The COVID-19 pandemic could not diminish Germans' love of travel forever. On the contrary, vacations are still a top priority for many, according to a recent survey by Germany's Holiday and Travel Research Association.
This is confirmed by Professor Ulrich Reinhardt, a tourism researcher who heads the Foundation for Future Studies. "Many Germans are not prepared to forgo relaxing, getting a break from their everyday lives, enjoying new experiences, the sun, the beach and the ocean," Reinhardt told DW.Domestic tourism has bounced back, too. The German hospitality industry recorded 47 million overnight stays in May this year, which marks a 5.8% rise compared with the pre-COVID-19 period.
That said, the COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly changed how and when people travel for work. "Changes brought about by coronavirus are most obvious and probably most lasting in the area of business travel," says a spokeswoman for the Federal Association of the German Tourism Industry . She adds that "in particular, digitalization and the use of video-conferencing has meant that there is significantly less business travel now than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The long-term impact of the pandemic can also be felt in the aviation sector. According to the latest statistics from the German Airports Association , the number of passengers at German airports in the first five months of 2023 was still 27% below the same period in 2019. The area most affected are domestic flights. Whereas 2.1 million passengers embarked on domestic flights in May 2023, that figure was more than double in May 2019.
Despite such rising costs and inflation, people are still keen to catch up on travel now that the pandemic is over, says tourism researcher Ulrich Reinhardt. This is reflected, for example, in holiday durations. In 2022, Germans spent an average 13 days on holiday, which is almost two days longer than in 2021. In the years prior to the pandemic, Germans had been taking ever shorter holidays. The reverse seems to be happening now.