Sustainable, all-inclusive, luxury – these trends are on the rise for the tourism year 2023

Just in time for the start of the Swiss spring and Easter holidays, we look back at the current tourism year. One thing is clear: in 2023 people will travel as much as possible again. According to the major tourism agencies in Switzerland, the booking volume is well above the pandemic years and at least at the level of 2019. This was confirmed by Kuoni, Hotelplan and Globetrotter.

But how and where do people spend their holidays post-Corona? At the world’s largest tourism fair, which has been held in Berlin for four years now, representatives of airlines and tour operators, as well as tourism ministers, met to exchange views at the beginning of March. The fair revealed a number of trends; for example the need for more travel safety, more sustainability – but also more luxury. We asked Swiss travel agencies to what extent they too feel the following five trends in tourism in 2023.

Travel and sustainability are often difficult to reconcile. Like most industries, the tourism industry is trying to do just that – or at least make sustainability an issue. This can be seen, for example, in the efforts to equip airlines and cruise ships with climate-friendly fuel as quickly as possible, in the presentation of environmentally friendly concepts by hotel chains or in the climate protection efforts of entire destinations.

Opening the world’s largest tourism fair, German Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Robert Habeck said: The restart of the tourism industry after the pandemic should also be a restart towards climate neutrality and sustainability. “Wanting to experience the world shouldn’t mean destroying the world we want to experience while traveling.”

At the travel advisor Hotelplan, some employees were at the tourism fair. The mood in Berlin was fantastic, says Bianca Gähweiler, head of communications at the company: “There was great optimism.” On the positive side, a great deal of attention is paid to sustainability almost everywhere.

But is that what customers want? Yes, at least that’s how travel organization Kuoni thinks about it. Sustainability is one of the travel trends: you notice, for example, that people are increasingly transferring to the train for short distances. But also “traveling longer rather than more, traveling close to nature and avoiding high-volume destinations” – these trends are clearly felt, says Markus Flick of Kuoni. The latter in particular is supported “by promoting destinations that are hardly on our customers’ bucket lists: the north of Iceland, the south of Sweden or the Indonesian island of Flores.”

There is no doubt that Corona has caused enormous damage to the travel industry. In the longer term, however, it can also yield certain benefits: more people want to book with travel agencies. “Travel agencies have gained an above-average number of new customers during the corona pandemic,” confirms Markus Flick of Kuoni.

While long-term bookings are once again taking place, customers appreciate offers that can be canceled flexibly up to shortly before departure. “This trend continues: travel advice and the certainty that all necessary steps will be taken by the booking office in unforeseen cases are strong arguments against booking trips yourself,” says Markus Flick.

With demand from travel agencies, package tours, which were particularly in demand during the pandemic due to their scheduling certainty, are experiencing a resurgence. Due to the relaxation of the Corona measures, individual holidays in particular are now very popular again – especially from afar: “The demand for individual holidays, where you get to know the country and its people, has increased again,” says Bianca Gähweiler from hotel plan . Road trips through, for example, the US or Canada, but also tours in Costa Rica or Tanzania are popular.

The travel organization Tui also confirms this: the demand for so-called modular travel is increasing again, says media spokeswoman Sonja Ptassek. “This includes, for example, individually arranged trips with a camper or rental car through the US or Canada. At the same time, there is a strong return in travel diversity, such as city trips, adventure travel or tours.”

Whether it’s glamping, 4- or 5-star hotels, more exclusivity or more space: luxury travel has been in fashion for a while. This is also evident from the fact that the luxury travel segment had its physical premiere at the world’s largest tourism trade fair in the form of its own large pavilion.

Saudi Arabia in particular is positioning itself here. At the beginning of March, the country presented its tourism strategy for the first time at the tourism fair: numerous restaurants and hotels in the higher luxury category are in the pipeline. Saudi Arabia is currently investing massively in tourism as part of “Vision 2030”. The strategy aims, among other things, to become less dependent on oil by strengthening other sectors such as tourism.

The “Sonntagszeitung” also noted at the beginning of this year that Saudi Arabia should soon be very trendy with its luxury strategy. An expert from the London consultancy Deloitte put it on paper: “With all the reservations that Europe and America have about the kingdom”. In the long run, Saudi Arabia is “the big trend destination” in the luxury segment.

Regardless of the destinations – do you also feel the general urge for luxury with tour operators? At tourism group Tui, the willingness to pay is not only greater this year than during, but also before the pandemic: “On average, our guests spend more on their trips and, for example, opt for a higher hotel category or a longer holiday stay,” says Sonja Ptassek from Tui.

The fact that people will treat themselves to more luxury again in 2023 may also have something to do with the abstinence during the pandemic: absolute and unlimited holiday enjoyment was not possible for a long time, which is why many may have saved their travel money.

More money is also being spent at Hotelplan than before the pandemic: “For example, our customers can pay for two weeks of vacation instead of one week, or they can opt for a 4-star instead of 3-star accommodation or for a higher room category. »

The travel industry is also not spared from inflation and rising energy costs. Aviation in particular is experiencing huge price increases.

The General German Automobile Club (Adac) recently showed how extreme these are: Compared to the previous year, flight prices will increase by 46 percent on all airlines in 2023. Prices at Swiss and Lufthansa have more than doubled compared to 2021.

This is certainly related to the increased costs for the airlines – but not only. Above all, the increased demand drives prices up enormously: “The fact is that it is already becoming a challenge to get bookings for spring and summer, as flights are very busy and land services are partially booked,” says Globetrotter. Demand currently exceeds supply.

Appropriately, “bad news” recently circulated from Mallorca: a holiday on the popular Mediterranean island would be more than 30 percent more expensive this year alone. This applies not only to flight prices, but also to hotels and restaurants. “People even notice it when they go shopping. Due to its location on the island, prices in Mallorca are rising even more than on the mainland,” Juan Ferrer, president of the Palma Beach Quality Campaign, told GMX.

Where do Swiss people who book their trip through tourist offices go? Globetrotter, which mainly offers individual travel, says: “Thailand, Vietnam, Tanzania, Kenya and Sicily are particularly popular destinations in the coming months. In the summer, the US, Canada, southern Africa, Japan and Scandinavia are very trendy.”

At Kuoni it sounds similar: “The trend destinations are currently Northern Europe, Japan and Paris.” We get an extraordinary amount of requests for these causes.

At Hotelplan, the trend for the coming months is “classic beach holidays around the Mediterranean, for example to Greece (especially the islands of Crete, Kos, Rhodes), to Cyprus, to Turkey, to Spain (Mallorca) or Egypt,” says Bianca Gähweiler. And: “We also feel that some customers have given up on this year’s skiing holiday due to the lack of snow and now want to travel to the sea earlier.” The charter places with Hotelplan from the beginning of April from Zurich to Crete, Cyprus or Mallorca were already well occupied a month ago.