European destinations are gaining ground ahead of the tourist season, as the Gulf region has now been excluded by travel agencies, while even remote areas are affected by the crisis, becoming increasingly expensive, TUI points out, noting that the most popular holiday destinations include Crete, Rhodes, Kos, Majorca and Antalya.
Due to travel warnings issued by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, travel agents in Germany have cancelled all organized trips to the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, which affects a small but wealthy group of German tourists who spend significant amounts on their holidays, noted the ARD, the first channel of the German public television, the spokesperson of TUI, the largest travel company in Europe, Agge Dunhaupt. He also states that the war in Iran affects other areas, such as Thailand, where travel has already become much more expensive, as the intermediate stop for flights was usually at one of the large airports of the Arab states.
“Since these airports are no longer accessible, airlines must use transfer hubs located in much less convenient locations, such as Istanbul and Singapore, resulting in a significant increase in prices in the long-distance travel industry. At the same time, travel agents must bear the higher cost of pre-bookings, the TUI executive explains.
European destinations have always been the most popular and are even more attractive today, with three-quarters of summer bookings being for Europe. “Classic Mediterranean destinations such as Mallorca, Antalya, Crete, Rhodes, Kos and the Canary Islands are particularly popular,” notes Mr. Dunhaupt.
For another year, official data confirm the much-discussed German desire to travel within and outside the country. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the number of domestic trips reached 160 million, the level of the pre-coronavirus pandemic era, while 115 million trips abroad were made. For example, ten years ago, 83 million international trips were recorded. “Geopolitical conflicts may slow down tourism in the short term, but they do not change the strong desire of Germans to travel in the long term,” This is also the opinion of Torsten Schäfer from the German Travel Association, with tourism researcher Julian Reif from the University of Heidelberg agreeing with him in general, while also emphasizing that the current situation is somewhat different, as it is not just a short-term shock caused by the war, but also the realization that “structural conditions for travel” have changed in the affected areas.
Mr. Raife notes, among other things, that thanks to the World Cup in Qatar four years ago, the Gulf states ranked among the world’s top five tourist destinations for the first time, and “with an eye on the impending end of the oil and gas industry, they massively expanded their leisure and entertainment facilities.” Today, these countries face a serious problem. It is telling that in Dubai, the government censors the broadcast of images of Iranian missile attacks, as highlighted in the ARD report.
