Karlheinz Koegel
Image: Rainer Wohlfahrt
As a young man, Karlheinz Kögel was a radio presenter. Then he made vacations his big business with an idea that shaped the industry. He has not given up the search for new approaches.
You can only hear it very softly, the roar of the engines. The planes are 27,000 feet high, says Karlheinz Kögel on the balcony in front of his office in Baden-Baden. Despite the flight altitude of more than eight kilometers, he can sometimes tell whether a holiday shuttle that has started in Frankfurt to Mallorca or the Lufthansa late flight to São Paulo in Brazil is passing by. The office under the flight route fits. Kögel is a travel entrepreneur, has turned a passion into a profession – and has shaped the industry at the same time.
Josef Neckermann made package tours affordable for a large audience, Kögel formed the business with leftover places for last-minute travelers and founded the L’tur company. “Last minute is not just about looking for a short-term bargain. Last-minute travel is also associated with an attitude towards life. People tend to make spontaneous decisions more than ever,” he says. That is especially true at the moment. “During the pandemic, many people became very cautious and waited. Now that the corona restrictions are falling, they dare again. Everyone just wants to get out.” Kögel says of himself: “I invented the last-minute trip.” Nevertheless, he advises holidaymakers not to wait any longer to book for this summer. Subject to current demand, some sunny Mediterranean destinations will run out of available beds in July and August. Hoteliers laid off employees during the crisis, and some could not find enough new staff to operate at full capacity. However, vacationers would have to worry less about a seat on the plane. “There are more flights than hotel beds this summer,” analyzes the self-proclaimed inventor of last-minute travel.