by Joanna Plucinska
LONDON (Reuters) – Travel and tourism company TUI confirmed its annual outlook for the 2023 financial year on Tuesday, building on strong bookings for the summer and winter seasons, despite extreme weather conditions including flooding to the heatwave, which disrupted flights and vacations.
European airlines benefited from a bumper tourism season thanks to post-pandemic vacation demand across the continent, but extreme weather dampened optimism about a strong travel recovery.
Reservations for summer 2023 amounted to 13.7 million, an increase of 5% compared to the previous summer season, the company said in a press release.
“If it had not been for various events beyond our control in recent months, including the fires in Rhodes, we would have exceeded our expectations,” Sebastian Ebel, the company’s chief executive, said in a statement. communicated.
Booking commitments increased by 15% compared to winter 2022 and 2023, the company said, while summer bookings reached 96% of pre-pandemic levels.
(Report by Joanna Plucinska; French version Nathan Vifflin; edited by Blandine Hénault)
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