TWO Malaysian inbound tour operators specialising in German-speaking markets have reported a decline in business for the year, although statistics from Tourism Malaysia showed a single-digit percentage increase in arrivals from these markets up until the first half of 2012.
Diethelm Travel Malaysia’s managing director, Manfred Kurz, and Asian Overland Services Tours & Travel’s (AOS) director, business development, Noor M Ismail, concurred that the depreciation of the euro and high airfares had resulted in the poor showing.
Said Kurz: “Year-on-year, we have seen a 10 per cent drop in the German-speaking market. The weak euro is not helping as total package prices have gone up by 10 to 20 per cent, depending on the product. Our overseas partners in Germany and Austria have also complained that airfares to the Far East have become more expensive.”
Noor said AOS had seen a drop of some 20 per cent this year and predicted that the drop would be even more severe in 2013, as travellers would hesitate to spend on longhaul holidays.
The company last year began intensifying efforts in other markets, such as the UK and Eastern Europe, to make up for the possible drop. It is also promoting dual destinations such as Singapore-Malaysia and Malaysia-Cambodia to attract repeat visitors from German-speaking markets.
Meanwhile, Diethelm is reaching out to niche market segments such as “photography enthusiasts and those who love nature and soft adventure”. “There is still a following for the normal packages such as city tours, and visits to the national park of Taman Negara. Langkawi and Sabah are still high in demand,” said Kurz.
Germany showed 7.2 per cent growth in the first half of 2012 over the same period in 2011, recording 64,705 arrivals from 60,347 before. Arrivals from Switzerland grew 8.9 per cent to 13,058 in the first half of 2012.
