The Tourism Sales Climate Index December 2019

The pre-Christmas period is perceived by many as stressful and between all the Christmas celebrations and general errands, some people find it difficult to find time to prepare for the holidays. Travel agencies’ assessment of the current situation is slightly more negative than in the previous month. In contrast, the outlook for the coming months tends to be positive. Overall, Dr. Fried & Partner’s Tourism Sales Climate Index remains at a constant level compared to the previous month.

Current situation

33.6% of the participating travel agencies assess the current situation in the distribution of travel services as good. Compared to the previous month, there has hardly been any change (33.9%). Less than half (44.2%) consider the current situation to be satisfactory, whereas 22.1% consider the current situation to be bad. In the previous month this figure was 18.8 %.

30.1 % of the respondents state that the sale of travel services has increased in the last 2-3 months compared to the previous year (previous month: 26.8 %). 31.0% of the travel agencies surveyed believe that sales of travel services have remained unchanged in the last 2-3 months. 38.9% of travel agencies, on the other hand, consider that sales of travel services have decreased in the last 2-3 months. At 38.4%, there was hardly any change compared with the previous month for the second month in succession.

Future situation

A year-on-year increase in demand for travel services is expected by 24.8% in the next 6 months. In November, 24.1 % expected an increase in demand. 51.3 % of the participants expect demand to remain constant in the next 6 months. 23.9 % expect demand to decline, which is no noticeable change compared to the previous month (23.2 %).

23.2 % expect the earnings situation to improve in the next 6 months. In the previous month the figure was 23.4 %. 48.2 % of the respondents do not expect the earnings situation to change in the next 6 months (previous month 46.8 %). At 28.6%, the number of those expecting earnings to deteriorate also hardly felt any change compared with the previous month (29.7%).

Summary

As regards the annual financial statements, it can be stated that the Tourism Sales Climate Index is at a rather low level, in particular compared with the very strong year 2018. Nevertheless, the year 2019 ends with a comparatively satisfactory value and there is hardly any trace of the ups and downs of recent months. Instead, the tourism industry is looking forward to the new year 2020.

In November 2019, 113 travel agencies (112 sample of the previous month) gave their ratings.