TUI: German Tourists Choose Greece Over Turkey for Summer 2017 Holidays

Greece has replaced Turkey as the second most popular destination for German tourists, tour operator TUI Germany said in an announcement on Thursday.

The travel giant said that summer 2017 holiday bookings to Greece have already reached 41 percent compared to last year.

“Greece is emerging as the most favored destination since the beginning of the season, continuing its good performance of last summer”, TUI Germany noted.

The tour operator said that its customers that choose Greece for their summer 2017 holidays will find a significantly expanded range of options on popular islands such as Crete, Rhodes and Kos.

This summer TUI will launch new direct flights to Kos from Hanover, Nuremberg, Stuttgart and Basel, as well as from Berlin Schönefeld Airport to Crete and Rhodes.

Germans are booking early for summer 2017

TUI Germany said that demand is encouraging for the tourism sector as Germans are once again booking their summer holidays earlier.

“Right now we see are seeing a significant recovery. Many Germans who did not go on holiday last year are booking especially early this year”, Sebastian Ebel, president of TUI Germany, said.

According to TUI Germany, data so far shows that classical destinations around the Mediterranean are particularly  benefiting from the positive start of the season, with Greece in the lead. Demand for Spain, the first most popular destinations of Germans, Italy and Croatia remains strong. Moreover, travel to Egypt is recovering gradually and the country is already seeing a double-digit growth in bookings from Germany.

TUI Germany added that German bookings to long-haul destinations are also showing a substantial increase (25 percent) this year, with Mexico recording the largest growth of some 71 percent.