For the European tourism industry, this summer marks the big comeback. After two and a half years of the pandemic, the hunger for sun and beach is so great that bookings are exceeding industry expectations.
Some destinations even expect to surpass pre-crisis 2019 levels this year. And that was a record year in many places. However, vacations this year have their price: The high inflation, which was 8.1 percent in the euro area in May, makes summer vacations correspondingly more expensive.
Hygiene regulations introduced during the pandemic, such as special cleaning of the rooms, still apply and are driving up hoteliers’ costs. And finally, the high demand means that prices for both hotels and flights are rising.
If you don’t want to smash your savings from the Corona years on your head for your summer vacation, you can still find comparatively cheap options in the popular Mediterranean region.
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According to an evaluation made by the tourism consultancy Mabrian for the Handelsblatt, Turkey is the cheapest. Here, an overnight stay in the last week of July and the first week of August in a four-star hotel costs 100 euros (see the ranking below).
>> Also read here: Threatening summer travel chaos puts the federal government under pressure
This is more than before the pandemic, but almost half as much as is due for an overnight stay in Greece this year. Hellas is at the forefront of holidaymakers’ favor because of its good corona management, among other things, which is why prices there have risen significantly more than in the other seven Mediterranean destinations. In France, on the other hand, they have even fallen compared to 2019. Here you can read an overview of why there are these shifts and what the countries expect for the high season.
Ranking of the three cheapest destinations
1st place: Turkey
In Turkey, record inflation of currently 73.5 percent per year means that basically everything is becoming more expensive. However, since the Turkish lira has lost considerable value at the same time, this partially compensates for inflation for foreign holidaymakers.
Holidays in Turkey are also comparatively cheap because the additional costs in the hotel industry are still low – the minimum wage, for example, is around 250 euros per month, well below the level of other European holiday countries.
In addition, the war in Ukraine could mean that significantly fewer tourists will come to the country from both Ukraine and Russia this year. Originally, the Ministry of Tourism in Ankara had expected over ten million visitors from both countries this year. Now it should be significantly less.
>>Read here: Airport chaos and staff shortages everywhere: What to expect for travelers this holiday season
This means that all-inclusive hotels in the Antalya region in particular are faced with the challenge of selling their rooms to holiday guests from other countries – for example at lower prices.
Nevertheless, vacationers should be aware that inflation makes other services more expensive. If you take a taxi from the airport to the hotel, you pay significantly more in euros than before.
The same applies to the prices for rental cars and fuel, as well as excursions that are carried out by bus or boat. The prices for petrol and diesel have doubled in Turkey within eight months – converted into euros.
Tolga Gencer, board member of Turkish Travel Agencies Association Türsab, expects a better season than 2021, when 29.4 million tourists had vacationed in Turkey. In 2019 it was 50 million. “At the beginning of the year, we had the expectation that we would be able to build on the numbers before the pandemic,” he says. “But the war and the economic crisis have ruined these forecasts.”
2nd place: North Africa
After Turkey, the two North African Mediterranean countries Egypt and Tunisia are the cheapest destinations. According to Carlos Cendra from the data specialist Mabrian, the fact that they are generally more expensive than Turkey is due to the type of holiday: “In Egypt, visits to the capital Cairo and cultural trips make up an important part of the bookings,” he says. “Cultural trips and the corresponding hotels are generally more expensive than beach hotels, of which there are particularly many in Turkey.”
In addition, holidaymakers’ demand for North Africa and for destinations in the Middle East is not yet as strong as for Europe. Egypt expects visitor numbers to reach 68 percent of pre-crisis levels this year.
From January to May, only around half as many tourists came to Tunisia as in the same period of 2019. According to experts, one reason could be the politically unstable situation there at the moment. Also, in both countries, tourists from Russia and Ukraine played an important role before the war, and now that is largely gone.
In the case of Egypt, the fact that prices have risen so significantly compared to 2019 is also due to the sharp rise in the exchange rate: the Egyptian pound has risen by 14 percent since March 2019. This makes hotel prices in euros more expensive in addition to inflation.
