TUI has stated that summer 2021 bookings remain at a high level of 2.6 million – new weekly bookings doubled in April, and new bookings for Summer 22 since March are up 109%.
However, the company’s full half year 2021 results remain impacted by COVID-19 restrictions – revenue was down to €716 million in H1 2021 from €6.6bn in the prior year period. TUI’s underlying EBIT loss was €1.3bn euros in H1 2021, which was better than expected, but more than the previous year loss of €795 million. As of 7 May 2021, TUI has cash and cash equivalents of €1.7 billion.
TUI Group CEO Fritz Joussen commented: “Holidays are at the top of Europeans' wish lists after the months of the pandemic. Bookings and booking trends show: Holidays in the Mediterranean, in the Aegean and on a ship will be possible again for many families in the coming weeks. Currently, around 70 percent of those surveyed want to go on holiday… European destinations, particularly Greece, Canaries and Balearic Islands, are ahead in preference.”
Joussen added: “The prospects for early summer 2021 make me optimistic for tourism and for TUI. They are significantly better than in the first pandemic year, 2020.
“TUI welcomes the statements by the German Chancellor and the German government that holidays in Europe will be possible for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people. This now gives families security and reliability when booking and supports local tourism and also the countries of Southern Europe. We are now at the beginning of the expected restart. The anticipation is palpable, these are opportunities for tourism and for TUI.”
Following the successful rights issue at the beginning of the year, the Group completed additional financing in the capital market in April 2021. The almost doubly oversubscribed convertible bond issue reached a volume of €400 million and is intended in particular to refinance loans from the state Corona stabilisation packages.
Joussen said: “The successful placement of the bond was an important first step in addressing our capital structure. A good summer season will help with refinancing measures. The government support for the Group helps us, but these are interest-bearing loans, not gifts. We take a clear signal from the capital market: tourism remains a growth market internationally and investors trust our business model and support TUI's strategy. The realignment of the Group, with strict cost discipline and an efficiency programme, is underway, and we have accelerated the transformation and digitalisation. Tourism will recover and TUI will be more digital, leaner and more efficient after the pandemic.”
TUI has recorded a total of 2.6 million bookings for summer 2021 – 69 per cent lower than at the comparable point in time for summer 2019. Average prices are 22 per cent higher than for summer 2019 due to the high proportion of all-inclusive packages in current bookings. Capacity for the core months of the 2021 summer programme remains equivalent to around 75 per cent of the 2019 summer programme, and the pick-up in demand is clearly evident in recent weeks, with new bookings doubling since April with clearer and more positive signs that a restart of tourism is imminent. Bookings for summer 2022, are also showing a good trend, with UK bookings up 109 per cent since end of March 2021.