The situation is very different from last year when tourists had been scared by the terrorist attacks in Paris, Istanbul and Brussels and were hesitant to book holiday packages.
"The willingness of citizens to travel abroad this year is great in all our markets despite the political and economic uncertainty that exists," says Peter Fankhauser, head of the Thomas Cook group and adds that reservations have increased by 10% compared to last year.
The same sentiment prevails in the announcements from Tui and DER Touristik while,baccording to the GfK Consumers' Institute, by the end of March bookings had increased by 5% having reached 64% of last year's total already.
However, last minute bookings are still open, mainly in July and it remains unclear whether reservations will reach or exceed 2015, a record year for tourism.
Greece is the country that attracts many holidaymakers, continuing thus the tradition of recent years. The popular destination benefits from the unstable political situation in Turkey. "At present, tourists are very skeptical about Turkey, and reservations are lower in 2017 than last year," said DER Touristik.
In particular TS, Jahn Reisen, Dertour, Meier's Weltreisen and ADAC are satisfied with the bookings. "Reservations for all destinations are up by single digits," says Rene Hertz, head of DER Touristik for Central Europe.
Having said all this, Spain remains the top preference of Germans. At the same time, tourism destinations in Germany are also greatly expanding, while Egypt is starting to experience a new period of rebirth, as 2016 was a very difficult year for the country and only 654,000 Germans visited it.
The consequences of the recent terrorist attack on the Coptic Christian minority with 40 dead and 110 injured remain unknown.
"Terrorism has an impact on tourist destinations and on travelers' behavior, but it does not affect travel," the FUR Institute reports.
Greek tourism officials are counting on a rise in demand from UAE travellers this year to support growth plans for the sector.
Visitor numbers from the UAE to the Greek capital of Athens jumped 20 per cent from 2015 to 2016, Elena Kountoura, the country’s tourism minister, told The National ahead of the opening of Arabian Travel Market in Dubai on Sunday.
She did not disclose exact figures.
The country now expects exponential growth in travel between the two countries since Emirates began operating a Dubai-Athens-Newark route in March.
The United States is home to the largest overseas Greek community in the world.
Mrs Kountoura said the Emirates flight was "very successful and the best flight they have right now for occupancy, beyond all expectations".
The increase in tourists to Greece from the UAE and wider Mena region, which showed 55 per cent growth year-on-year in 2016, is a promising development for a country beleaguered for almost seven years by a rolling crisis over its €321 billion (Dh1.26 trillion) debt pile, owed to domestic and international creditors, including other European Union member states.
"We expect 30 million visitors in 2017 assuming everything stays like it is," said Mrs Kountoura.
One million direct and indirect jobs
Tourism is worth 20 per cent of our GDP with one million direct and indirect jobs. It is hugely important to us and we have focused on extending the season, promoting different sectors like cultural tourism and religious tourism, pushed to open new markets, like the UAE and China.
Mrs Kountoura said that there was the possibility of meaningful cooperation on the tourism sector between Greece and the UAE.
Dubai has done an amazing job adding attractions and high-end tourists. Greece is known as a value-for-money destination where you can get great deals, and the cost of living is not high.
We were one of the first countries to agree to participate in Expo 2020 because we see the chance of working together. It is a totally different market as our target groups are not the same, we offer a cultural and ancient history combined with an island experience.
The ebullience of Greece’s tourism market, where the UK is third on its list of visitor numbers, could be tempered by the UK’s Brexit decision but is sanguine over the effects.
It has been suggested the no-frills operators such as Ryanair and easyJet may have to leave the UK if they still want to ply their trade in Europe.
We have spoken to UK businesses and they believe everybody want to make a successful business,said Mrs Kountoura. I am not going to second guess complicated conversations but focus on the positive.
The number of inbound tourists from China to Greece in the summer season of 2017 is expected to rise significantly, according to data. The projection is confirmed by a notable increase in tax free sales in Greece in the first 3-month period of 2017 compared to 2016.
A mere 150,000 Chinese tourists visited Greece last year, a number that is estimated to be much higher this year. Data released by Premiere Tax Free Greece show that visitors from China are choosing Greece as a destination, reoccupying first spot among the nationalities, as 31% of all Tax Free transactions was covered by Chinese in the first 3 months of 2017.
Chinese national spend an average of 330 euros with a preference to jewellery and clothing.
Russia, FYROM and the US choose our country with great fervour and contribute to a 60% rise in profits via Tax Free transactions in Athens, Rhodes and Thessaloniki”, said Aggeliki Kalogiannidou, marketing manager of Premiere Tax Free Greece.
She went on to add that purchases were up by 109% for Chinese, 65% by Russians, 87% by Americans and 37% by FYROM and Israel, a 200% rise compared to the first 3-month term of 2016.
