Package tours are attractive to many customers—and will continue to be so. That is the key finding of a study commissioned by the Package Tour Initiative. Based on the survey, the initiative has identified three key tasks for its upcoming campaign.
Touristik Aktuell – Package tours and modular trips organized by tour operators have been the most important form of travel in the German vacation market since 2023. This is shown by the study “Market Research on Vacation Bookings,” which Sunny Cars commissioned for the Package Tour Initiative from the Institute for Tourism and Spa Research (NIT).
According to the study, 49 percent of all vacation trips lasting five days or longer were booked as package tours or modular trips last year. For 31 percent of respondents, the choice between a package tour and an independent trip depends on the specific destination; only 26 percent generally prefer greater security, while 39 percent prefer greater flexibility.
According to the study, the most important factors influencing the decision to book are, above all, a suitable offer (56 percent), a straightforward booking process (54 percent), and good value for money (53 percent). These are characteristics “that, in the public perception, tend to be associated with independent travel,” says Berend Rieckmann, who, together with Jürgen Büchy and Marina Ackermann, forms the executive board of the Initiative Pauschalreise.
Thirty-four percent see further potential for package tours in even more personalized offers, and 31 percent in greater flexibility. “Customers don’t necessarily want to organize everything themselves—but they do want to feel that their trip is tailored to them,” says Rieckmann’s fellow board member Marina Ackermann.
