The UK is “the front runner” in Europe for summer 2022 holiday bookings and “already ahead of 2019 levels”, according to the head of Europe’s biggest travel group Tui.
Fritz Joussen, Tui chief executive, hailed the growing recovery as he reported bookings last week were “at 100% of pre-crisis levels”, saying: “That represents 250,000 bookings.”
Speaking as Tui reported a €274 million loss for the three months to December yesterday, Joussen noted “more and more governments are releasing restrictions” and said: “There is an enormous unleashing of potential.”
He reported current winter bookings across the group at 58% “of a normal year” and summer bookings at 72%, but with average summer prices up 22% year on year. Winter selling prices are up 15% overall.
Joussen said: “I never saw such price development. We see enormous volumes at very high prices.
“Our booking positions are very strong in almost all countries. That will increase every week now.”
He forecast Tui would end the winter with bookings across the group “somewhere between 60% and 80%” of a pre-pandemic year and summer bookings would be “close to the pre-crisis level”.
But he added: “The UK is the only country where bookings are already ahead of 2019. It’s also the most important market for us. We have 60 aircraft based in the UK.
“Usually for summer, UK bookings would be just below 40% [of forecast capacity at this stage]. Now they are in the mid-40s, already at pre-crisis levels and potentially will be higher.”
By contrast, he said: “In Germany we are lagging behind. Net bookings are 20% below pre-crisis levels, but package holidays are 20% above.”
Joussen explained: “The 22% price increase is almost all [due to the] mix of holidays] – more long haul, longer holidays, higher quality holidays.
“Increasingly, it will also be scarcity. At Easter, some spots are almost fully booked. Prices will remain solid.
“Long haul and mid-haul are more attractive than short haul in almost all countries. The Caribbean and Cape Verde are very strong.
“People are selecting more expensive holidays. The prices per holiday don’t go up.”
He added: “Greece is over-indexing [on last year] by a factor of two. The Greek islands for summer will be full. I expect strong prices.”
Asked whether there is a risk of restrictions returning, Joussen said: “Omicron was an issue in December, not in January, definitely not in February. Even high infection levels in the UK don’t lead to hospitalisation.”