Athens Tax Free is on top accounting for 52% of Tax Free transactions, while Thessaloniki came in second. It should be noted that two Chinese cultural exhibitions are scheduled to officially open on Thursday, April 27 in the framework of Sino-Hellenic cultural exchange year at the Byzantine and Christian Museum.
Tuesday, 22 March 2016
ISRAEL: Israel Tells Nationals To Avoid Turkey After Istanbul Attack
A day after the fatal blast in Istanbul last week, Israel's Counter-Terrorism Bureau called on Israelis to avoid visiting the Turkey altogether.
“We didn’t dream of such a terrible situation. I was born and raised in Antalya, we had the Gulf War and even then our troubles weren’t this bad," 35-year-old hotelier Bora Adali, who is currently busy trying to sell his three-star hotel, told the Wall Street Journal. “We are facing a big crisis, and its scope hasn't yet been recognized.
The tourism industry accounts for as much as 11 percent of Turkey's GDP, or $170 billion. Russia represented the second largest source of tourists for Turkey after Germany. The loss of Russian tourism could cost Turkey about $7 billion a year, according to analysts.
Tensions have been running high over the past few months, with terror attacks on the rise in Turkey.
In mid-January, a suicide bomber carried out an attack in central Istanbul, killing 12 German tourists. The explosion happened on Sultanahmet Square, close to the Sultanahmet tram stop and the Dikilitas Obelisk of Theodosius, in the heart of Istanbul’s historic tourist district.
In mid-February, 28 people were killed and 61 injured in a blast in Ankara, when a car bomb, reportedly targeting military personnel, went off close to the parliament building. One more blast, caused by a suicide car bombing, hit the center of Ankara on March 13, with at least 37 people killed and 125 injured in the explosion.
A further five people were killed, and 36 others injured after a suicide bombing rocked the main shopping street in central Istanbul last week. Over a dozen of the injured were foreign citizens, including three Israelis, two Irish citizens, a German, an Icelander, an Iranian and a UAE national.
Irem Aktas, a member of Turkey's ruling AK Party, came under fire after she tweeted that she wished that the Israelis who were injured in Saturday’s terrorist attack in central Istanbul would die. Aktas was fired and her provocative tweet removed.
Aktas' comments were brought to public attention by Dr Aykan Erdemir, a former member of the Turkish parliament (2011-2015).
Meanwhile, Ankara has kept repeating its rhetoric like a mantra, urging tourists to come to Turkey, turning a blind eye to domestic terrorism.
"Turkey is your home. You can come to this beautiful and safe country with inner peace, spend your holiday, and avail of the deep history and beautiful nature of this country. We are ready to host you again with our legendary hospitality we have shown you so far," Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said last month.
Earlier this month the world's largest tour operator, TUI, and German travel association (DRV) reported a 40-percent fall in summer holiday bookings to Turkey, with customers turned off by security concerns.
With more and more tourists staying away from Turkish resorts in fear of their lives, hotel occupancy rates have reportedly tumbled by more than half. Numerous Turkish bed-and-breakfasts and boutique resorts have been put up for sale.
According to the Turkish tourism ministry report, December arrivals from Russia were down nearly 47 percent from December 2014 to 25,485.
Russia imposed economic sanctions on Turkey after an Su-24 bomber was shot down by Turkish F-16s over Syria. In November 2015, the Russian government banned all charter flights to Turkey. Russia’s travel industry watchdog Rosturism recommended that all national agencies stop selling tours to Turkey, citing security concerns. Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants were planning to take Russian tourists hostage and use them as human shields, the agency warned.
But Davutoglu said last month that the government expects Russian tourists to come despite tensions between Ankara and Moscow. He also announced an action plan to provide support for the tourism industry, including an $87-million government grant and setting up a facility to allow travel firms to restructure their debts.
Thursday, 18 February 2016
TUI Realizes Deep Fall In Holidays To Turkey,Tunisia And Egypt .
TUI Group, the world’s largest tour operator, reported a 40 percent drop in bookings to Turkey this summer due to safety concerns and said it was investing in Cape Verde and Bulgaria as alternatives to security-threatened North Africa.
Turkey is especially popular with German tourists, but has seen demand slump after a suicide bomber killed 10 Germans in a busy Istanbul square in January.
Russians have been told to stay away by Moscow following the shooting down of a military jet last year.
Turkey has since offered jet fuel subsidies in a bid to stimulate tourism demand.
TUI Chief Executive Fritz Joussen said that around 14 percent of its customers had travelled to Turkey last summer but it expects to send only 1 million tourists there this year, compared with just under 2 million in a usual year.
In addition, the Zika outbreak in the Americas is also troubling the travel industry, although Joussen said demand for the Caribbean was booming and that he expected only a small hit.
TUI has already seen a sharp fall in holidays to Tunisia and Egypt this winter.
But tourists shifting to Spain, in particular the Canary Islands, and Greece, prompted TUI to confirm its forecast for underlying earnings to rise by at least 10 percent on a constant currency basis.
