Tourists should expect hotel and plane ticket prices to rise sharply this summer. This is what a study carried out by the credit insurer Allianz Trade reveals. “Global GDP grew by 3.2% last year. One might expect that limited growth, particularly in Europe, would encourage consumers to be passiveexplains Johan Geeroms, one of the leaders of the study. However, the opposite is happening. The desire to travel is only growing. At the same time, many airlines are facing shortages of aircraft, labor and spare parts. In this context, prices can only increase”.
Travel, “an essential element”
This summer the world will have its eyes fixed on Europe and more specifically on Paris and France where the Olympic Games will take place. “The increase in the price of plane tickets is much greater than inflation, but this does not seem to bother consumerscontinues Johan Geeroms. They are willing to accept higher prices or travel less far.”
In 2023, 1.3 billion people traveled abroad, an increase of 33% from the previous year. According to the Allianz Trade study, consumers increasingly view travel as an essential part of their lives and factor it into their household budgets. “We rarely observe the phenomenon of the shame of taking a plane.insists Mr. Geeroms who speaks of “lassitude” consumers on the climate issue. “They also have other concerns: energy prices, food inflation, the war in the background.”
This increase in plane ticket prices can also be explained by the delivery delays that many companies are currently experiencing. And this, in particular, following the incessant problems at one of the two major world manufacturers, the American Boeing.
Belgians are ready to spend much more than the European average on their summer holidays
Allianz Trade estimates that total revenue growth in the global aviation sector will be around 6.5% this year. “Aviation is thus the only sector which has not experienced a decline since the recovery after Covid”, insists the study.
According to the International Air Transport Association (Iata), the sector’s net profit this year will amount to $30.5 billion. A figure significantly higher than the $27.4 billion in 2023.
