Summer looking bright at Thomas Cook

Thomas Cook today said summer bookings had picked up across all of its major markets and was confident it would perform in line with its expectations for the full-year.

The group said it had seen increased sales in recent weeks, while average selling prices were ahead of last year in Britain and northern Europe.

In the UK, summer bookings were up by 30 percent in the last four weeks, with average selling prices up 2 percent. The company said 54 percent of holidays have now been sold, with 5 percent less left to sell for the season than this time last year.

Thomas Cook said the improvement in average selling prices reflected a shift towards selling holidays to higher margin medium-haul destinations.

The group said it expected prices to continue to move upwards compared with last year as it expected to have to sell less holidays at discounts through late bookings.

Thomas Cook and and its rival TUI Travel have reduced the number of holidays they sell by more than a quarter in the last two years, enabling them to increase average selling prices and avoid having to offer heavy discounts at the last minute to sell unwanted trips.

The strategy helped them lift profits and margins through the recession, while smaller operators struggled to stay afloat.

On Wednesday, TUI Travel, Europe's biggest tour operator, said demand for holidays had picked up significantly, with most winter season programmes sold and better bookings for summer than a year ago.