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The case of Germany – outbound and inbound travel trends

January 08, 2007 |

Germans are increasingly using the internet to make their travel bookings. While online ‘looking’ – researching travel options before a trip/trips – fell by 10% in 2005, online bookings actually increased by 35%. This took the share of trips involving online looking and/or booking to 43%, and that for online booking to 27%.

Germans are increasingly using the internet to make their travel bookings. While online ‘looking’ – researching travel options before a trip/trips – fell by 10% in 2005, online bookings actually increased by 35%. This took the share of trips involving online looking and/or booking to 43%, and that for online booking to 27%.

Further strong growth in online booking in the first eight months of 2006 means that these shares will undoubtedly have increased yet again, although actual internet-booked trips as a share of total trip volume is still well below that in the UK (50%). But one of the main factors influencing online travel demand, and that can be expected to drive demand in the future, is the expansion of German tour operators’ dynamic packaging capabilities. Booking online is easy, quick and often a lot cheaper than buying traditional tour packages.

In line with trends in the rest of Europe, Germans are also taking more and more low-fare flights – both for domestic destinations and abroad. The share of low-fare trips in total air travel volume reached 27% in 2005 and is rising fast. This is also one of the major contributors to the increase in online travel, since most low-fare flights are also booked through the internet.

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