German travel giant Tui is expecting a strong season. With 60 percent of the summer offering already sold, expectations are high. Anyone hoping for a cheap last-minute vacation could have bad luck this summer.
After a strong winter season, the world’s largest travel group Tui is also on course for growth in the upcoming summer. “We see that the summer is going very well,” said CEO Sebastian Ebel on Wednesday when presenting the balance sheet for the winter half-year (October to March) in London. 60 percent of the summer offering has already been sold. Greece, Turkey and the Spanish Balearic Islands, including the island of Mallorca, performed particularly well.
In some regions you could reach the limit of capacity, said Ebel. But no one has to worry about their summer vacation being canceled. “If, which could not be entirely unlikely, we reach the limit of capacity in the Balearic Islands, then we still have enough capacity, be it Turkey, be it Egypt, be it the Cape Verde Islands.” And the Dominican Republic is also on the rise again. However, those who make a last-minute decision should not hope for Mallorca bargains. “I don’t expect any last-minute business in the Balearic Islands,” said Ebel, “and in Spain as a whole only very limited.”
In total, Tui has already sold nine million trips for the summer, five percent more than at the same time last year. Bookings in Germany are even up seven percent. There is also no evidence that customers are saving on vacation. On average, they actually spend four percent more on the summer trips they have booked so far than they did a year ago.
This makes the group confident that it will be able to grow for the year as a whole, said Ebel. Sales are expected to increase by at least ten percent, and operating profit adjusted for special items (adjusted EBIT) by at least 25 percent. And Tui also wants to increase the number of guests. Ebel left it unclear whether the group would return to pre-Corona levels, when it had up to 20.5 million guests. It is still too early for a final forecast. Ultimately, 40 percent of the summer quota still has to be sold. Last year, Tui had around 19 million guests, 5.6 million of whom were from Germany.
In the past winter half-year (October to March), 5.1 million guests ice cream with Tui, nine percent more than a year ago. And they spent an average of three percent more money on their vacation than in the previous winter season. Sales grew by a good 15 percent to 7.95 billion euros. The net loss attributable to shareholders in the traditionally weak winter half-year fell by a third to 417 million euros. Travel companies are usually in the red in winter. They make their profits during the peak summer season.
The cruise business also increased significantly in the winter. The capacity utilization of the ships was 98 percent in the months January to March. And cruise bookings for the summer are already seven percent above the previous year’s level. The ships will probably soon be fully booked, said Ebel. “We assume that our ships will be fully sold in the coming months.”
Capacity utilization will probably be 100 percent. “And when the ship is full, it is full. Then there will be no further growth.” In addition to the current 16 cruise ships, Tui is already planning three more with a total of almost 11,000 beds. The first is scheduled to start in June and, according to Ebels, is already well booked. Another one will follow in 2025 and 2026.
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