{"id":24944,"date":"2025-05-16T14:14:05","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T12:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/de\/?post_type=opinion&p=43903"},"modified":"2025-06-11T15:00:37","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T13:00:37","slug":"package-travel-is-the-most-consumer-friendly-form-of-travel","status":"publish","type":"opinion","link":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/press-and-media\/newsroom\/opinions\/package-travel-is-the-most-consumer-friendly-form-of-travel\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cPackage travel is the most consumer-friendly form of travel\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Dear Reader,<\/h2>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The outlook for the 2025 travel year gives us cause for optimism at the DERTOUR Group. Visitor numbers are rising in the European and German markets, and more and more people seem to be catching the travel bug. We are particularly pleased to note that package holidays are in high demand. As travellers seek out exciting destinations, they are also interested in comprehensive packages that cover transport, food and accommodation. The EU institutions in Brussels are currently considering issues related to package travel. During the upcoming reform of the Package Travel Directive, it is important not to lose sight of what I believe to be the obvious benefits and added value of package holidays.<\/p>\n

Over the past year, tour operators have once again faced daunting challenges, as places like Rhodes, Tenerife, and Hawaii have been hit hard by forest fires and flooding. And who could forget the devastating earthquake in Myanmar and Thailand a few weeks ago, or the series of earthquakes on Santorini? Package holidays offer holidaymakers comprehensive protection in the event of natural disasters, strikes, pandemics, or a tour operator\u2019s insolvency. If the worst should happen, experts, including those from our company, are on hand to provide assistance, whether by arranging for return transport or new accommodation, for example, or by rebooking. Note that there were no photos of stranded holidaymakers following the bankruptcy of German tour operator FTI last year.<\/p>\n

I cannot emphasise enough that package travel is the most consumer-friendly form of travel. However, I must add that package holidays have to remain attractive for future travellers and stay competitive with individual travel products that consumers book independently.\u00a0 It is vital, therefore, to avoid placing an excessive burden on package holidays, which are already extremely consumer-friendly, by introducing additional requirements \u2013 while not imposing similar requirements on individual services. It is important to note that such a high level of protection places a much higher economic burden on us, as tour operators. Policymakers should not overstep the mark. Comprehensive consumer protection will only work if people continue to book package holidays. Customers\u2019 sensitivity to prices and shrinking household budgets must not be forgotten.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Package holidays must remain attractively priced for travellers in the future and be able to compete with other travel products such as services that consumers book individually.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/div>\n

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Mark Tantz, COO DERTOUR Deutschland <\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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\n \"mark-tantz\"\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n

Mark Tantz, COO DERTOUR Deutschland <\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The Commission\u2019s draft calls for expanding a customer\u2019s right to cancel, specifically in the event of extraordinary and unavoidable circumstances at the customer\u2019s place of residence or point of departure. This includes heavy snowfall or a strike that paralyses local transport and makes it difficult for the customer to reach the airport. In my view, this far exceeds the tour operator\u2019s proper responsibility; indeed, it would constitute \u2018over-protection\u2019. After all, a flight from Frankfurt airport would take off as scheduled even if a customer\u2019s home in the Bavarian mountains were snowed in. We are already mindful of any information and alerts issued by the Federal Foreign Office regarding travel destinations, and take responsibility for our guests in such cases.<\/p>\n

In the course of the current legislative process, therefore, changes must be made. Proposals that would raise prices require careful consideration, not least to ensure that holidays remain accessible to people on a limited budget. The mandatory dispute resolution mechanisms for customer complaints that are currently being discussed in Parliament are another sticking point. This model is not appropriate for package holidays, and would simply lead to unnecessary costs. As a tour operator, we maintain a presence at holiday destinations and always seek to clarify and resolve any customer issues directly. We want our guests to enjoy a relaxing holiday free of any disturbances. Our success in achieving this goal is reflected in satisfaction rates among package travel customers, which, according to market research by the Forsa market research company, exceed 90 per\u00a0cent.<\/p>\n

We also have reservations about the very limited scope of the \u2018linked travel arrangements\u2019 included in the Commission\u2019s proposal, which would place independent travel agencies at a massive disadvantage, make travel services more expensive, and result in consolidation among competitors. I find it hard to imagine that this is what policymakers want. In concrete terms, it would mean that booking two separate services with a travel agent, such as flights and a hotel, would automatically be categorised as booking a package holiday \u2013 and would be covered by the same protections. This is neither economically nor organisationally feasible for independent travel agencies and would lead to an inequitable competitive environment. I therefore welcome the EU Council\u2019s view that an agency should be able to provide several different services without having them defined as a package holiday, provided that a certain booking procedure is followed.<\/p>\n

In underscoring the benefits of package holidays, let me conclude by citing some striking figures from the Covid period \u2013 which was a difficult time for us as well. At the start of the pandemic, 240,000 German holidaymakers were stranded at their holiday destinations. Of that number, 185,000 were brought home by tour operators, who covered the costs because the customers had booked package holidays. The return of the remaining 55,000 travellers was arranged by the German Federal Government; in this case, however, the customers paid their own expenses because they were not on package tours.<\/p>\n

Because of the pandemic, as well as storms and bankruptcies in recent years, we have gained considerable experience in protecting our holidaymakers. I would be happy at any time to share our insights as the process of amending the Package Travel Directive continues.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Mark Tantz <\/h2>\n <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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About:<\/h2>

\n Mark Tantz <\/p>\n\n

COO DERTOUR Deutschland <\/p>\n \n

\n returned to DERTOUR Central Europe in 2011 and is currently COO of the company. <\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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    Join the discussion on <\/h2>\n
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    Our LinkedIn feed has all the latest information from the REWE Group and the sector, with the most important developments from the worlds of retail, e-commerce, food, CSR and policy.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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    Many people are busy making plans for their summer holidays at this time of year, and this also means choosing the appropriate travel offer. In our Opinion of the Month, Mark Tantz, COO of DERTOUR Central Europe, explains how package holidays provide comprehensive coverage for customers and what legislators need to bear in mind when amending the Package Travel Directive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":24035,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","nl_adhoc_sent":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"focus_theme":[142],"class_list":["post-24944","opinion","type-opinion","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-policy","focus_theme-undefined"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opinion\/24944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opinion"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/opinion"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opinion\/24944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24951,"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opinion\/24944\/revisions\/24951"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24944"},{"taxonomy":"focus_theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/focus_theme?post=24944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}