ITB
Berlin and IPK International investigate Europeans’ preferred types
of accommodation – Germans favour middle-class hotels, Russians and
Britons the luxury segment – the percentage of hotel overnights is
on the increase.
Travellers
from Germany are more modest in their choice of hotel than
holidaymakers from the UK or Russia and prefer middle-class
accommodation. The proportion of Germans who stay in luxury hotels
has even declined and currently stands at 13 per cent. These are the
results of a special evaluation of the World Travel Monitor® on the
European travellers’ preferred types of accommodation conducted by
IPK International and commissioned by ITB Berlin*.
At
57 per cent, overnights represent Europeans’ preferred type of
accommodation. Around 234 out of 413 million trips abroad are spent
staying at hotels, with currently more European travellers choosing a
hotel bed than five years ago. In 2007 this type of accommodation
accounted for 52 per cent. 58 per cent of German travellers currently
favour hotels. The leaders are Britons (60 per cent) and Russians (66
per cent). Among Polish and Dutch travellers hotel overnights are
less popular (44 and 45 per cent respectively).
Around
Europe the choices of hotel category also vary. Among Europeans the
proportion of overnights in standard accommodation (middle-class and
budget hotels) has stagnated, whereas overnights in four and
five-star hotels have risen by four and two per cent respectively.
According to the survey by IPK International Russian holidaymakers in
particular prefer luxury accommodation, with 26 per cent opting for
the comforts of a five-star hotel whenever they travel abroad. 22 per
cent of Britons choose five-star accommodation, which puts them
alongside the main nations preferring luxury hotels. Over the last
five years the percentage of Russians and Britons favouring luxury
accommodation has risen by two and four per cent respectively,
whereas the percentage of Germans preferring this segment stands at
only 13 per cent.
Commenting
on the reasons for growth in luxury hotel overnights, Dr. Martin
Buck, director of the Competence Center Travel & Logistics, Messe
Berlin, said: “At many destinations these categories have been
offering more and more in recent years. Increasingly, rooms at
four-star hotels can now be booked for the price of middle-class
accommodation. Luxury hotel overnights are also being offered at
reduced rates. Frequent use of online booking portals and the growth
in direct marketing play an important role here. The effect of
ever-present customer loyalty programs and tour operators who
normally operate on the mass market advertising rooms in
premium-class hotels should not be underestimated either. As a result
bookings for four and five-star accommodation have increased and over
the coming years will probably continue to do so“
Besides
hotel overnights, rented or purchased holiday homes (20 per cent) and
staying with friends and relatives (ten per cent) are among the most
popular types of travel accommodation, whereas campsites (three per
cent) hardly register in the statistics.
*These
results are based on an evaluation of the “Europe data” from 33
countries in the World Travel Monitor® by IPK International.