Germans’ winter tourism bookings rise, but still below pre-COVID levels

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germans’ tourism bookings for the 2022/23 winter were down 33% as of the end of August compared with the pre-COVID winter of 2018/19, but sales are up significantly on the winter of 2021/22, the DRV travel association said on Wednesday.

Though most destinations are still below turnover figures of the 2018/19 winter, the Maldives are already achieving the turnover level of the pre-COVID winter half-year and Turkey is significantly higher, with a 16% increase, the DRV said.

“Germans are booking their holidays – as has been typical since the beginning of Corona – at much shorter notice than in previous years,” the DRV added in a statement.

(Writing by Paul Carrel, editing by Rachel More)