The most popular destination for German holidaymakers this summer has been Türkiye, DERTOUR Group, one of the leading travel groups in Europe, reported on Monday.

"A fifth opted for this popular holiday country," said Sven Schikarsky, head of products at Germany's second-largest travel group after TUI.

Türkiye was even more popular among families, with every third family choosing the country, he said.

DERTOUR posted an annual rise of 18% in the number of customers for the period June to September, bringing the numbers up to around pre-pandemic levels.

The collapse of the FTI travel group helped to boost numbers at DERTOUR. Munich-based FTI, previously the third largest in the sector in Germany, entered insolvency proceedings in June and soon afterward canceled all pre-booked trips.

TUI, the world's largest travel group, reported a record quarter. TUI has provided an additional 75,000 holiday locations for the approaching autumn season following FTI's demise.

According to TUI, Antalya on Türkiye's Mediterranean coast has pushed Mallorca on Spain's Balearic Islands into second place as the most popular destination.

Within Germany, the most popular destination this past summer was Bavaria, with around a sixth of those opting for a holiday in their home country traveling to the southernmost state.

The information was derived from a representative survey of some 5,500 respondents by the Consumer Panel Service GfK, part of the YouGov group. It was conducted on behalf of the HDE trade association.