Tui sees improvement in under-pressure bookings

Travel giant Tui has flagged an improvement in under-pressure bookings over the past month as travellers continue to make holiday decisions at the last minute.

The German-owned tour operator saw markets and airlines bookings remain under pressure, with a 7% drop for the UK over the summer and 2% fall in Germany.

The winter outlook looks more subdued as bookings for the season are down 9% and 4% in the UK and Germany – its two biggest markets – respectively.

But Tui said bookings had improved in the past four weeks, rising by 2% for summer holidays and declines narrowing to 1% for winter.

Tui said cost cutting efforts and keeping prices firm was helping offset the impact of soaring fuel costs caused by the Iran war (PA)

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It said: “With demand still largely focused on the summer season, early indications for the new winter season point to a continuation of the later booking environment against the backdrop of ongoing geopolitical and economic uncertainty.

“In this environment, we continue to carefully manage capacity, retaining the flexibility to adjust capacity in line with customer demand.”

“Average selling prices continue to hold up well, reflecting the strength of our product proposition,” the group added.

Tui narrowed its full-year operating profit guidance following the peak season pick up, to between 1.2 billion euros (£1.02 billion) and 1.3 billion euros (£1.11 billion), against the previous guidance for 1.1 billion euros (£940 million) to 1.4 billion (£1.2 billion).

It said cost cutting efforts and keeping prices firm was helping offset the impact of soaring fuel costs caused by the Iran war.

Bookings over summer saw demand centre on short and medium-haul destinations, such as Greece and Spain, including the Balearics and the Canaries.

The Canaries, Spain, Egypt and Cape Verde are expected to prove popular destinations for its winter programme, with long-haul destinations focused on Thailand, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.