German tourism sector expects rebound to pre-pandemic highs by 2023

BERLIN, March 6 (Reuters) – The war in Ukraine and the cost of living crisis are not dampening German consumers’ appetite for holidays, industry body DRV said on Monday, forecasting a return to record sales in 2023. before COVID-19. pandemic.

The year got off to a good start, with revenue from travel agencies and online booking platforms doubling year-on-year in January and up 12% from the same month in 2019, the DRV said.

“Holidays in general have a high priority for people. This gives us optimism despite the known uncertainties of geopolitical and economic developments,” DRV Chairman Norbert Fiebig said at the opening. of the ITB travel fair in Berlin.

Fiebig said he expects revenue this year to return to the record high of 2019, when consumers spent 98 billion euros ($104.29 billion) on vacation, including 69.5 billion in booked trips and the rest in excursions and other items at their destination.

The German travel industry has already approached this level in 2021, when sales amounted to 84 billion euros, almost double those of 2020, according to the DRV.

(Report by Ilona Wissenbach and Rachel More, edited in Spanish by Tomás Cobos)