BUSINESS NEWS Tui half-year results: Operator eyes summer business after big winter loss. Ian Taylor reports


Tui gears up to resume holidays from Germany


Tui is ready to resume operations from Germany as soon as borders reopen, with holidays to the Balearics, Canaries, Greece and Cyprus, as well as North Sea cruises, likely to be available first. The group forecast “a full


recovery” from the Covid-19 crisis by 2022 as it released results for the six months to March last week. Chief executive Fritz Joussen


said: “We are ready to provide trips – not everywhere. [But] we believe the latest in July we will be open to resume. Other companies assume the same. We will be ready to go to selective destinations earlier.” Joussen gave an upbeat


assessment of the group’s prospects, insisting: “In 2022, at the latest, we will see a full recovery of tourism.” He acknowledged: “Now we


have zero revenue. We don’t know when markets will open. We don’t know when we will be flying or when borders will open. We don’t know when demand will return.” But he said: “We are in


negotiations with governments


Joussen: Let’s see how quarantine in the UK evolves


Tui chief executive Fritz Joussen dismissed concerns that the UK’s imposition of a 14-day quarantine on arrivals will finish any remaining summer travel business, saying “let it evolve a little”. Joussen said: “Of course, if you have a quarantine, holidays are


travelweekly.co.uk


in source markets as well as in destinations and prepare ourselves for a restart. The demand is there. We tested models in Majorca. Now it depends on the politics to open.” He suggested Tui would “focus


on markets where infections are low” and said: “We will open as soon as possible German short cruises, three or five days on the North Sea. We


prohibited. But does it make sense to keep that for a long time? I don’t think so. It needs to be reasonable and appropriate. “It may be some weeks, [but] we


should not be impatient.” The Tui chief also downplayed


concern about remarks by health minister Matt Hancock last week suggesting UK travellers’ summer holiday plans could be “cancelled”. Joussen said: “What I saw is


customers want to go on holiday and politicians in Europe take the view that free movement is


Port de Sóller, Majorca


will restrict numbers to about 1,000 customers so there is lots of space. “The Balearics, Canaries,


Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria are ready. It is a matter of decision-making at both ends, in Germany and in the destinations. Outside Europe it may be a little longer.” He reported Tui had retained


more than a third of bookings for this summer and seen a rise in bookings for the coming winter from the UK. Joussen said: “We still have 35%


of the programme sold for summer 2020, [although] usually we would be at 59% now. So it’s still possible we can re-energise the summer programme where countries are open. “We are up 8% [year on year] in the UK for winter 2020-21. Summer 2021 is also open – numbers are small but double the volume of last year.” But Joussen said advising


customers when they might travel was difficult, saying: “It’s easy to say June 14 is not possible. It’s harder to say what is possible. People increasingly don’t understand that we can’t give answers.”


Fritz Joussen


Operator’s winter losses almost treble to €846m


Tui plans to cut 8,000 jobs across the group and reduce costs by 30%. Most of the jobs will go in destinations, with chief executive Fritz Joussen saying: “We will not be filling a lot of seasonal roles.” The group reported all


holidays cancelled “from mid-March until at least mid-June” and put the monthly cost of refunds to customers at up to €200 million. It recorded a loss of


€846 million for the six months to March, compared with €290 million a year earlier, and confirmed it had secured a €1.8 billion loan from the German government in March. In a statement, Tui noted:


“Customers are researching holidays; they want to travel as soon as tourism can take off responsibly and safely. “We are preparing new


procedures for the airport process, on board aircraft, in hotels and on our ships, so that any social distancing guidelines can be implemented.”


possible when it is safe. We will plan for selective source markets and destinations. We are ready to provide trips. I get the feeling governments are opening free borders if it is safe. “People have a strong demand


to take holidays and we have the means to make it happen with reasonable safety.” He added: “You could argue


charter travel is safer [than scheduled flying]. It’s very organised. You don’t need to track passengers, you just need the passenger list.”


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