The boss of travel giant Tui says the company is “optimistic that tourism will be able to recover to 2019 levels next summer”.
In an interview on the Tui Group website, chief executive Friedrich Joussen said the company is “positive” about the 2022 summer season and there are “good reasons for optimism”.
“The indicators and trends are intact, summer 2022 is well booked and currently in line with capacity expectations,” he said.
“It is still too early to make a real forecast for the 2022 summer season. But we are optimistic that tourism will be able to recover to 2019 levels next summer.
“At the same time, we also know from 2021 that bookings will be made much later and at shorter notice.
“Bookings for summer 2022 from all Tui markets are already very encouraging.”
He said Tui’s focus is now on “refinancing and reducing the drawdown of public loans”.
“We want to, we can and we will find our way back to economic strength,” he explained.
“The new Tui will be leaner, more digital and more efficient. But it will continue to set standards in tourism in terms of quality, innovation, and sustainability.”
Looking back at the 2021 season, he said the “reboot after Easter and the summer season were successful for Tui”.
“Bookings in the fourth quarter were, as expected, around 50% of a normal booking year,” he added.
Tui has seen increased customer demand for higher-value travel and more add-on services, and “a strong shift” towards the Mediterranean countries.
“We expect recovery in the long-haul business to follow a little later. But the long-haul destinations are on the way back, including North Africa and the Cape Verde Islands,” said Joussen.
“The pandemic has merely hit a pause button, but the trends are unbroken and continue.”
He said Tui Group will press ahead with its “asset-right strategy” which means more hotels to be operated by the company and fewer properties under its ownership.
“For the customer experience, it’s the brand and the quality of hotel that matter, not whether the property belongs to us,” he commented.
Joussen also sees “great potential” for Tui’s Activities and Experiences business segment, called Tui Musement, and sees greater sustainability and further transformation as “entrepreneurial opportunities”.