DRV: Greece Among Top Summer 2023 Travel Destinations for Germans

ITB Berlin 2023, opening press conference: Katie Gallus, Moderation; Norbert Fiebig, President of the German Travel Association DRV; Charuta Fadnis, Senior Vice President, Research and Product Strategy of Phocuswright; H.E. Levan Davitashvili, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia; Dirk Hoffmann, Managing Director of Messe Berlin; and David Ruetz, Senior Vice President Travel + Logistics Messe Berlin. Photo source: ITB Berlin

The top five summer 2023 travel destinations for German travelers are Turkey, Spain, Greece, Egypt and Portugal, according to the president of the German Travel Association (DRV), Norbert Fiebig.

Speaking at the opening press conference of the ITB Berlin 2023 tourism exhibition in Germany on Monday, Fiebig said trends are pointing towards an optimistic outlook for travel in 2023.

“Germany wants to travel! The early birds are back and the travel agencies and tour operators have entered into this year at full speed,” DRV’s president said.

Top-sellers: Countries along Mediterranean coastline

According to a study conducted by Travel Data + Analytics (TDA*) for DRV, around 40 percent of total booking revenue for the upcoming summer will be generated by destinations of the Eastern Mediterranean, with Turkey, Greece and Egypt at the top of the list.

“This makes us confident for travel year 2023, despite the well-known uncertainties of global political and economic developments,” Fiebig said, adding that DRV expects to reach the level of the record year 2019.

“We almost hit the target in summer of 2022. Only 2 percent missing in order to beat the summer record of 2019,” he said.

ITB Berlin 2023, opening press conference: Katie Gallus, Moderator with Norbert Fiebig, President of the German Travel Association (DRV). Photo source: ITB Berlin

TDA’s data shows that this year’s summer business has been driven by Turkey, which has seen extremely strong growth to this point and has moved up to first place in terms of bookings. Cumulatively, tour operator revenues for Turkey have doubled compared with the previous year. In comparison with pre-Corona figures, they have also grown by 25 percent.

Spain also remains popular and is almost on a par with Turkey, landing in second place in terms of bookings and is followed by Greece, Egypt and Portugal.

Most of the bookings since the beginning of the year – around two-thirds – are for the summer months between May and October.

“We are witnessing a huge demand for vacations, not just for the summer season! Germans are ranking holiday travel high in their priorities,” Fiebig said.

Overall, the signs for the entire vacation year are good with optimism based not only on the re-emerging trend toward early booking for the summer. A large part of those willing to go on vacation are currently still booking for the winter season, which is still ongoing until the end of April.

Greece among destinations of choice for Easter, May vacations

According to the data, for the Easter vacations in April, most vacationers, who booked a package tour, prefer destinations in Egypt, the Canary Islands and Turkey, followed by the Balearic Islands, the Maldives, Greece and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Thailand, Portugal and the Dominican Republic account for the rest of the ten destinations most in demand (ranking by sales).

For the travel month of May, the Mediterranean countries of Spain, Turkey and Greece account for 65 percent of total sales.

German Travel Association (DRV) President Norbert Fiebig speaking during ITB Berlin’s opening press conference. Photo source: ITB Berlin

Moreover, Fiebig said that cruise bookings are also up significantly this year.

“The cruise industry already made an impressive recovery last year after heavy Corona losses. Germans want to get back on the cruise ships – both at the sea and on the rivers. Travel agents surveyed by us see cruising as a major trend this year,” he said.

TDA data also shows that the long-haul destinations such as USA, Maldives and Mauritius also show large increases.

Long-haul travel is coming back strong with an 80 percent increase in revenue compared to summer 2022.

German travel spending doubled in 2022

According to DRV, the travel spending (pre-booked services) of the Germans in 2022 doubled year-on-year – from 28.8 billion euros to the current figure of 58.6 billion euros. Compared with the pre-Corona figure of 69 billion euros, it is still down by 15.7 percent.

“This was mainly due to existing Corona restrictions in the winter season… Despite the difficult political situation our world is facing and the economic uncertainties, the travel industry has started promising into 2023. Travel agencies and tour operators are gearing up and racing ‘full speed’,” Fiebig said.

German Travel Association (DRV) President Norbert Fiebig. Photo source: ITB Berlin

Stable, trouble-free air traffic is essential

During the press conference, DRV’s president also appealed to those involved at airlines, airports and security services and highlighted that “trouble-free air traffic” is needed to meet the rising demand for travel this year.

“The travel industry is ready for take-off in 2023… The various players have already got a lot done – but there is also still a lot to be ensured to secure trouble-free air traffic during the peak holiday season. The target is clearly set: Relaxed vacations right from the beginning,” he said.

With the slogan “Open for Change”, the world’s leading travel trade show ITB Berlin opened its doors on Tuesday for the first time as an event for B2B visitors only.

ITB Berlin 2023 will run until Thursday, March 9.

* TDA analyzes booking data collected from travel agencies and online travel portals that offer tour operator products.