Only days after TUI, the Anglo-German multinational travel and tourism company headquartered in Hanover, Germany secured a third round of emergency funding for €1. 8 billion, it has posted an annual loss of €3.0 billion as a result of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the holiday industry sector. TUI had previously secured state loans totaling €3.0 billion.
TUI has confirmed that it intends to increase its annual cost-cutting measures to €400 million from the previous target of €300 million. “The rapid measures to cut costs and secure liquidity are important for the Group. They are a stable foundation for the future,” TUI Chief Executive Fritz Joussen said in a statement. The company posted a loss of €3 billion, from €894 million of underlying core earnings (EBIT) last year, while revenue came in 58% lower at €7.9 billion.
Following the latest bailout, TUI now has €2.5 billion of liquidity, and Joussen said the COVID-19 vaccine would help boost demand for holidays in 2021, forecasting a return to 2019 levels by 2022. Bookings for next summer were 3% higher than they were at this stage in 2019, and average prices for summer 2021 were 14% higher than 2020. TUI’s carriers include TUI Airways in the U.K., TUI Fly Belgium, TUI fly Deutschland, TUI fly Netherlands and TUI fly Nordic. (€1.00 = US$1.21 at time of publication.)
