TUI AG said summer bookings are approaching pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, the latest sign that the travel sector is recovering, despite high inflation squeezing household budgets.
The world’s biggest tour operator said booking volumes were at 96 percent of 2019 levels, led by demand for travel to Spain, Greece and Turkey.
Prices are 26 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels, the company said.
Photo: Reuters
“Strong booking development and significantly improved quarterly figures underline our expectations: It will be a strong summer and a good financial year 2023, with a significantly higher operating result,” TUI chief executive officer Sebastian Ebel said in an earnings statement.
TUI, based in Hannover, Germany, received 4.2 billion euros (US$4.6 billion) in state bailouts in 2020 after the COVID-19 crisis punctured a decades-long boom in travel.
The company last month made its final repayment of its assistance package after a capital increase of 1.8 billion euros.
Europeans’ thirst for travel is driving TUI’s recovery. While household energy and food bills have surged in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, consumers are still willing to spend on vacations, despite the higher cost of accommodation and flights.
In the fiscal second quarter ending March 31, TUI’s loss narrowed to 242.2 million euros from 329.9 million euros a year earlier.
Analysts had estimated a loss of 228 million euros.
TUI confirmed its full-year guidance for a significant increase in underlying earnings.
Revenue rose to 3.2 billion euros from 2.1 billion euros.
The company said it had secured 8.3 million bookings to date for the summer, and that 55 percent of the program for the season had been sold, which TUI called “broadly in line” with the same season in 2019.
“Outlook commentary is encouraging, with summer ’23 booking close to pre-pandemic levels and pricing strong,” Jefferies International analyst James Wheatcroft wrote in a note.
Like low-cost airlines, TUI is seeking to increase its market share as higher household bills weigh on consumer spending, pushing people toward package holidays that include flights, accommodation, bus transfers and food, and helping them to control the cost of their trip.
Taiwan’s technology protection rules prohibits Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) from producing 2-nanometer chips abroad, so the company must keep its most cutting-edge technology at home, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks in response to concerns that TSMC might be forced to produce advanced 2-nanometer chips at its fabs in Arizona ahead of schedule after former US president Donald Trump was re-elected as the next US president on Tuesday. “Since Taiwan has related regulations to protect its own technologies, TSMC cannot produce 2-nanometer chips overseas currently,” Kuo said at a meeting of the legislature’s
TECH WAR CONTINUES: The suspension of TSMC AI chips and GPUs would be a heavy blow to China’s chip designers and would affect its competitive edge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is reportedly to halt supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) made on 7-nanometer or more advanced process technologies from next week in order to comply with US Department of Commerce rules. TSMC has sent e-mails to its Chinese AI customers, informing them about the suspension starting on Monday, Chinese online news outlet Ijiwei.com (愛集微) reported yesterday. The US Department of Commerce has not formally unveiled further semiconductor measures against China yet. “TSMC does not comment on market rumors. TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
RSS