For many people in Europe, the Easter holidays are the first opportunity to take a longer vacation and book a trip. TUI customers are currently particularly drawn to destinations around the Mediterranean as well as the Canaries which are the top holiday regions for the UK and the German market.
Turkey, the Balearics, Mainland Spain, Egypt which offer guaranteed sun during this travel period as well as Greece are also top the popularity scale. More than 500,000 customers are on holiday with TUI over Easter with the load factor expected to be in the range of 95 per cent, which is broadly in line with pre-Covid levels. Sebastian Ebel, CEO TUI Group: “Booking momentum remains encouraging, and the travel trends and strong demand for the Easter holidays are a healthy signal for the upcoming summer. Our products and strong brand are popular and in high demand -in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and many other markets where people are looking for relaxation in the sun and active experiences. Based on trends to date and as we have said in March, we continue to anticipate capacity to be close to pre-pandemic levels. We expect a good Summer 2023”.
When TUI presented its Q1 financials on 14 February 2023, it reported people’s continued willingness to travel and a significant increase in booking momentum since the beginning of the year. The UK and German markets saw record individual booking days, and in the four weeks to 5 February bookings were around 10 per cent higher than pre-pandemic 2019 levels, with prices also being higher. Various studies support this development; customers do not want to give up holidays – despite the current economic uncertainties. TUI customers continue to book at shorter notice and prefer package holidays and all-inclusive offers.
