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Hardly anyone can wait for the 2020 summer vacation because nobody knows how and where it will take place. Only one thing is for sure: most are still waiting for reservations. In any case, the holidays will be different: the distance rules include everything.
Finally there is a prospect that the borders will reopen from mid-June. But that is not certain. A second wave of contagion with a new closure can frustrate all hopes as fast as restaurants are now allowed to reopen.
It is unclear whether the beach vacation planned many months ago in the Mediterranean or the reserved cruise will take place. The big tour operators practice optimism and repeat like a prayer wheel that everything is fine: “There is no good reason why the Germans have to do without their well-deserved vacation,” says Tui’s boss, Friedrich Joussen.
The mega bankruptcy seven months ago
However, confidence in the particular tourist package has suffered in recent months, for two reasons: first, tens of thousands of people in Germany were killed in the fall and winter last fall, that of Thomas Cook’s travels. , Neckermann and Bucher, Vital Touristik or Öger Tours had booked and paid. The unthinkable had happened: no client had expected the bankruptcy of the second largest tour operator in Europe.
Confidence in the tour package immediately disappeared. As a result, it became clear that the much-touted bankruptcy protection is not very helpful because the sum insured is not enough. In Germany, the state, i.e. the taxpayer, now has to step in to reimburse deceived customers for the difference that only part of their money has been returned by Zurich Insurance.
A second lesson can be gleaned from the bankruptcy of Thomas Cook: The financially troubled travel group operated a risky business model for years and played by time. Hoteliers in vacation spots often only paid after customers were gone. On the other hand, the salaries of the organizer’s employees were financed with current income, that is, with the clients’ initial payments for trips that had not yet started.
This model cannot and cannot go well and unfortunately it will not continue to be an isolated case. As a result, bankruptcies in tourism always accumulate at the end of the peak season: payments to service providers are due in September. At the same time, cash flow decreases due to the lower number of new reserves. September has also become bankruptcy month for airlines.
The coupon solution as a panacea?
With the crown crisis, confidence is put to the test for the second time in no time.
The big players in the travel industry, with all their lobbying force in Berlin and Brussels, opted for a coupon solution, without thinking of a Plan B.
But the hostile customer solution was shattered. No wonder: what good is a two-year bond if the airline has disappeared from the market in the near future, to put it mildly? The money is gone forever.
This uncertainty contributes to the fact that travelers are reluctant to book with tour operators and airlines. As after each airline bankruptcy, the dilemma is once again evident: to this day, there has been no security certificate requested by consumer protection groups for years, even when booking flights.
The best dogs in the travel industry barely think long-term and are sustainable, but cry out louder for the state’s money. Tui received 1.8 billion euros from development bank KfW, but announced this week that he would continue to cut 8,000 jobs.
EU Transport Commissioner Adina Valean has made it clear that European consumers continue to have the right to reimbursement in addition to travel vouchers. Now it occurs to us that in Germany there is still no travel industry plan B on the table.
Weeks of tug-of-war over the voucher solution wasted valuable time. For Markus Tressel, tourism policy spokesperson for the Greens parliamentary group, the discussion was a “communicative fiasco.”
To regain lost consumer confidence, in addition to a bailout fund for smaller travel agencies and tour operators, the industry ultimately also needs a safety fund for customer paid funds and a state guarantee for travel vouchers. .
Vacation home instead of long distance travel
For this summer, trips to more distant destinations are available for now. No one wants to sit on a plane wearing a mask for hours and fly to the Maldives in such a restricted way. We have to do without major location changes. Instead of developing tour packages, many will probably book accommodation by the sea, in the mountains or in the lower German mountain ranges. You don’t necessarily need the Tui for that cabin. Vacation homes instead of long distance travel are now the order of the day.
Holidays in their own country are becoming increasingly popular, as are the favorite countries of German tourists: Spaniards and Italians will spend the holidays on their own beaches. For everyone involved, this also has the advantage that money comes directly through organizers where it has been lost for two months: at national hotels and restaurants that fear survival.
Also read:
– First bankruptcy: how airlines around the world suffer from corona virus
– Future of travel: how vacations will change after the crown crisis
– Vacation Refund Dispute: “Travelers pay for the state by making a mistake”
