German tour operator, TUI, say they are very optimistic about the recovery of tourism in Spain, especially in the Balearic and Canary Islands, where it now flies to from more German airports than ever before. "In general, the figures for reservations to Spain are currently very promising," said the director of Communications for the central region of TUI, Aage Dünhaupt.
“Both the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands are in great demand. Mallorca is not only the favourite destination for overseas trips for German tourists this summer but also this Easter," adds Dünhaupt, who is also responsible for communication at TUI, for airlines, hotels and cruises.
TUI estimates that around 40,000 tourists from Germany will visit Mallorca at Easter, as for the first time in two years, almost all the hotels have opened and the number of clients is high, adding that the conflict in Ukraine has not affected reservations.
In February TUI brought forward the opening of the season and added additional flights with TUI Fly from Düsseldorf, Hannover, Frankfurt, and Stuttgart to Palma de Mallorca for the festivities.
However, TUI expects the summer season of 2022 to approach the levels of summer 2019 due to good demand combined with the complete lifting of travel restrictions and the trend towards last-minute bookings. At the end of March tourist reservations to Spain stood at 80% of the level of summer 2019.
But these days as many bookings are made at the last minute, so it is realistic for TUI to expect that many holiday destinations and their hotels will be sold out in the high summer season, as “people want to travel after two years of the pandemic” explains Dünhaupt.
“Tourism is going to experience a very good summer in 2022, especially the countries of Southern Europe, which were greatly affected by the limitations on travel due to the pandemic,” he predicts, stating that "the trend is upwards for hotels, family businesses, and many local partners" who, together with TUI, offer holidays to customers.
