VIR Online Summit 2024: Presentation of the 2024 Facts and Figures

Munich, March 1, 2024 – 2023 was a strong year for travel, and the outlook for 2024 is also very promising: According to the latest study by FUR-Reiseanalyse, published by the Association of Internet Travel Distribution (VIR) in its “Data & Facts 2024” report on the online travel market ahead of the world’s largest travel trade show, ITB Berlin, the German population remains highly enthusiastic about travel in 2024 as well. The German Digital Tourism Association is therefore confident that the current travel year will seamlessly build on the success of the previous year, in which the share of international travel in particular reached a new record high. In addition, bookings made via digital channels continued to grow in 2023. For trips involving at least one overnight stay, 63 percent were booked exclusively online. Another 8 percent used both traditional and digital channels to book their vacations.

“Things are going well; the booking figures for 2023 were exceptionally strong,” noted VIR Board Member Michael Buller as he opened the presentation of the latest data, facts, analyses, and forecasts, which the VIR releases annually at ITB Berlin. The current sentiment was based on the FUR Travel Analysis 2024. According to the report, the German travel industry saw numerous successes last year. “Although 2023 was the first year of post-COVID recovery, it performed extremely well,” the association head noted with satisfaction. The share of international travel reached a new record high of 78 percent. Overall, new spending records were set for both main vacation trips (+5 days) and short trips (under 5 days).

A Successful Year for Travel in 2023

Ulf Sonntag, Managing Director of the NIT and Head of FUR Travel Analysis, went into further detail in his presentation: 77 percent of the German population took at least one vacation trip lasting five days or longer in 2023. The proportion of travelers rose slightly compared to the previous year and is now just slightly below the (pre-COVID) figure from 2019. A total of 54.6 million people took 65 million vacation trips lasting at least five days. While the number of travelers rose slightly compared to 2022, the total number of vacation trips declined slightly. Nevertheless, spending increased again in 2023, reaching a new record high of 86.9 billion euros.

In addition, 30.9 million people took 74.1 million short trips lasting two to four days, spending approximately 27.2 billion euros—another record high for the short-trip market. “Both records are also due to price increases, as the number of travelers is still below 2019 levels,” emphasized Ulf Sonntag.

Travel Trends in 2023: A Closer Look

Germans took approximately 50.7 million vacation trips abroad and 14.3 million within Germany. Spain maintained its position as the most popular foreign destination for Germans with a 14 percent share, followed by Italy and Turkey, each with eight percent. Domestic travel, on the other hand, declined, causing the market shares of the federal states to fall as well. Bavaria remained the most popular domestic destination, followed by Schleswig-Holstein.

For the first time, in the 2023 travel year, air travel surpassed car travel as the most popular mode of transportation for vacations lasting five days or longer, a trend primarily driven by the high proportion of international trips. Trains and buses accounted for about five percent of all trips.

Package tours accounted for 44 percent of all vacation trips, representing an increase compared to the previous year. For short getaways, booking accommodations independently was the most common way to plan the trip.

“When it comes to main vacation trips, what’s missing above all are second trips,” said VIR board member Michael Buller. “While 15.6 million second trips were taken in 2019, that number has dropped to just 10.4 million in 2023. This naturally affects the total number of vacation trips.”

The Continued Growth of Digital Channels

Bookings made through digital channels continued to grow in 2023 and now account for 59 percent of main vacation trips (+5 days)—up from 51 percent in 2019. For short getaways, as many as 82 percent were booked exclusively online. Overall, 63 percent of all trips involving at least one overnight stay (major vacations and short getaways) were booked exclusively online. In 2019, this figure stood at 61 percent. Additionally, another 8 percent used both traditional and digital channels to book their vacations.

Despite a slight decline in travel activity in 2023, people searched for vacation-related content online more frequently than in 2022, underscoring the internet’s importance as a source of information for vacation travel. Furthermore, younger travelers still prefer digital bookings over older travelers. Nevertheless, even among those aged 50 to 69, the number of digital bookings outweighs that of traditional channels. This underscores the steadily growing importance of digital channels even among older travelers.

Germans' travel plans for 2024 are extremely positive

The FUR Travel Survey shows that the German population’s travel intentions are more positive than in previous years and are at a similar level to those reported in the January 2020 survey. Individual travel intentions are influenced more by personal financial circumstances than by the general economic situation. Overall, 57 percent of respondents expect their financial situation to remain stable, while 14 percent even anticipate an improvement.

“For travelers, vacations are the most important consumer good after food and a cherished habit,” concluded Ulf Sonntag. However, according to the FUR Travel Analysis, large segments of the population view rising prices as a burden, and this is particularly noticeable among lower-income groups. Nevertheless, over half of the respondents who feel very burdened by the price increases have positive travel intentions for 2024.

Overall, 73 percent of people are certain that they will take a vacation lasting at least five days in the coming year. “The desire to take a vacation was at a high level of 54 percent toward the end of 2023,” said the FUR travel expert. “The majority of 54 percent are also certain that they will have the money for a vacation this year.” Nevertheless, this figure is still below the result of the 2019 survey.

2023 Vacation Budget

In 2023, spending on vacation travel accounted for 7.1 percent of net household income. Despite rising travel costs, the vacation travel budget remained at the same level as in 2019, when it was also 7.1 percent. Among those who want to spend less in 2024, 34 percent looked for special offers, 28 percent chose a more affordable destination, 25 percent opted for cheaper accommodations, and 24 percent plan to vacation during the more affordable off-season.

Booking figures for January 2024 exceed those of the strong same month last year

The positive trends for the 2024 travel season continued in the presentation by Roland Gaßner, Director of Business Development at Travel Data + Analytics GmbH. He pointed out that, despite an increase in early bookings, January 2024 actually surpassed the same month of the previous year in terms of strength. “This speaks to remarkably stable vacation demand in the German market,” he affirmed. In January 2024, German citizens spent approximately 3.3 billion euros on their package or modular vacation trips. This represents a seven percent increase compared to the same month the previous year. January is by far the strongest booking month of the year in the German vacation travel market.

Spending Habits: City Trips vs. Vacations

New to the VIR’s Facts & Figures section is an analysis of travelers’ on-site spending based on a comparison of Paris and Tenerife as travel destinations, the result of a collaboration between the VIR and Mastercard. Oliver Gabriel, Director of Advisors BD at Mastercard, highlighted travelers’ spending behavior during his presentation at the VIR Online Summit: Average spending per visit to Tenerife is 354 euros, while in Paris it is 346 euros. By comparison, Germans spend an average of 352 euros per visit to Tenerife and 212 euros in Paris. The difference in spending in Paris is due to the fact that visitors from the Gulf states, who spend over 2,000 euros in Paris, are the most spendthrift visitors due to their shopping habits—this drives up the overall average.

Sustainability: The Travel Industry Faces a Challenge

As the FUR travel analysis on digital tourism shows, the majority of Germans still have a positive attitude toward sustainability in vacation travel. At the same time, the proportion of trips abroad—and air travel in particular—is higher than ever before. “Our industry still has a lot of work to do when it comes to offering sustainable travel options,” emphasizes VIR Board Member Michael Buller. “Consumers are aware of this and want to see a shift toward greater sustainability in tourism. We cannot wait for demand to drive this change; instead, we must make the industry future-proof—not least to achieve the agreed-upon and legally mandated climate goals.”

The 19th edition of VIR's "Facts and Figures on the Online Travel Market" is now available for free on the website https://v-i-r.de/marktforschung/daten-und-fakten-zum-online-reisemarkt/.

The press release is available for download here in PDF format.