Travel giant Tui said its summer bookings are down on last year, as its boss said it would be a “challenging” rest of the year.
The company, which is Europe’s largest travel operator, said summer sales are 1% down compared with the same point last year, with a pipeline of about 8.6 million bookings for the key holiday season.
It said UK summer bookings are at the same point compared with 2024, just under two-thirds of its total offerings sold, while in Germany bookings were down 3% year-on-year.
It blamed the overall slowdown partly on Easter falling later this year in April, which in turn pushed consumers’ summer holiday bookings back and impacted its results for the six months to March.
Nonetheless, shares fell on Wednesday, after airlines including British Airways-owner IAG reported stronger results for the first quarter of 2025.
Chief executive Sebastian Ebel said that given recent economic “uncertainties” the company’s focus is on “margin protection and cost reduction”.
He said: “Given the economic conditions, 2025 will be challenging. Europe needs new momentum.
“We must return to an overall economy that is growing. More investment, more freedom – less regulation and less bureaucracy.
“This will strengthen the economy and consumer behaviour.”
Tui reported widening losses for the six months ending March 31, with reported losses coming in at 217 million euros (£182.6 million).
Meanwhile, revenue over the same period rose by about 8% to 8.6 billion euros (£7.2 billion), partly helped by growing business in its cruise business, after it launched two new ships.
