Although customers of package tours are better protected, according to a study by the German Travel Association, the market share of tour operators and travel agencies fell to 39 percent in the previous year. In 2019 it was still 51 percent. Sales fell by 66 percent to 12,5 billion euros.

Direct sales by service providers increased. Airlines, hotels, car rental companies and bus and train companies were able to increase their market share from 37 percent to 48 percent. Due to the corona pandemic, sales fell by around 40 percent to 15,4 billion euros. The market share of the online portals of intermediaries was 13 percent. A turnover of 4,1 billion euros was generated - a decrease of half compared to 2019.

From the developments of the previous year the trend can be seen that during the crisis more and more bookings were made directly with the service providers. It is unclear why the customers decided to take this step. Perhaps there was greater confidence when the bookings were “in your own hands”. It therefore remains to be seen whether this trend will continue this year.