Anyone who books a trip spontaneously will have to dig deeper into their pockets this summer, according to the Tui boss. If you are unlucky, you can even go away empty-handed.
Berlin/Hanover - Summer is approaching, and with it the most beautiful weeks of the year. But if you haven't booked your holiday yet, you may have to dig deeper into your pocket than planned. A study has shown that Germans have to pay more for a trip than tourists from other countries.
But that's just a downer. As early as January, the tourism giant Tui reported that higher prices and reduced capacities were to be expected for short-term travel bookings for the 2023 summer vacation. Above all, travelers with concrete ideas about a holiday region or hotel could only go away empty-handed or pay extra in the summer if they book at short notice.
Tui boss with an urgent warning: In some holiday resorts there are no more free hotel beds
Now the Tui boss has once again pointed out that booking cheap flights or hotels at short notice is not a good idea. Sebastian Ebel thinks the time of cheap flights is finally over and has warned of high prices for spontaneous bookings in summer. Tui recorded exceptionally high demand in the first summer after the end of the Corona pandemic, he told Bild am Sonntag. Greece is best booked. In some resorts, there are almost no free hotel beds, Ebel said.
Greece, here the town of Oia on the Cyclacic island of Santorini, is the best seller © of the travel group Tui McPHOTO/B. Bachmann/imago
2023 will therefore not be a "last-minute summer" as in previous years. "On the contrary, prices will be higher rather than cheaper shortly before departure, because hoteliers and airlines also know that there will still be a lot of bookings at short notice," says Ebel. Spontaneous bargains would be the absolute exception.
Tui boss with an urgent warning: When it comes to air travel, demand is greater than supply
In the case of air travel, the Tui boss draws attention to an additional problem, here would be the reduction of capacities at the airports. The demand for holiday flights exceeds the supply. "That's why these low-cost offers with selective exceptions for marketing campaigns will no longer exist as they used to."
Tui had gotten into dire straits during the Corona crisis and had taken advantage of government capital injections, bonds and credit lines amounting to around 4.3 billion euros. In the meantime, TUI has repaid all state aid.