Crusaders can test their holiday experience in advance at the Caravan, Motor, Touristik (CMT) travel fair in Stuttgart.

In Hall 4, the railing can be seen from afar.

On the stand itself there is a cutout of the ship, a cabin with a double bed, wardrobe and sofa.

It looks cozy.

The slogan "Off to Aida" will attract future vacationers on the first weekend of the fair.

The President of the DRV Travel Association, Norbert Fiebig, is confident about the industry: "I am sure that if there is money, people will travel, and the Germans will realize their vacation plans in 2023." The Germans' desire to travel is back.

This seems to be confirmed at the fair.

Visitors flock in droves.

The fair was canceled for two years due to Corona.

However, the road to pre-pandemic levels will not be easy.

Because the consequences of the Ukraine war, together with inflation, mean that money is not as loose for many people as it used to be.

According to a study by the Research Association for Holidays and Travel (FUR), the number of holiday trips lasting at least five days rose to an estimated 63 million last year.

12 percent less than 2019

That is 13 percent more than in the previous year, but 12 percent less than in 2019, as tourism researcher Martin Lohmann reports.

For the current year 2023, study author Martin Lohmann expects a slight increase to over 65 million trips - in 2019 it was 71 million.

According to the survey, two-thirds of Germans are already planning one or more vacations - even though significantly more people expect to be in a worse financial position in the coming year.

However, around one in four also stated that a trip in 2023 will fail because of money - and thus more than ever in the more than 50 years of travel analysis.

For 2022, only about one in eight had said that.

An 18-year-old woman who doesn't want to give her name stops at the stand of the tour operator Alltours: "I'm interested in Spain or Ireland." Such a trade fair is a good place to find out more.

According to his spokesman Jens Völmicke, Alltours is represented with package tours on site.

"Since September of last year, we have noticed an increased trend towards price-oriented bookings."

High backlog demand

However, thanks to its broad positioning both in the price-conscious segment and in the premium category, the company sees itself well positioned for current market developments.

“Bookings for the summer of 2023 are above both the previous year and the pre-crisis year 2018/19.

Travel is a basic need and there is still a lot of catching up to do.”

But there are also those who are not doing so well.

Lohmann says: "This is not a big problem for tourism because these people have traveled less before.

But that's questionable from a social point of view." 80 percent of people with a net household income of over 4,000 euros are definitely planning a vacation.

Under 2000 euros per month, it is only 47 percent.