Dedicated holiday fans boosting TUI's sales

The great British holidaymaker will not be stopped. TUI Travel, the home of the package holiday, said today that sales are rising and business is healthy.

Chief executive Peter Long said: "Our customers are saying that their main summer holiday is sacrosanct. People will forgo a lot of other things before they cut back on holiday expenditure."

Long is a holiday veteran who first shook up First Choice and then merged it with TUI of Germany. Its big rival, Thomas Cook, unveiled strong figures yesterday.

In the three months to 30 June, TUI saw sales up 9% to £3.6 billion, taking profits up 39% to £65 million.

"I've been through economic downturns in the 1990s and in the 1980s. I think it is not dissimilar to that and I don't think it is any worse," said Long.

"We see no signs yet of customers trading down."

Like rivals, TUI has hedged against fuel costs by buying fuel ahead of time.

It won't say at what price, but insists it won't have to pass on sudden jumps in the oil price to customers.

TUI expects to make £150 million in cost savings in the next three years, a benefit of the merger.

The shares were down 2p to 226p today.