Tui Group reported summer 2025 bookings as being “well ahead” as annual profits surged by a third to €1.3 billion amid “good co-operation” with travel agencies.
Tui’s northern region, which includes the UK and Ireland, saw year-on-year earnings before taxes and interest (EBIT) more than double from €71 million to €165 million in the 12 months to September 30.
Europe’s largest travel company described the start to next year’s peak season as “promising in a higher cost environment”, with bookings up 7% and average selling prices (ASP) 3% higher. To date 17% of the season has been sold.
The programme from the UK is 27% sold with bookings down 3% on this time last year, However, Tui reported “strong momentum” in the last four weeks.
Demand for short- and medium haul destinations continues to drive bookings for next summer, with Greece, Turkey and the Balearics “proving once again to be most popular”.
Group revenue for the year to September 30 rose by 12% to €23.2 billion as passenger numbers increased by 7% to 20.3 million over the same period in the previous 12 months.
Record results were achieved by Tui’s hotels and resorts and cruise divisions, underlining “robust” customer demand.
The share of app sales grew across all markets by a total of 40% to 7.3%. App sales in UK was highest at 12%, up 35%.
Overall online distribution of 50% was virtually in line with the previous 12 months, while direct distribution declined marginally to 74% from 76%.
Tui added: “Our short- and medium-haul offering experienced the strongest demand, with the Canaries, mainland Spain, Egypt, and Cape Verde being the most popular during the winter season, complemented by Greece, Turkey and the Balearics during the summer months.
“Key long-haul travel was to the year-round destinations of Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Thailand.”
Bookings for winter 2024-25 are up 4% and “continue to be strong” with 62% of the programme sold with ASP across all markets up by 5%.
“The higher ASP is partly driven by an increased sales mix of wholesale and dynamic packages which is helping to mitigate the higher cost environment,” Tui said.
The group expects underlying EBIT for the current financial year to increase by 7%-10% “driven in particular by expectations for summer 2025”.
Chief executive Sebastian Ebel said: “Of course, we will continue to focus on package holidays and our good co-operation with travel agencies.
“In all our activities, customer satisfaction and quality are our top priorities. In what remains a challenging market environment, the entire Tui team has shown that we have the right strategy, the right business model and the right people, who work for our guests every day with commitment, creativity and passion.
“Our goal remains to become more profitable, more efficient and stronger in all segments with Tui – and to do so globally.
“We see opportunities for new growth through additional customers in markets that have so far been focused on as holiday destinations only.
“In these countries, we are becoming a travel provider for the local population. Good examples of this are Tui Iberia with Latin America, as well as our hotel growth regions with their clusters in Africa and Asia.
“This reduces our regional dependence on Europe at a time when the European economy is growing little or not at all.”
Reflecting on the past financial year, he said: ‘We have delivered what we promised. 2024 was a very good year for us.
“Our focus on operational excellence, rapid implementation of the defined measures to improve earnings and transformation will continue to deliver significant growth.
“The Tui of tomorrow is well positioned. In the financial year 2024, we achieved important milestones: In the holiday experiences segment, we are growing with our asset-right strategy.
“We are future-proofing the tour operator business in the markets + airline segment and positioning it dynamically.”
He added: “One topic that plays an important role in all our activities is sustainability. As one of the world’s leading travel groups, we want to set the standard for sustainability in the market. We are continuing initiatives across our business to deliver on our SBTi (Science Based Targets Initiative) 2030 targets.”