Tui Group turn of year bookings exceed pre-pandemic levels
Will PayneTui Group’s booking numbers have exceeded pre-pandemic figures in the past four weeks after strong passenger demand for holidays saw all its business sectors contribute to an improvement in winter earnings.
In a recent trading update covering the three months to 31 December 2022, the group saw revenue increase "significantly" to €3.8 billion compared with €2.4 billion in the same period last year due to strong travel demand.
The company carried 3.3 million guests in the first quarter of 2023 – one million more than it did in 2022.
The group currently has 8.7 million bookings for winter and summer 2023, with demand in the last four weeks exceeding pre-pandemic levels with higher average prices.
The start of the new year has seen an increase in booking momentum with the UK and German markets having experienced very strong booking days.
In contrast to the previous year, all of Tui’s brands were fully operational, which coupled with good demand, meant the usual seasonal minus in its underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) was almost halved year-on-year to -€153 million euros.
In the holiday experiences segment, hotels and resorts recorded an increase in underlying EBIT of 17.7% to €71.9 million and achieved earnings above the pre-pandemic level for the third quarter in a row.
The hotel occupancy rate climbed to 75% and the average daily bed rate rose by 20% year-on-year to €86.
The recovery of cruise continued in Q1, resulting in the third positive quarter since the start of the pandemic, with underlying EBIT improving from -€32 million in the previous year to €0.2 million.
With the entire cruise fleet in operation, available passenger days in H1 2023 are higher than last year with occupancy on many cruises close to the peaks last seen in 2019.
Meanwhile, Tui Musement increased the number of experiences sold by 64% to 1.7 million and the number of transfers also rose by more than half to five million.
In the markets and airlines segment, underlying EBIT of -€193.9 million improved compared to the previous year (€-259.0 million).
This was driven by higher prices and good demand, the company said, with the northern and central regions able to improve their results compared to the previous year.
Booking momentum
Average prices for winter 2022/23 are currently 8% higher than last year and 29% higher than the same period in 2019.
For the company’s hotels and resorts arm, 71% occupancy for H1 2023 (October 2022 to March 2023) is significantly above the previous year of 56%.
Due to the encouraging booking development, the group expects underlying EBIT for the 2023 financial year to "increase significantly".
Tui chief executive Sebastian Ebel said the group’s strategy for the upcoming year revolves around three core pillars: quality, cost discipline and market share.
"New products, additional customers and as a result more market share and above average growth are the basis for future increases in revenue and earnings," he added.
"Swift implementation of the strategy is having an effect, booking dynamics for summer 2023 are encouraging."
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Place of registration: England and Wales.
Company number 08723341.
Registered address: 6th Floor, 2 London Wall Place, London EC2Y 5AU
