A current analysis by the Skyscanner booking portal has shown that Germans are particularly flexible when it comes to vacation planning this year. This applies to both the travel period and the destination.

More than a third of respondents (35 percent) have no specific destination in mind when planning their trip. Another 42 percent said they are flexible about where and when to travel. Most German travelers use the “All places” option on Skyscanner.de instead of a specific travel destination. This search feature allows travelers to easily compare all available flights to hundreds of destinations around the world to find the cheapest deals, ranked by price. The desire to have all the options for the next holiday in view is therefore great. For 51 percent, the price is also one of the most important factors when booking a holiday. It is therefore not surprising that travelers prefer to remain flexible when choosing their destination in order to find the best price.

“In recent years we have seen a shift in demand towards spontaneous and last minute bookings. Naomi Hahn, travel expert at Skyscanner, also explains that search and comparison portals such as Skyscanner enable travelers to find the best prices at short notice. “The impact of the pandemic has further accelerated this shift, making flexible travel the new travel norm. In 2021, we've seen some lesser-known destinations gain popularity as countries with no travel restrictions have been in the spotlight. We assume that this trend will continue beyond the pandemic and will play an important role in the summer of 2022, as holidaymakers can often still find cheap offers there. In our latest survey, 61 percent of German participants said they now attach more importance to international travel than they did before the pandemic. In addition, 88 percent of German holidaymakers are more hopeful about trips abroad in 2022. This is also reflected in our bookings: a 68 percent increase in flight bookings in April for trips in June, July and August shows that Germans are planning their summer holidays.

The following destinations are currently in vogue:

• Mexico
• Turkey
• Croatia
• Greece
• Cyprus

Naomi Hahn advises passengers who want to save money: “A smart option is to combine flights from different airlines. If you don't book flights as a return flight package, but instead fly with one airline and return with another, or choose a return flight from another airport, you can often save in this way. Those looking for multiple dates and airports have the best chance of finding a bargain. Flight prices are based on supply and demand. Because some dates are more popular than others, prices vary. If you are considering traveling a day before or a day after your originally planned date, you can often find cheaper flights. Because on less popular days of the week, these are always cheaper”.