News & Stories
The Italian tourism industry is under attack by criminal organizations, and important events such as the Jubilee this year in Rome, as well as the Milano – Cortina Winter Olympics Games 2026 makes such a threat even more dangerous. Companies at risk are mainly hotels, travel operators and restaurants plagued by cash crunch and debts.
First there were demonstrations, now the Balearic government is getting serious about curbing mass tourism and has presented a package of measures. Accordingly, illegal offers are to be combated with high penalties and the tourist tax is to be adapted to the seasonal conditions of the islands.
ITB 2025 is once again not a good mirror for the transformation of the industry: it is only a matter of time before the last hotel operators with a stand leave Hall 9. The techies and car hire companies dominate.
In the run-up to ITB, all sorts of facts, figures and analyses for the travel market in 2024 and forecasts for 2025 are presented to the public. The common denominator remains: Whether war in Europe, the end of global economic thinking or rapid digitisation - the facts about tourism show hardly any signs of disruption.
The 2024/25 winter season is only two-thirds complete. Despite a supposed record winter in terms of overnight stays in the first half of the year, the mood in the ski regions of Bavaria, Austria and South Tyrol is rather subdued. Businesses are sceptical about March and April, especially in Germany, and in some cases do not even want to take advantage of the Easter business.
The team mix in hotels will look different in future, made up of caring workers, knowledge workers and AI. This could lead to the loss of 300 million jobs worldwide. Or create new jobs and a production boom, especially in Southern Europe. The current market figures are sending out new signals.
With 42.83 million overnight stays, the Swiss accommodation industry also reached the pre-crisis level for the first time since 2019 in terms of foreign guests. However, the pleasing figures do not show the full picture.
They hang everywhere: in Paris, London, Berlin and Rome. But no longer in the capital of Tuscany, Italy. You now have to pay a 400-euro fine for apartment key boxes there. Will this help against mass tourism à la Airbnb?
The combination of air travel and hotel is becoming important for airlines again. The Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings has recently adopted an all-round carefree model for holidaymakers, which the low-cost airline easyJet has been practising successfully for some time.
There is only one direction for Dubai: upwards. This also applies to tourism, which once again set new records in 2024. While there were 17.15 million visitors in 2023, 18.72 million overnight guests came to Dubai a year later. The drivers: major events and exciting hotel openings.