Tui says demand for travel helps summer bookings soar close to pre-Covid levels
Holiday firm Tui has said the bounce back in demand for travel helped summer bookings soar close to pre-Covid levels, but revealed growth was held back by disruption from devastating wildfires in Rhodes.
The group reported a 5% rise in summer bookings to 13.7 million, reaching 96% of levels seen before the pandemic struck.
It said it had taken 1.1 million extra bookings since its last update in early August alone, with demand in the final month of the season “well ahead” of last summer, up 8%.
The group said it would have performed even better than expected in the peak summer quarter had it not been for disruption from events such as the wildfires in Rhodes.
The airline and package holiday firm evacuated around 8,000 guests from Rhodes after wildfires broke out in July amid a searing heatwave in Europe, with around 5% of all its flights going to the Greek island in the summer.
But Tui confirmed guidance for full-year underlying earnings to be “significantly” higher in the fourth quarter and full year to September 30 despite the impact.
TUI chief executive Sebastian Ebel said: “We are seeing a strong close to the summer season and we are on course to achieve results in line with expectations.
“This is particularly evident in our main markets – Germany, where bookings year on year are 10% higher, and UK, where bookings are in line with an already strong prior year summer season and 4% ahead of pre-pandemic levels.
“Indeed, had it not been for the various events during the last few months which were outside of our control, not least the wildfires on Rhodes, we would have performed ahead of expectations.”
