(Reuters) – Tourism giant TUI said on Tuesday summer bookings were approaching their pre-pandemic level and said it would start reimbursing some of the state aid received in the context of the health crisis.
As of January 30, bookings for the upcoming summer period were 3.5 million, the tour operator said, or about 72% of the levels seen in the same period in 2019.
With the gradual lifting of health restrictions, travel demand has improved, supporting hopes of recovery for the global tourism giant, which is headquartered in Hanover.
“We expect a strong summer 2022,” said CEO Fritz Joussen.
Travelers are also booking “higher quality” vacations with bigger budgets this summer, the company added.
TUI, which benefited from financial support from the German state during the COVID-19 crisis and raised funds on the markets, all to the tune of 4 billion euros, said that it would return approximately 0, 7 billion euros in public aid.
In the first quarter ended December 31, the group posted an underlying operating loss (Ebit) of 273.6 million euros, against a loss of 675.8 million for the same period last year.
(Report Yadarisa Shabong in Bangalore; French version Kate Entringer, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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