TUI says long-haul bookings rise

Demand for long-haul holidays has held up well despite the swine flu outbreak and the recession, says Europe’s biggest travel firm, TUI Travel.
Long-haul bookings in the UK were up 2% in the past two weeks from a year ago.
It said customers were switching from Mexico to destinations such as Jamaica, Egypt and the Dominican Republic.
TUI Travel – which owns Thomson and First Choice in the UK – said customers were also switching to non-euro destinations after the pound’s slide.

Non-euro destinations accounted for 32% of all trips compared with 29% previously.
Higher prices
TUI said that summer bookings at its UK arm were down 11% during the past eight weeks, but this was an improvement as cumulative bookings from 1 October to 3 May were down 17%.
However, it added that average selling prices were 10% higher than the previous year after the company cut the number of holidays on sale in anticipation of weaker demand.
It said that about 250 of the 2,500 customers that were in Mexico at the time of the swine flu outbreak accepted its offer to be flown home early.
Alternatively, customers will also have the option to cancel their holiday and receive a full refund without incurring any cancellation charge.
TUI added that holidaymakers were continuing to switch to all-inclusive package holidays deals to save cash, with sales of such deals now accounting for a third of bookings.
Last month, shares in travel firms fell on fears that the swine flu outbreak could hit demand for holidays, but they have recovered some ground as the severity of the illness has turned out to be less than feared.
Thomson and First Choice Holidays have cancelled all outbound flights operating to the Mexican resorts of Cancun and Cozumel until 18 May.
Customers affected will have the option to select a different destination or alternative date up to the same value already booked, they said.

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