Holiday Giant TUI Sees Strong Summer Ahead 

Photo source: TUI Group

Global leisure travel giant TUI Group said it was expecting a strong summer ahead in view of “very high” demand for holidays during the release of its first quarter (Q1) 2022 results on Tuesday.

The company said there was a robust booking dynamic across all markets with new bookings for summer 2022 now above pre-crisis levels.

Since January 30, 3.5 million TUI customers have booked a trip for summer 2022, the company said, adding that the figure was around 72 percent of summer 2019 levels. New bookings, meanwhile, are over 100 percent of summer 2019 levels, it added.

“We expect a strong summer 2022. The path out of the pandemic is becoming increasingly clear. Demand for travel is high across all markets,” said TUI Group CEO Fritz Joussen, adding that the company was becoming more profitable than before the crisis. 

According to the group, Q1 revenue came to 2.37 billion euros, five times higher than in 2021 (468 million euros) while seasonal losses dropped. 

According to TUI data, 2.3 million guests traveled with the company in Q1 2022 – more than four times as many guests as in the same quarter a year ago (0.5 million).

Meanwhile, the group’s Hotels & Resort segment recorded its second positive operating result since the start of Covid-19 in the months October to December 2021 at 61 million euros (compared to -96 million euros in 2021). 

The average room rate rose by 12 euros year-on-year to 72 euros. Liquidity was also high in the winter quarter at 3.3 billion euros.

Earlier this year, in a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Joussen said the company was going to double the number of its customers to Greece in 2022 compared to 2021. 

“Summer 2022 is ready to come,” said Joussen via his twitter account this week. “There is pent-up demand among customers. We see this in all European source markets. Every step towards normality gives people confidence, and the demand for holidays increases immediately,” he said.