Tui holiday bookings rise as Brits head west to the Caribbean and Mexico

Tui, the world’s largest package-holiday business, said that bookings for next year were up, despite increased terrorist threats.

Passengers are seeking the sun in such long-haul destinations as the Caribbean, Cancun and Jamaica with bookings up 16%, the firm said.

Holidaymakers are also turning to the Canaries and Cape Verde, after flights to Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt were halted over the winter.

Tui, which completes the merger of its German and UK businesses next week, said that it expects to increase earnings by 10% in 2016, proving that “One Tui was better than two”.

Joint chief Peter Long said that the company would begin holidays to Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh again as soon as authorities said it was safe.

“All destinations recover. Whether they fully recover is another matter.”

The death of 33 Tui customers in June’s attack in Tunisia and subsequent suspension of holidays there cost the firm £52 million.

For the year to the end of September, Tui said that underlying earnings of £724 million were 15.4% higher than last year.