3rd place: Portugal
Portugal generally has a somewhat lower price structure, although it has been focusing on quality over quantity in tourism for a long time.
In recent years, the country has developed into a popular destination for tourists from the USA, Canada, Brazil and China. Even if no tourists come from China, the national tourism authority Turismo de Portugal expects that the number of visitors in May and June will already exceed that of the pre-crisis year 2019.
And this despite the fact that the country experienced a violent outbreak of the particularly contagious omicron subvariant BA.5 in early May. The seven-day incidence in Portugal shot up to around 1800, making it one of the world’s highest incidences.
However, this has by no means dampened the holiday mood of Portugal fans: “We have not seen any effects of the new corona wave on bookings,” assures Filipe Silva, member of the Board of Directors of Turismo de Portugal.
Even when searching for flights from Germany and other countries to Portugal, there was hardly any decrease in activity, according to figures from Mabrian. The hotel prices have risen accordingly – even if they are still among the third cheapest in the Mediterranean region.
Tourism expert Silva also points out that holidaymakers are generally spending more money on their holidays this year – and not just because prices are rising. “After two and a half years of the pandemic, people want to treat themselves and book a five-star hotel instead of a four-star and go out to eat in particularly popular restaurants,” he says. They would have saved the money for this during the pandemic. The trend can also be observed in other countries: The prices for the comparatively few luxury hotels with five stars are consistently rising faster than those for four-star hotels.
Bargain Option: France
France is traditionally more of a high-priced holiday destination. But this summer of all times, hotel prices are dropping there. This is partly due to lower demand from the French.
They like to go on vacation in their own country and are traditionally very important for tourism in the country. However, only 55 percent of French families want to go on vacation this year, eleven percent of them abroad.
Many have saved during the pandemic. In view of the high inflation, families with lower incomes in particular can no longer afford summer vacations. According to the polling institute Ifop, the budget for a family of four for a vacation of 10.5 days (average) is 1720 euros on average.
The French go less to hotels and tend to rent houses and apartments. Prices are increasing this year, especially in the south of France. As a result, prices for apartments have risen by around five percent and for houses by seven percent, according to rental website PAP Vacances.
Because the weather was bad last summer, most of them are going to the sunny south this year, so the Atlantic coast is suffering from the decline.
Because cheaper Mediterranean countries like Spain are in vogue in Europe, cheap hotels in France in particular are less popular with foreigners this year. In addition, there are no Russians, especially in the Mediterranean, as are Asians, especially the Chinese. “The areas that are suffering are the ones that depend on foreign tourists,” says Didier Arino, director of tourism agency Protourisme.
Expensive top spot: Greece
Greece has been the new shooting star among holiday destinations since the corona pandemic. The prices for a four-star hotel are literally exploding there, so we also take a look at the winner in the holidaymakers’ favour.
79 euros for a portion of grilled calamari, 15 euros for an espresso: anyone who is not careful on the trendy island of Mykonos will be mercilessly ripped off. In the social networks, many travelers are venting their anger about the exorbitant prices on Greece’s trendiest island. So far, however, the excesses have not noticeably dampened the desire to travel.
The Greece brand is moving. For Europe’s largest tour operator Tui, Hellas is one of the most popular destinations in 2022. The market leader wants to bring three million guests to Greece this year. The largest foreign vacationer nation are the Germans.
Greece is benefiting from its good corona crisis management during the pandemic, from its scenic diversity and the trend towards more individual holidays, according to the Association of Greek Tourism Companies SETE.
Some popular island destinations such as Mykonos and Santorini temporarily recorded more guests last summer than in the previous record year 2019. Nationwide, however, the number of 31.3 million visitors that was reached at that time is unlikely to be reached again this year. One reason is the absence of Russian and Ukrainian tourists, who accounted for 800,000 visitors in 2019.
Finance Minister Christos Staikouras is estimating the income from tourism this year at 15 billion euros. That would be almost a fifth less than in the previous record year 2019.
The number of visitors from the USA is likely to set a new record this year. The major American airlines Delta, American and United are offering more direct flights to Athens than ever before. Americans are particularly welcome guests because they spend significantly more money than other foreign guests.
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