Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport Insolvent airline Small Planet Airlines Germany loses tour operators but hopes for investors Insolvent leisure carrier Small Planet Airlines Germany is hoping for a last-minute buyer as it loses major customers, including TUI and Thomas Cook. ...more by Paul Needham – Wednesday, October 24, 2018
Klaus Hildebrandt Summer 2019 programme FTI opens up new destinations as double-digit growth continues German tourism group FTI has maintained strong double-digit growth this year and is adding new destinations in Egypt, Turkey and Greece along with more own-brand hotels for summer 2019. ...more by Paul Needham – Wednesday, October 24, 2018
TUIfly Fleet expansion TUIfly launches flights to Cyprus TUIfly is expanding its fleet and adding new destinations, including Cyprus where local carrier Cobalt Airways has become Europe’s latest insolvent airline. ...more by Paul Needham – Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Thomas Cook Joint venture Thomas Cook raises €40m for Mediterranean hotel investments Thomas Cook Hotel Investments, a joint venture between Thomas Cook and property group LMEY, has raised €40 million to acquire hotels in Greece and other Mediterranean destinations. ...more by Paul Needham – Monday, October 22, 2018
Thomas Cook European Aviation Symposium Top speakers fly in for new fvw conference International airline executives and aviation experts will be among the big-name speakers at the inaugural European Aviation Symposium at Munich Airport in January, discussing hot topics such as capacity limits, regulation and the impact of Brexit on the European air travel market. ...more by Paul Needham – Thursday, October 18, 2018
Troll Tours Insolvent tour operator Investors eye Troll Tours Insolvent German tour operator Troll Tours has secured bookings until end-November and is in talks with potential investors. ...more by Paul Needham – Wednesday, October 17, 2018
DRV DRV conference German development minister calls for tourism industry action The tourism industry should do much more to promote tourism to Africa and other developing regions to create jobs while supporting sustainability, according to German development minister Gerd Müller. ...more by Paul Needham – Tuesday, October 16, 2018
DRV DRV conference Fiebig hails “excellent” tourism year The German travel industry has had an “excellent” year with strong revenue growth, although profits are lagging due to high costs, according to Norbert Fiebig, president of the German travel industry association DRV. ...more by Paul Needham – Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Marco Limberg Summer 2019 programme Alltours grows despite Spain decline German tour operator Alltours will post solid revenue growth of 6% for 2018 in spite of lower bookings for Spain and is targeting similar growth next year with higher average prices. ...more by Paul Needham – Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Tobias Pusch Summer 2019 programme Schauinsland turns 100 with record results and expansion plans German tour operator Schauinsland-Reisen is celebrating its centenary with strong growth this year along with hotel and flight expansion plans for 2019. ...more by Paul Needham – Tuesday, October 09, 2018
Troll Tours Thomas Cook partner Troll Tours declares insolvency German tour operator Troll Tours, a specialist in Northern European destinations and long-time Thomas Cook partner, has declared insolvency due to heavy losses with Iceland bookings. ...more by Paul Needham – Tuesday, October 09, 2018
Studiosus/Parzinger Cultural holidays Studiosus generates solid growth and expands specialist tours Germany’s leading cultural holidays tour operator has achieved solid growth this year thanks to a comeback for Islamic destinations and will offer more special tours for different customer segments next year. ...more by Paul Needham – Thursday, October 04, 2018
Jan-Timo Schaube fvw Workshop Turkey German tour operators predict strong bookings for 2019 The German market looks set to grow strongly for Turkey next year despite higher hotel prices but more promotion is needed for Istanbul, according to participants at the recent fvw workshop Turkey. ...more by Paul Needham – Wednesday, October 03, 2018
fvw Tourism Real Estate Summit Hotels seek financing as Germany tourism booms Tourism in Germany is growing strongly but hotels in coastal destinations often struggle to secure financing despite good bookings and innovative concepts, according to leisure travel real estate experts. ...more by Paul Needham – Wednesday, October 03, 2018
Airport Weeze Airport cutbacks Ryanair closes Bremen base and downsizes Weeze Ryanair will shut down its base at Bremen and downscale operations at Weeze, near Düsseldorf, within the next few days following a profit warning and the latest strikes in Germany. ...more by Paul Needham – Tuesday, October 02, 2018
TUI AG / Christian Wyrwa Global ambitions TUI wants to enter US travel market Europe’s biggest tourism group not only wants to expand in Asia but even enter the US travel market through online sales, according to CEO Fritz Joussen who has also confirmed TUI’s profit forecast for this year. ...more by Paul Needham – Thursday, September 27, 2018
AZUR air Leisure airlines Azur Air ends flights as tour operators support insolvent Small Planet Airlines Loss-making start-up leisure airline Azur Air has stopped all flights but tour operators are staying loyal to insolvent charter carrier Small Planet Airlines. ...more by Paul Needham – Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Christian Wyrwa Profit warning Thomas Cook suffers sunstroke as heatwave keeps holidaymakers at home Thomas Cook expects profits to drop 15% this year after the long hot summer in northern Europe persuaded many customers not to go abroad on holiday, resulting in excess capacity that sparked heavy price-cutting. ...more by Paul Needham – Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Christian Wyrwa fvw Kongress Millennials want individual travel experiences, not package holidays The travel industry needs to offer millennials an individual travel experience with better marketing instead of old-fashioned package holidays, two top managers said at last week’s fvw Kongress. ...more by Paul Needham – Tuesday, September 25, 2018
CHRISTAN WYRWA fvw Kongress Start-ups seek success and Touristik Champions win awards Start-ups pitched their business case to top managers at last week’s fvw Kongress in Cologne while Germany’s 10 best travel agencies picked up awards. ...more by Paul Needham – Monday, September 24, 2018
