The winners of this year’s tourist season in TUI’s bookings in the German market include Greece, with Crete, Rhodes and Kos among the top five most popular destinations for the tour operator’s customers, with the tourist season extending to all three destinations even until the end of November. Mallorca, however, remains TUI Germany’s number one destination.
The leading tour operator has significantly expanded its schedule this summer season compared to last year, with Mallorca dominating bookings and Antalya following in second place in the ranking. While, the top five is completed by three Greek islands, Crete, Rhodes and Kos.
Bulgaria is making a comeback this summer, with TUI fly again flying to the country direct from Hannover, while newcomer Albania is receiving more and more bookings.
300,000 additional seats to popular destinations
TUI has reacted particularly quickly to the current changes in the German travel market and has added 300,000 additional seats to its programme. “In Turkey and Egypt in particular, we were the first tour operator to initiate discussions with tourism ministries, associations and partners and secured additional hotel beds. But we were also able to increase our quotas in the Balearic and Canary Islands, Greece and the Emirates and to sign long-term contracts with hotels. In this way, we are not only supporting our local partners, but also expanding our offer in the interest of travellers in the most popular holiday destinations,” said Stefan Baumert, Chairman of TUI Germany.
TUI fly: 15,000 additional seats
TUI recently extended its summer holidays until the end of autumn in response to strong demand. “Holidaymakers want to extend the summer so they can enjoy the warm days in the Mediterranean into November,” Baumert explained.
In this context, this year TUI is extending the season in Crete until 23 November, which is 38 weeks or 268 days. For Heraklion alone, TUI fly is offering 39 additional flights. While extended booking options until 9 November are offered for Rhodes and Kos thanks to the additional flights.
According to the tour operator, holidaymakers can enjoy warm temperatures, less crowded attractions and attractive offers from hoteliers and airlines. As for active and sporty travellers, they will find the best training conditions on the Greek islands in autumn, for example, at Robinson Ierapetra in Crete or TUI Magic Life Plimmiri.
The USA top long-haul destination
The US remains the top long-haul travel destination with New York attracting the highest volume of visitors this summer. Thailand takes second place in the ranking and the United Arab Emirates is in third place, with Dubai leading the way, up almost 30% year-on-year. This is followed by the Maldives, Indonesia, Mauritius and Mexico. Emerging destinations with high booking growth are Kenya, Japan, Sri Lanka and Jamaica.
