Despite higher fuel prices – car trips leave air travel behind Travellers increasingly in favour of cars and trains – flights with
low-cost airlines in decline for the first time.

For the moment one of the most conspicuous travel trends of recent years seems to have been checked. For the first time, holidaymakers are increasingly favouring car and train travel. This is one of the findings of the ITB World Travel Trends Report, conducted by the consultants IPK International and commissioned by the ITB Berlin.

According to this trend analysis, now published, from January to August 2008 in Europe, holiday trips by car and train increased by five per cent compared with the same period in 2007. At 50 per cent, air travel still retains a larger share than car travel, which stands at around 30 per cent.

Dr. Martin Buck, Director of the Competence Center Travel & Logistics at Messe Berlin, and responsible for the global travel industry's leading trade show: "This year, the long-standing preference of holidaymakers for air travel has come to an end for the first time. This is a remarkable development, particularly in view of the record fuel prices this summer," he added.

According to the ITB World Travel Trends Report this slump in air travel growth can be mainly attributed to the price increases charged by airlines due to the higher cost of kerosine. "However, the inconvenience experienced by passengers as a result of increased security measures and flight delays has contributed to airline travel becoming less attractive of
late", said Martin Buck.

According to the ITB World Travel Trends Report, 2008 was the first year that the market share occupied by low-cost airlines contracted. In relation to 2007 holiday flights with low-cost airlines fell by one per cent. By contrast, flights with so-called traditional carriers rose by three per cent.

Currently, low-cost airline flights retain a 36 per cent share of the markets in which the survey took place, with traditional carriers making up 64 per cent. Martin Buck: "However, it is becoming increasingly clear that there are barely discernible differences between low-cost airlines and carriers operating a traditional airline business."

The rising popularity of travel by train in the first eight months of 2008 can also ascribed to higher flight prices, delays, and the inconvenience experienced by passengers at airports. Furthermore, with Europe boasting modern high-speed trains and rail services now becoming attractive again, air travel has forfeited part of its market share.

The ITB Berlin Covention 2009 will also be examining how attractive different types of transport are. Leading representatives of various forms of transport will be discussing the impact of oil prices on leisure-time mobility at the ITB Future Day on Wednesday, 11 March. Afterwards, at the "ITB Berlin Message", Rolf Freitag of IPK International will present the latest data forecasting global travel trends.

The ITB World Trends Report summarises the most important findings of the annual Pisa Forum. This report is based on the assessments of more than 60 tourism experts from 30 countries, on an IPK trend analysis in leading source markets undertaken specifically for the forum, and on core data supplied by the World Travel Monitor®, recognised as the largest ongoing survey on global travel trends in over 50 source countries.