Tui sees summer sales fall 10% due to cautious UK customers
Europe's largest package holiday operator Tui said summer bookings have fallen 10% year-on-year. The company pointed to the cost-of-living squeeze and uncertainty linked to the Iran war as factors keeping UK customers cautious.
Germany-based Tui said in its third-quarter update that a slowdown in the European market has deepened. Summer bookings are down 10% year-on-year, with the steepest decline in the United Kingdom. The company said the share of last-minute bookings has risen, narrowing its pricing flexibility.
Management attributed the pullback to inflation eroding household incomes and to fuel prices kept high by the Iran conflict. Demand for Turkey and Greece is proving resilient, but pricing on long-haul packages has become more competitive.
The group reaffirmed its full-year profit guidance, although shares slipped in Frankfurt after the update. Rivals including EasyJet and Jet2 had already flagged a similar softening. The aviation sector says elevated oil prices will continue to feed through to ticket prices in the coming month.
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