German Travel Association (DRV) has released a report based on their sales database. According to the data in 2012 there were a total of 9,986 tour operators in Germany. For the first time their number fell below the 10,000 mark.
Ten years ago German was home to almost 14,000 tour operators. Until now almost a quarter of all TOs have disappeared from the market.
According to the DRV, Germany still has a very high proportion of tour operators in the world. For every 100,000 inhabitants there are over 11 tour operators. Besides these TOs there are around 1,800 travel booking offices, which are regarded as part-time travel agencies.
Ten years ago, their number was just over 3,000. According to the DRV’s analysis, only TO’s that offer a wide range of services can compete effectively. In 2012 there were 2,635 classic tour operators, 777 TOs specializing in business travel and 6,574 TOs offering leisure holiday.
In Austria, no similar development takes place however. The opposite is apparently the case since the number of TO licences increased between 2008 and 2011 from 2,050 to 2,137 according to the Austrian Travel Association. Data for 2012 are not yet available. The number of tour operators in Austria is approximately 1,120.