2023 was a record year for the tourism industry. And as it can be seen, the number of reservations especially in the Mediterranean countries is expected to increase even more in 2024.

Compared to last year, data from the largest online booking platforms show an increase in bookings “by 7% in Spain, 9% in Italy and 4.5% in Greece”, the economic review points out. Handelsblatt. At the same time, with regard to Greece in particular, “there is a rumor circulating in the tourism industry that hotel prices will increase by 10% within the year”.

Two top sporting events are expected this coming summer: the European Football Championship in Germany and the Olympic Games in Paris. Therefore, travel costs are expected to skyrocket for those who want to travel to and from these two countries.

However, an increase in prices is also expected in Greece: “The Greek state is raising prices with a new “contribution for resilience to climate change”, which replaces the previous accommodation fee”, explains the HB. “This new levy is one of the effects of last summer’s devastating forest fires. The government predicts that the revenues from it will reach approximately 300 million euros per year, which will be invested in the prevention of natural disasters.”

As for the effects of climate change, it is still unknown how it will affect tourism. Many experts believe that the tourist season will be extended in the autumn and spring months. “However, there are those who believe that the large group of holidaymakers, namely families, will not be able to take holidays in the autumn and spring, as their children will have to go back to school.”

Germany opposes the far right

Demonstrations continue in Germany, where millions of citizens take to the streets to declare their opposition to the AfD and the rise of the far right in the country.

“In the public debate, it is constantly heard how divided our society is, how unbridgeable the gap between the different camps is. But when millions of people demonstrate in favor of the open society and its enemies, then the division in society cannot be so deep and wide”, comments the Süddeutsche Zeitung. On the contrary, “it seems more that in a threatening period, with many worries about the future, identity crises and strong polarization, civil society is finding a way to return back to its values, to the center”.

“No, Germany is not a deeply divided country like the US,” the Munich paper continued. “There is still a broad center, although recently it is the right-wing extremists who are gaining ground. […] And the enemies of democracy are now beginning to realize what a protester in Munich wrote on the banner he was holding: “We are more.”

Are Trump’s statements dangerous or correct?

The statements of the former president of the USA caused furious reactions. Donald Trump, who commented that he would not just tolerate, but encourage Russian President Putin to attack a NATO member country that does not meet its financial obligations.

THE Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung he estimates that “if Trump is re-elected president, such statements increase the risk that Putin will decide how to expand his military operations. Faced with this eventuality, Europeans can do only one thing: finally invest in military security commensurate with the seriousness of the situation.

This is not something that should be done in order to appease Trump – after all, when in doubt, he will make up the numbers as he sees fit. But the Europeans must immediately be able to turn a Russian attack – military or hybrid – against NATO states into a condition of incalculable danger for Putin. And until they do that, Ukrainians are buying them time at the risk of their lives.”

THE Welt for her part, however, she seems to evaluate Trump’s statements differently: “The 2% goal of NATO is not Trump’s invention – and the equipment of the Alliance is primarily in the interest of Europe. Trump has always liked to remind NATO states of this particular goal, not in a particularly diplomatic way, but – as now – in his own unsavory way. But in essence he is right.”