Increased bookings and prices, both in the current winter season and in the Summer of 2024, are recorded by TUI, with Greece “leading” in summer bookings, as revealed by the leading travel agency, releasing the data for the first quarter of the new financial year (October to December 2023).
With the current 8% annual increase in bookings for the winter season 2023/24 and an 8% increase for the summer season, the positive booking momentum continues.
TUI currently has a total of 9.4 million bookings for winter 2023/24 and summer 2024 combined, compared to 8.7 million last year.
According to TUI CEO Sebastian Ebel, average winter prices are currently 4% higher than last year’s level.
Short- and medium-haul destinations continue to drive bookings, with the Canary Islands, Egypt and Cape Verde proving popular again.
In the same context, average prices for the upcoming summer are also up 4% from last year, with demand for all major short- and medium-haul destinations currently increasing compared to last year. Spain, Greece and Turkey are again the most popular destinations for TUI visitors for the summer of 2024.
Strong performance
The TUI Group started the new financial year with a strong operating performance: 3.5 million visitors travelled on holiday with TUI in the first quarter of 2024 (October – December 2023), resulting in a 15% increase in TUI Group turnover to €4.3 billion (from €3.8 billion in quarter 1 2023).
Adjusted EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes) was positive for the first time this quarter, which is usually negative due to seasonal factors, at EUR 6 million. In a persistently difficult market environment, TUI benefited from continued demand for travel with higher prices and fares.
Commenting on the results, TUI CEO Sebastian Ebel said, “We are staying the course, restructuring the group and growing. The measures we have introduced are starting to work. We are accelerating our transformation quarter by quarter. Operational excellence, flexible and adaptable operations and consistent implementation of our programmes are important. In addition, people’s willingness to travel is still high, despite a market environment that remains challenging.
We are thus creating the basis for TUI’s future profitable growth. And this confirms our expectations for the full year: we want to increase our turnover by at least 10% and our operating result by at least 25%.”
Hotels and cruises boost activities
The hotels and resorts and cruise sectors remain the Group’s profit drivers. The hotel sector improved its operating result by almost 27% to €91 million, while the cruise sector recorded an operating profit of €34.5 million compared to €200,000 in the previous year.
Higher prices are an important factor here: in the hotel sector, TUI managed to increase the bed price by almost 5% to 90 euros and occupancy by 3 percentage points to 78%. The price increase was even higher in the cruise sector. Average prices increased by 17% to €204 from €175 the previous year.
Improving the results of tour operators and airlines
Adjusted earnings also improved in Markets & Airlines, which includes tour operators and airlines. With 95,7 million the seasonal losses were halved compared to the previous year (-EUR 194.6 million). This development is solely due to higher average prices, improved operating performance and a normalized hedging policy, Mr. Ebel explained.
The Central region, with tour operators in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Poland, generated a positive adjusted result of € 1.3 million. for the reporting period, after a loss of EUR 29 million. euro the previous year.
The Northern region (UK, Ireland and Scandinavian countries) also significantly improved its adjusted earnings, from -122.0 million eUR -50,4 million euros in the first quarter of 2024. The Central region, with tour operators in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Poland, generated positive adjusted earnings of € 1.3 million. for the reporting period after a loss of EUR -29.0 million euro the previous year.
Although the adjusted EBIT for the Western Region (France, Belgium, Netherlands) was 6.6% lower than the previous year at -46.6 million (-EUR 43.7 million), this is due to one-off effects. The operating result improved compared to the previous year.
