No cheap holiday deals as Brits want fun in the sun
HOLIDAYMAKERS will struggle to snap up last-minute deals this summer due to surging demand fuelled by the end of Covid curbs, a major travel operator has warned.
Tui boss Fritz Joussen says pent-up demand is defying the cost-of-living crisis and pushing his firm’s bookings above pre-pandemic levels.
But the flipside is rooms and availability are more scarce, meaning customers may not find the “decent holiday” they hoped for during the peak summer months of July and August.
Mr Joussen urged sunseekers to book now to avoid disappointment, predicting that “there will be practically no last-minute offers at low prices this summer”.
It came as Tui announced its halfyearly results.
Revenues for the six months to the end of March shot up 527.9 per cent to £3.9billion, while net losses more than halved to £606.1 million.
Summer bookings were running at 85 per cent of pre-Covid levels but surpassed 2019 bookings over the last six weeks after the removal of travel restrictions.
Spain’s Canary and Balearic islands are the most popular choices with sunseekers, pushing Tui’s bookings up 11 per cent on summer 2019, with Greece and Turkey also in demand.
But Russ Mould of investment broker AJ Bell sounded a note of caution, warning that there was a “big risk” inflationary pressures on household budgets could stifle recovery. He said: “We’ve seen ‘big ticket’ retail items like sofas and electronic goods are suffering, so it makes sense to suggest holiday plans might be delayed again if costs keep going up.”
Meanwhile, airport staff are still struggling to cope with the spike in travel post-Covid. Bristol was said to be an “utter shambles” yesterday, with two-hour queues at security and passport control. Passenger Beth Roche said: “Absolute chaos. Queue for security the length of the airport outside.” Travellers reported similar problems at Manchester and Birmingham earlier this week.