Mixed year for specialist tour operators

TRAVEL WORLD

Germany’s many specialist tour operators have seen fluctuating fortunes this year although most have grown with a mix of new products, according to fvw’s latest market overview.
Medium-sized and small tour operators in Germany have generally profited from the stable growth of the organised travel market this year. On a combined basis, these specialists increased their revenues by 5.8% this year compared to overall market growth of 4.2%, and slightly increased their share of the market to about one third, the fvw dossier on the German tour operator market showed.
The largest ‘specialist’ segment comprises the ‘dynamic packages’ tour operators who combine available flight and hotel capacity at the latest prices. They grew well this year thanks to plenty of available airline seats due to over-capacity on short- and medium-haul routes.
The largest, Vtours, increased revenues by 2.9% to €176 million this year, with passenger numbers up 9% to 446,000. Rival JT Touristik made up ground with 16% growth to €175 million and an 18% rise to 330,000 passengers. But LMX Touristik grew even faster, with revenues up 61% to €136 million on a 79% surge in customer numbers to 279,000. Tropo grew at a double-digit rate to €82 million and 149,000 passengers.
Business was more mixed for ‘destination specialists’ due to fluctuating demand in some major destinations. Turkey specialist Bentour suffered a 9.5% drop in revenues to €86 million and a similar fall in customers to 100,000. Greece specialist Attika Reisen shrank by 21% to just €20 million and 24,000 customers. In contrast, Portugal specialist Olimar grew by 8.8% to €74 million with passenger volumes up 10% to 124,000, while North America tour operator Canusa increased revenues by 6% to €70 million and had 49,000 customers.
The cultural holidays specialists mostly performed well. Studiosus/Marco Polo increased revenues by 3% to €258 million while customer numbers grew 4.6% to 103,800. TUI’s study tours subsidiaries Gebeco/Dr Tigges had a slight 1.2% revenue rise to €116 million on a 1% rise to 58,500 customers. Among the active holiday specialists, Wikinger Reisen achieved double-digit growth with an 11% rise to revenues of €91 million, while ‘best ager’ specialist Mediplus increased revenues by 11% to €80 million with slightly higher customer numbers.
In other segments, Deutsche Bahn’s rail holidays subsidiary Ameropa had a 5% drop in revenues to €107 million and a 2% fall in passenger numbers to 500,000, mostly due to lower demand for Switzerland, while holiday homes specialist InterChalet had stable revenues of €133 million despite rising online competition.

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