BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - Tui Germany sees itself on course for a strong travel season thanks to increased demand. "Our early booking business is running at full speed with a large share of new customers of over 40 percent," reported Tui Germany CEO Stefan Baumert on Tuesday at the International Tourism Exchange (ITB) in Berlin (March 5 to 7). Summer bookings at Tui Germany are currently up by a double-digit percentage. "We continue to see a high willingness to travel and expect a strong season overall".

According to a YouGov survey commissioned by Tui at the beginning of February, around two thirds of the more than 2,000 respondents wanted to travel this year. Just under 30 percent said they had already booked. According to the survey, 34 percent are still planning one or more vacation trips without a booking. According to other surveys, people in Germany also have a great desire to travel. Almost 70 percent of those surveyed by YouGov are planning a trip abroad. Destinations in neighboring countries (33 percent) and the Mediterranean (29 percent) are particularly popular, while 18 percent are planning a long-distance trip. 31% of respondents want to take a vacation in Germany.

According to the survey, classic beach vacations with sun, sand and sea remain at the top of the popularity scale (37%). City breaks came in second place with 32%, followed by vacation homes with 24%. Multiple answers were possible.

According to the survey, most bookings are made online. However, one in three (34%) of 25 to 34-year-olds stated that they would like to book at a travel agency more often. "Surprisingly, the rate is significantly higher than among the older target groups," said Benjamin Jacobi, Managing Director Sales and Marketing at Tui Germany. Among the over 55s, the figure is 14 percent./mar/DP/stw