Tour operators on Monday made a positive assessment of this summer’s holiday season after two years of crisis sparked by the novel Coronavirus pandemic.
Holidaymaker numbers far exceeded previous forecasts. TUI recorded 53% more bookings in July-August this year than in the corresponding months of 2021. It also recorded a 70% increase in the number of holiday flight bookings between Summer 2021 and Summer 2022, while driving holidays increased by 38%.
At Neckermann, July was a particularly good month, representing 58% of the turnover for the summer months as a whole.
The tour operators observe that, unlike people in other European markets, Belgians booked their summer holidays very late due to lingering doubts about the coronavirus. Four out of ten bookings were made after 15 June at TUI, while 37% of Neckermann's trips for July and August were booked at the “last minute”.
The most popular destinations remained the same as before the health crisis, namely Spain, Greece and Turkey. Neckermann adds that long-haul destinations such as the United States, Far East, Mexico and the Caribbean have also started to grow again but remain far below pre-Covid levels.
