The Canary Islands remain among the most popular winter destinations for travellers from Luxembourg, alongside Egypt, Dubai, and Cape Verde. According to Thomas Fischer, Chief Commercial Officer of the LuxairGroup, the airline expects to carry around 3% more passengers over the Christmas and New Year period.
He explained that Luxair has also adjusted some of its Italian routes, making destinations such as Sicily available earlier than in previous years, small optimisations which, he said, help support this increase in passenger numbers.
City trips by plane are also seeing renewed interest this winter. However, Luxembourg’s travel agencies say that bookings in general do not automatically surge at this time of year. During the Covid pandemic, people tended to book spontaneously, but most travellers have now returned to the pre-pandemic habit of reserving holidays well in advance, meaning that the classic cheap last-minute deals have become far less common.
One destination that has seen steadily rising interest is Lapland. Berny Ley of ULT Sàrl/Voyages Flammang explained that many travellers are currently opting not for the sun, but for snowy adventures in the far north, which he says has been growing in demand year after year.
For many residents, winter sports also remain high on the agenda. In this area, travel agencies play a more limited role, except when it comes to Club Med packages. Most people book their own hotels and drive themselves to the ski resorts.
Fischer added that Luxair still expects a number of last-minute holidaymakers, noting that spontaneous travellers should still be able to find seats to popular destinations. However, he emphasised that bookings are coming in quickly, so organising travel sooner rather than later is advisable.
As for destinations currently being discouraged, agencies say none fall into that category at the moment. They do note, however, a clear decline in interest for trips to the United States.
