Loading ...London’s travel agency TUI Travel said that the Europeans are not ready to quit their summer vacations despite unstable economic conditions. On the other hand it warned that spike in airline fuel prices is becoming a real problem for operators which can bring a rise in prices of holidays.
Thomson, First Choice and Air tours owner TUI said reduction in the number of holidays on sale combined with a high demand for breaks across the industry, suggested it was on the way to reach 2008 profit forecasts of about 316 million pounds.
Despite dismal predictions about spending by consumers, prices are strengthening because of an industry wide drop in holidays on sale. Last year’s poor summer in Northern Europe and Britain made sun-starved Scandinavians, Britons and Germans to book early while ample winter snow in the Alps encouraged ski trip sales. Furthermore, failure of Scotland, England and Wales to make it to the finals of Euro 2008 also indicates that many soccer fans in Britain have decided to enjoy a holiday instead.
TUI Travel was formed last year from the tie-up of Britain’s First Choice and TUI AG’s travel division. According to it, exotic getaways to far-off destinations like Turkey and Egypt were presently in vogue.
During the first 3 months of 2008 there is a 9% increase in sales in Scandinavia and UK as compared with the same period of 2007. In Austria, Germany and Switzerland summer sales rose 6 % while sales from Belgium, France and Netherlands jumped by 4 percent.
www.tui-group.com
