TUI Sees Tourism Recovery Fast Approaching 2019 Levels

The tourism industry appears to be getting back on track, according to TUI Group CEO Fritz Joussen, who said he was expecting to see the sector recoup 80 percent of pre-pandemic 2019 levels this year or even reach 100 percent.

Joussen made the forecasts in a LiveChat to his team last week noting that strong performance during Easter indicated that despite the Russia-Ukraine war, demand for travel was high.

“Bookings are picking up significantly. We can expect a good summer in 2022. After two years of pandemic, I’m pleased to say that our business is back on track,” he said.

Photo source: TUI Group

Key points according to Joussen:

– customers were up by an additional 1.3 million in four weeks with bookings for summer 2022 strong at 80 percent of pre-Covid levels
– aircraft load factors were 95 percent in the UK and 91 percent in Germany
– 1.1 million guests went on Easter holidays with TUI in April, with booking levels increasing to 117 percent since Easter Monday compared to 2019
– last-minute bookings across the group in April were significantly higher than the same month in 2019
– over 1 million experiences and activities were sold in the first quarter of the year while exclusive TUI-only offers almost doubled
– bookings for the entire 2022 season are set to exceed initial forecasts of 8.9 million
– top destinations are Greece and Spain.

Photo source: TUI Group

Earlier this year, in a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Joussen said the company was going to double the number of customers to Greece in 2022 compared to 2021 aiming to bring some 3 million travelers this year.

“The last few months prove that we have good reason to be optimistic,” he concluded.