Tour operator Tui Travel has once again demonstrated how it is benefiting from the “woes” of its rival, Thomas Cook, by posting strong fourth-quarter sales after its UK consumers jetted off to Ibiza, Turkey and Jamaica to escape the soggy British summer.
Tui, which owns the Thomson and First Choice brands, also reaffirmed that it remains on track to meet City forecasts of increased operating profits of £480 million for the year to September 30.
Chief executive Peter Long said: “We are very pleased with our summer 2012 performance, with most of our programmes now almost fully sold.”
Tui’s robust financial performance is in stark contrast to rival Thomas Cook, which nearly collapsed under its debts late last year and for its quarter to the end of June posted a £25.4 million loss.
Following cuts in capacity to reflect the economic downturn, the group said its UK customer numbers for this summer were actually down 4% but a rise in average selling prices sent its sales up by 5%.
Peel Hunt analyst Nick Batram said: “There is no doubt that the woes at Thomas Cook have had a positive impact on Tui Travel but it has mainly served to accelerate what was already in place. Indeed, from a product perspective we expect 2013 to benefit more from the events at Thomas Cook than 2012 did.”
Partly to counter the pressure on household budgets, Tui has moved all of its First Choice holidays to all-inclusive.
