TUI turns to profit as travel demand soars despite extreme weather

 

BERLIN – German travel firm TUI continues to expect strong demand from holidaymakers this summer despite the extreme heat and wildfires plaguing popular Mediterranean destinations.

The Mediterranean remains the top spot for summer leisure stays, chief executive Sebastian Ebel said at the presentation of the company’s third-quarter results on Wednesday.

The world’s largest travel group said reported that summer bookings are currently 6% higher than a year ago, while TUI customers were also spending an average of 7% more on their trips.

With 12.5 million customers so far, bookings are at 95% of pre-pandemic summer 2019 levels.

At the peak of the pandemic, tourism was one of the hardest-hit sectors. TUI was able to get through the crisis, in part, owing to German state aid worth billions.

TUI said on Wednesday it was back in profit in the third quarter for the first time since the start of the pandemic, with underlying Group EBIT coming in at €169 million ($185 million).

Third-quarter Group profit attributable to shareholders was €22.6 million, compared to last year’s loss of €356.7 million.

Revenue rose to €5.3 billion, 19% higher than the €4.4 billion logged in the same period last year.