“The Canaries is pretty much booked out,” said Joussen, who is now sole chief executive after co-CEO Peter Long stepped down at Tuesday’s annual general meeting.
Hotel unit Riu was able to increase prices by 13 percent in the first quarter of the current financial year, mainly since the increased demand in the Canaries meant it did not have to offer discounts on last-minute bookings.
But with a package holiday in a five-star hotel in Tunisia costing about the same as for a two-star hotel in the Canaries, TUI is looking for new destinations. Joussen said Bulgaria was comparable to Tunisia price-wise, while the group was also building hotels in Cape Verde.
“We are creating alternatives, but in the long term we believe demand will come back,” Joussen said, adding that he expected demand for Turkey to recover quickly.
TUI reported a first-quarter underlying loss before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) of 101.7 million euros ($114 million), against a loss of 104.8 million one year ago. Travel companies typically report a loss in the first quarter.
It also took a 42 million euro hit from a writedown of its stake in shipper Hapag-Lloyd after a drop in its share price.
Its shares dropped 3 percent after Barclays cut its earnings per share target.
Turkey is especially popular with German tourists, but has seen demand slump after a suicide bomber killed 10 Germans in a busy Istanbul square in January.
Russians have been told to stay away by Moscow following the shooting down of a military jet last year.
Turkey has since offered jet fuel subsidies in a bid to stimulate tourism demand.
TUI Chief Executive Fritz Joussen said that around 14 percent of its customers had travelled to Turkey last summer but it expects to send only 1 million tourists there this year, compared with just under 2 million in a usual year.
In addition, the Zika outbreak in the Americas is also troubling the travel industry, although Joussen said demand for the Caribbean was booming and that he expected only a small hit.
TUI has already seen a sharp fall in holidays to Tunisia and Egypt this winter.
But tourists shifting to Spain, in particular the Canary Islands, and Greece, prompted TUI to confirm its forecast for underlying earnings to rise by at least 10 percent on a constant currency basis.
“The Canaries is pretty much booked out,” said Joussen, who is now sole chief executive after co-CEO Peter Long stepped down at Tuesday’s annual general meeting.
Hotel unit Riu was able to increase prices by 13 percent in the first quarter of the current financial year, mainly since the increased demand in the Canaries meant it did not have to offer discounts on last-minute bookings.
But with a package holiday in a five-star hotel in Tunisia costing about the same as for a two-star hotel in the Canaries, TUI is looking for new destinations. Joussen said Bulgaria was comparable to Tunisia price-wise, while the group was also building hotels in Cape Verde.
“We are creating alternatives, but in the long term we believe demand will come back,” Joussen said, adding that he expected demand for Turkey to recover quickly.
TUI reported a first-quarter underlying loss before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITA) of 101.7 million euros ($114 million), against a loss of 104.8 million one year ago. Travel companies typically report a loss in the first quarter.
It also took a 42 million euro hit from a writedown of its stake in shipper Hapag-Lloyd after a drop in its share price.
Its shares dropped 3 percent after Barclays cut its earnings per share target.
Tuesday, 2 February 2016
TURKEY: Tourism Unpredictable After Deadly Suicide Attack
“Turkey is a very important and popular destination for us,” said Leigh Barnes, vice president, North America for Intrepid Travel. “We did cancel our scheduled day tour departures in Istanbul immediately following the attack. We are planning to resume day tours on Feb. 1 if travelers are keen to book.”
Intrepid operates 16 multi day tour itineraries in Turkey and offers an additional six day tours of Istanbul under its city and day tour brand, Urban Adventures. Intrepid said it is currently off-season in Turkey, so the longer, multi day tour departures are not scheduled to begin again until March. And despite the attack, the company is still expecting to take a few thousand customers on Turkey trips in 2016, similar to the number of people it brought to the destination in 2015.
“To be honest, the attack in Istanbul is an incomparable tragedy,” said Canan Karaarslan, marketing and product manager for Istanbul-based ground operator Fez Travel. “But if such a cowardly attack convinces people not to visit Istanbul, that will be another tragedy.”
But, she added, “We feel that Istanbul is no less safe than Paris or any of the other European capitals.”
On Jan. 12, a suicide bomber believed to be linked to the Islamic State killed 10 people, predominantly German tourists, and injured several others in an attack near the Blue Mosque, a popular tourist attraction.
Gorkem Karakus, director of the Turkish Tourist Office in Washington said that Turkey is working with its allies “to fight against the terror” and is confident the country’s once-thriving tourism industry will rebound this year.
But that rebound was made less certain when several cruise lines canceled calls in Turkey following the attack, including Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, which said it was canceling calls in Turkey for the remainder of 2016 for all three of its brands.
Crystal canceled Turkish calls on two cruises this spring in favor of Greece, and MSC Cruises said its MSC Magnifica wouldn’t call in Turkey until further notice.
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