Vacation but cheap.

The Munich tour operator FTI recently advertised three weeks in an all-inclusive hotel in Side, southern Turkey, including a return flight, with a starting price of 599 euros.

This is how customers could read it on the front page of the Lidl-Reisen brochure, which the discounter puts out in its branches.

Timo Kotowski

Editor in Business.

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The company Big Xtra, an FTI subsidiary, is named as the originator of the package tour.

The price is not even 30 euros per day and night.

In fact, the special rate on Tuesday was only available for a travel date with a flight from Cologne, for the time of greater demand at Easter 2023, the three weeks should cost at least around 1000 euros.

But this is also a savings signal.

After a strong holiday summer, in which booking turnover came very close to the pre-corona level, the travel industry is now adjusting to a new price awareness among its customers.

The market leader TUI assumes that Germans will not stay at home, but will pay more attention to the price.

The holiday budgets of many households did not increase.

“No one ignores inflation.

That's why many are looking for bargains or are still waiting a bit before booking," said TUI Germany boss Stefan Baumert on Tuesday.

"Difference between wanting and doing"

Baumert presented a study according to which 74 percent of those questioned would like to travel in the winter months.

He didn't want to swear that so many actually set off.

After all, according to figures from the holiday and travel research community, only 78 percent of the entire pre-pandemic year 2019 embarked on a larger trip.

Baumert spoke of the "difference between wanting and doing".

That means: The desire to go on vacation remains great, but not everyone fulfills their wish - especially not when energy and living costs are increasing.

The new frugality is also shown by the figures from the Yougov survey commissioned by TUI: According to this, every third person wants to make a decision about their trip at short notice, every fourth person is on the lookout for special bargains, and every fifth person switches to cheaper destinations, for every sixth person it seems certain that that the vacation will last fewer days.

It is to be expected that a travel group like TUI will assert that demand is not collapsing.

It is surprising that savings tips that allow at least a little vacation are included.

In the ranking of popular winter destinations, TUI now sees Egypt, with traditionally lower average prices, in second place behind the Canary Islands.

In the past, Egypt only managed fourth place at TUI.

Higher travel prices for summer 2023

The forthcoming winter half-year seems to be the last opportunity for the time being to snag holidays at well-known prices.

"Package holidays are not an inflation driver this winter," said Baumert.

You will not see increases of 8 to 10 percent.

Hotel and flight capacities were largely purchased last spring.

Only for long-distance destinations, for which the purchase is made in dollars, does the changed exchange rate to the euro make it more expensive.

There is less optimism for next summer.

"Purchasing is still going on, which will go hand in hand with price increases," Baumert admitted.

The surcharge will remain smaller for trips to the Mediterranean, while the increased kerosene costs for flights will have a greater impact on long-distance trips.