Tui Group expects to recover to close to “normalised” pre-pandemic 2019 capacity this summer on the back of positive booking trends.
Bookings have reached 96% of summer 2019 with volumes in the last six weeks exceeding the pre-pandemic level and average prices 26% higher.
The level of bookings for this summer are “significantly up” by 13% on this time last year, with volumes in the last six weeks remaining strong at 6% ahead of pre-Covid levels.
The UK continues to be the most advanced sold across Tui’s pan-European network.
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The company said: “In the UK, which is currently 64% sold, bookings are in line with the prior season and +10% versus pre-pandemic levels again accompanied by higher ASPs [average selling prices].”
The performance emphasised the strength of customer demand, underlining the popularity of the Tui product offering, Europe’s largest travel group added.
This came as Tui reported that traditional seasonal winter losses for the three months to March 31 had been cut by almost €100 million €242.4 million as it handled 2.4 million holidaymakers, up by 600,000 year-on-year to reach 88% of the equivalent 2019 level.
Tui said: “In general bookings in the European market are not back to winter 2018-19 levels but we continue to outperform with UK winter bookings returning to pre-pandemic levels at significantly higher ASPs.
“Egypt and Cape Verde have grown in popularity with bookings up 22% and 3% verses winter 2018-19 respectively.”
A total of 12.9 million bookings have been taken across the winter and summer seasons, with 4.2 million made in the early 2023 peak booking period.
“Easter bookings confirmed the strong customer demand across all our markets,” the company added.
Spain, Greece and Turkey continue to be the most popular summer destinations.
Revealing increased revenue for the quarter of €1.2 billion for the group’s northern region, which includes the UK and Ireland, Tui reported a reduced loss of €147.5 million against €180.9 million for the same period last year.
“On a comparable basis, results in the segment were significantly up by €50 million driven by strong customer demand resulting in higher volumes and prices,” Tui added.
Looking forward, the group said: “We have a clear strategy to accelerate profitable market growth with new customer segments and more product sales.”
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