Tui anticipates €25m hit from Rhodes wildfires
Ilaria Grasso MacolaWildfires that scorched the Mediterranean in recent weeks will likely cost Tui an additional €25 million (£21.5 million) to its full-year outlays.
The travel giant said on Wednesday (9 August) the extra funding was needed to cover cancellations costs as well as repatriation flights for the 8,000 customers evacuated from Rhodes at the end of July.
"It showed the value of the package tour as the customers who wanted to stay we brought into good hotels after one day and spent their vacation as planned and those who wanted to go home we flew home with charter flights and we took guests with us which where not our guests to help the situation, we gave the refunds and offered free rebooking," said chief executive Sebastian Ebel.
In its third quarter report, Tui said bookings had dipped due to the extreme weather conditions in Greece and Italy but have subsequently recovered, going up 5% over the past week.
“We continue to monitor the situation concerning the wildfires in Southern Europe and remain in close contact with local authorities,” the company said in a statement.
Despite the southern Europe wildfires, Tui has confirmed its expectations for a strong summer, with bookings going up 6% to 12.5 million customers and average selling price exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
“With 86% of the summer sold, which is in line with 2022 and 2019 levels, and given the latest booking position, we are confident in our summer 2023 capacity assumption of being close to normalised 2019 summer levels,” Tui added.
The company also reported earnings of €169.4 million and a group revenue of €5.3 billion as a result of higher volumes and prices.
Tui’s hotel and resorts division reported a fifth consecutive quarter above 2019 levels, while Marella Cruises drove the division’s surge in revenue, which went up to €164.6 million.
The company’s airline branch improved its performance due to higher costs and increased bookings in the UK, Tui’s biggest market.
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