TUI has successfully resumed business activities in all European markets. Demand for holiday travel remains unabatedly high. As soon as travel restrictions fall in the markets, booking momentum increases significantly. A total of around 1.5 million bookings have been received since the half-year figures in May, and the Group is currently recording 4.2 million bookings for summer 2021. As before, the trend towards online bookings increased significantly during the pandemic. In the third quarter, more than half of the TUI customers booked their holidays online (52 per cent). In addition, interaction with guests is increasingly taking place digitally, with almost 70 per cent of all TUI package tour guests using the TUI App (+21 percentage points). Besides the Balearic Islands with Majorca, the Greek islands, in particular Crete and Rhodes, are among the most popular destinations for TUI guests. In addition, domestic tourism and cruises by Group company TUI Cruises as well as the TUI Group's hotel and club brands – RIU, TUI Blue and Robinson – are also in demand. In the period under review, 283 TUI hotels were open and eight of the Group's cruise ships were carrying guests. With the positive operating restart, TUI is again generating cash inflows. In the third quarter of the financial year these were higher than the current cash costs, so that for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic a positive cash flow before financing of around 320 million euros was recorded.
TUI CEO Fritz Joussen: “Our business model and the strong TUI brand remain a successful model and are the guarantee for the successful restart. Customer demand and booking momentum remain high as soon as state travel restrictions are withdrawn. Where the state gives back normal entrepreneurial freedom, we are very successful – where states intervene and restrict entrepreneurial freedom, these interventions impact bookings. With one and a half million additional bookings since May and a total of more than four million bookings for the summer business, the figures are encouraging. Especially in Germany and in the continental European markets, the current booking figures show a high pent-up demand. In England, travel could only be resumed in mid-July. Demand and bookings there will therefore be reflected in the 4th quarter. Business is coming back and TUI's transformation is clearly having an impact.”
The TUI Group is one of the world's leading tourism groups and operates worldwide. The Group is headquartered in Germany. TUI shares are listed in the MDAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and in the regulated market of the Lower Saxony Stock Exchange in Hanover. TUI Group offers its 20 million customers integrated services from a single source and forms the entire tourism value chain under one roof. The Group owns over 400 hotels and resorts with premium brands such as RIU, TUI Blue and Robinson and 17 cruise ships, ranging from the MS Europa and MS Europa 2 in the luxury class and expedition ships in the HANSEATIC class to the Mein Schiff fleet of TUI Cruises and cruise ships operated by Marella Cruises in the UK. The Group also includes Europe's leading tour operator brands and online marketing platforms, for example for hotel-only or flight-only offers, five airlines with more than 130 modern medium- and long-haul aircraft and around 1,200 travel agencies. In addition to expanding its core business with hotels and cruises via successful joint ventures and activities in vacation destinations, TUI is increasingly focusing on the expansion of digital platforms. The Group is transforming itself into a global tourism platform company.
Global responsibility for sustainable economic, environmental and social action is at the heart of our corporate culture. With projects in 25 countries, the TUI Care Foundation initiated by TUI focuses on the positive effects of tourism, on education and training and on strengthening environmental and social standards. In this way, it supports the development of vacation destinations. The globally active TUI Care Foundation initiates projects that create new opportunities for the next generation.