The world's largest travel group Tui is forecasting strong demand for the upcoming fall holidays, as people want to extend their summer days into the autumn, its chief executive said in an interview while suggesting interest for Türkiye's Antalya is prevailing, tagging it as its most popular destination.
"Autumn is gaining ground," Tui Germany chief executive Stefan Baumert told Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) in Hanover.
"Many guests want to extend the summer," he said, with beach holidays starting earlier in the year and lasting longer.
Beach holidays in the Mediterranean are booming. Following the bankruptcy of FTI, which was Germany's third-largest tour organizer, Tui secured further contingents and created 75,000 additional holiday places for the autumn holidays. In addition, 65 extra flights with 12,300 seats have been added.
FTI filed for insolvency at the beginning of June and shortly afterward canceled all trips that had been booked already.
The most popular destination for Tui holidaymakers during the autumn holidays is currently not Mallorca, but Antalya in Türkiye, Tui said.
"The travel boom for Türkiye continues," said Baumert. Summer temperatures and a good price-performance ratio make the Turkish Riviera particularly attractive for families.
Antalya, along with Istanbul is generally one of the most preferred destinations within Türkiye for foreign tourists, with both cities so far enjoying a robust season, according to official statistics.
With strong interest in its pristine waters and numerous beaches, Antalya has welcomed over 9 million tourists in the first seven months of the year, with arrivals from Germany at nearly 1.8 million.
Germans ranked second on the list of the countries with the most tourists to the Mediterranean hub in the stated period, just behind Russians.
The renowned resort city attracted the largest number of foreign visitors last month, with 2.6 million, thus being the most popular destination, according to figures from the Culture and Tourism Ministry last week.
From January to July, total foreign arrivals in Türkiye grew by 8.3% annually to nearly 29 million.
According to Tui, the most attractive destinations for travel after Antalya were Spain's Mallorca and the islands of Crete and Kos in Greece.
On the other hand, the U.S. remained the most popular long-haul destination in the autumn, followed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Thailand, the Maldives and Mauritius.
Germany was the top destination for car holidays, followed by Austria, Italy, Poland and Czechia.
Tui's most recent figures showed its hotel brands grew significantly and cruise demand was steady.
By the end of June, some 5.8 million people traveled with Tui – 4% more than a year ago. The company exceeded analysts' sales and profit expectations and spoke of a record quarter.