Last minute bookings ensure summer growth
- 9/8/2025
- 60 Day
Last-minute business for package holidays
and modular vacation packages picked up noticeably in July. Nevertheless, the
bottom line is only slight growth, as last-minute sales were already strong in
the same month last year due to the FTI collapse. With a 1 percent increase in
sales in July, the current 2025 summer season is able to maintain the previous
month's cumulative growth of 6 percent. The upcoming 2025/26 winter season is
down two percentage points on the previous month and currently shows cumulative
sales growth of 11 percent. Early bird sales for next year's summer season are
rising at a remarkably strong rate.
Of the total monthly turnover in July 2025, 13 percent
is attributable to last-minute bookings for holidays departing in July and a
further 25 percent to departures in August. The rainy July across Germany is
likely to have had a positive impact on last-minute business this year. With
just under a third of bookings for fall vacations, a total of 68 percent of
monthly sales are attributable to the current summer season – three percentage
points less than in the same month last year, when many vacationers made
replacement bookings for their canceled FTI trips. The FTI effect last summer
virtually rules out any major growth spurts in this year's summer months.
Nevertheless, this year's summer season is looking relatively good: sales are
still up 6 percent on the previous year, which means that – measured against
total sales for last year's 2024 summer season – occupancy is currently at 87
percent (previous month: 84 percent). The number of holidaymakers booked is
roughly the same as last year (+1 percent).
Bookings for winter holidays for the upcoming 2025/26
season account for one-fifth of monthly sales in July. Winter bookings are only
2 percent higher than last year's figures for the same month, which is not
enough to maintain the cumulative increase. Compared to the previous month, the
balance is down by two percentage points. Based on the current booking status,
the 2025/26 winter season shows an 11 percent increase in revenue compared to
the previous year. The number of winter vacationers booked exceeds the previous
year's level by 7 percent. Long-haul travel remains in above-average demand
(passengers: +11 percent). The highest growth in demand among the most booked
winter destinations is currently being recorded in the United Arab Emirates and
Cape Verde. Proportionally, around one in five winter vacationers who have
already booked a trip are going on a long-haul trip, and almost as many have
booked a cruise to date. Among the most popular winter destinations at country
level, the Canary Islands remain the (eternal) number one (share of passengers
around 19 percent), followed by Egypt in second place in the ranking. Although
Greece is not one of the top destinations in winter, the extension of the
season is clearly reflected in the figures with strong growth. Turkey, on the
other hand, ranks fifth in the ranking of the most booked winter destinations,
but cannot maintain the strong growth of the previous year (passengers: -9
percent, revenue: -3 percent).
In July, early bookings for next year's summer season
increased significantly, accounting for 12 percent of sales in the past booking
month. This represents a remarkable increase of five percentage points compared
to the same month last year.







