Tour operator to slash up to 8,000 jobs worldwide
Holiday giant Tui is looking to cut up to 8,000 roles worldwide with the firm calling Covid-19 the “greatest crisis” the industry has faced.
The UK’S biggest tour operator posted losses of €845.8 million (£747m) in the first half of this year compared with €289.1m (£255m) in the same period 12 months previously.
The Anglo-german company said: “We are targeting to permanently reduce our overhead cost base by 30 per cent across the entire group.
“This will have an impact on potentially 8,000 roles globally that will either not be recruited or reduced.”
Fritz Joussen, chief executive of the firm, said the company should “emerge from the crisis stronger”. He said: “It will be a different Tui and it will find a different market environment than before the pandemic.
“This will require cuts – in investments, in costs, in our size and our presence around the world.
“We must be leaner than before, more efficient, faster and more digital.”
The company’s report said: “The tourism industry has weathered a number of macroeconomic shocks throughout the most recent decades. However, the Covid-19 pandemic is unquestionably the greatest crisis the industry and Tui has ever faced.”
It added that losses also came as a result of the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft after two crashes with other airlines.
Manuel Cortes, general secretary of union TSSA, said: “We are extremely disappointed that Tui is planning to cut 8,000 jobs around the globe and would urge them to think again. In Britain, the government’s job protection scheme means that no jobs should be lost here. There is also a similar scheme in the Republic of Ireland. Therefore, there is simply no excuse for job cuts in Britain and Ireland.”
In a media conference call, Mr Joussen said the firm believed it could resume holidays in July at the latest.
Destinations such as the Spanish islands, Greece and Cyprus “are ready”, he insisted.
He said: “I think people have a strong demand to do these kinds of travels and I think we have the means to make it possible with reasonable safety.”
He said Tui had seen strong demand from UK holidaymakers bookings trips for this winter to destinations such as the Canary Islands and Egypt.
“The Canaries are very safe,” he said. Mr Joussen revealed around half of customers were demanding cash refunds for cancelled trips, while half were accepting vouchers.
He said: “I think we all need to strive so that actually the system doesn’t collapse because that doesn’t help anybody – not the customer, not the countries, not the economy.
“[If the] system collapses, the demand comes back and suddenly you don’t have any offers anymore.”
Demand for cash refunds can be reduced by “many means”, he claimed, such as making the acceptance of vouchers mandatory, giving vouchers financial protection from governments and stating that “travel is possible soon”.
He expects Tui will issue payouts to customers of up to €200m (£177m).
The UK has said it is preparing to introduce quarantine rules for passengers entering or returning to the country.