TUI’s losses widen
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TUI Travel has seen its underlying losses increase in its first half results, with more of its bookings moving online.
The travel giant posted a half year operating loss of £317m (H1 2011: £307m) with its exclusive product continuing to fuel demand. Nearly half (47%) of its winter holidays were booked online with its business reshuffle said to be ‘progressing to plan’.
“The UK delivered a strong winter performance which attests to our focus on differentiated and exclusive product and being online driven – key elements of our modern mainstream strategy,” said Peter Long, chief executive at TUI Travel. “In our online accommodation only businesses we continue to deliver healthy growth driven by new markets as well as increasing market share in more recently established markets. Given the challenging economic environment, we remain cautious, however, overall trading performance continues to be in line with the board’s expectations”.
While Long said the French market remains its ‘problem child’, TUI has seen recovery for North Africa destinations at the end of its second quarter with “good demand for Tunisia and improvements in Morocco”. The group faced losses around the acquisition of Magic Life and flooding in Thailand, although Easter bookings rose £13m. The tour operator said gap year bookings had hit its specialist sales although it expects this to pick up next year.