TUI, Germany ’s leading travel operator, is chalking up a healthy growth in bookings for the current summer season. The number of guests is up some 13 percent and the figure for booked sales is up about six percent compared with the same period for the previous year. “We are currently recording growth in all segments, from sun and beach packages, long-haul travel, city breaks and car holidays to individually assembled module-based trips,” says TUI Deutschland head Dr Volker Böttcher at the launch of the winter brochures for the 2007/2008 season. After a successful early bookings phase, booking development showed an unexpected initial downturn in April. However, since June bookings have been gaining substantial momentum. “Development over the last three months of the season will be crucial for the overall result for the summer. We have to wait and see how bookings continue to develop, especially for the important months of September and October,” reveals Böttcher. He made the point that there are plenty of holidays available for all those who so far have not made up their minds.
Winners and losers summer season 2007
Apart from Majorca, which remains the most important destination for German holidaymakers (+ 3 percent visitor increase), Turkey is one of the major winners. “After a weak year in 2006 we are now seeing a remarkable comeback by Turkey with growth in the number of guests currently registering some 35 percent,” says TUI Germany head Böttcher. Equally pleasing is the development in Greece (+14 percent increase in visitors), Egypt (+24 percent visitor increase) and Portugal (+37 percent increase in visitors). Among the traditional sun and beach destinations in the medium-haul flight sector only the countries of former Yugoslavia are not meeting expectations (-4 percent visitor decrease). In the car holiday segment, too, TUI is clearly showing a positive booking trend. The German market is growing overproportionally well with a 17 percent surge in the number of holidaymakers.
Car holiday destinations Austria (+7 percent visitor increase) and Switzerland (+26 percent visitor increase) are recording substantial growth rates. In the long-haul travel and city break segments TUI is reaping the fruits of its product campaign. “We greatly expanded our holiday and travel product range by adding new destinations, circular tours and discovery components. Nine percent growth in the number of customers in the long-haul travel segment and a 14 percent increase in travellers taking city tours show that we are on the right track,” comments Böttcher.
The booking figures are particularly satisfactory for Mexico (+25 percent visitor increase), Thailand (+38 percent), Mauritius (+37 percent visitor increase) as well as the Maldives (+8 percent visitor increase). In line with expectations the booking figures for Sri Lanka were considerably lower than the year before on account of the political uncertainty in the country (-59 percent).
Early bookers can save money / Holiday prices for the winter season remain stable
For the coming winter season, too, TUI is offering holidaymakers wide-ranging early booker bonuses. Just as for the current summer season TUI is hitting the ground running with its own early booker price section. This section is valid until 12 December. After that the normal brochure prices come into effect. For adults TUI’s early booker benefits are known as the XXL bonus. A total of 136 hotels in the most important winter destinations are offering these perks. This means adults can save as much as 200 euros per person on a sun and beach holiday in Egypt or up to 140 euros per person on the Canary Islands . With TUI, children can save using the XXS Super Price for Kids – it is valid for 34 family hotels and costs only 199 euros or 249 euros per child.
On average travel prices for the coming winter season, taking the early booker reduction into account, remain stable for all destinations. For the 2007/2008 winter season holidays are even cheaper than before, for instance, for a medium-haul holiday in Tunisia (-1.5 percent) or on the Spanish mainland (-2 percent). The price of travel to Egypt (+3 percent), the Balearics (+2.3 percent) and to Portugal (+1.5 percent) has gone up slightly. For trips to the Canary Islands, the most important winter destination for German holidaymakers, prices remained stable.
Holiday prices for many long-haul destinations have become significantly cheaper thanks to favourable exchange rates. For instance, holidaymakers can save two percent in the Caribbean . The price of holidays in Namibia is down five percent, while a trip to South Africa now costs on average ten percent less than in the previous winter season.
New products – snow guarantee for winter sports and Asia expansion
With the TUI snow guarantee for skiers Germany ’s leading travel operator is launching a new concept. If one week before the holiday commences less than 75 percent of the lifts in a selected ski area are in operation for lack of snow, holidaymakers can at no extra cost either change the booking to a later date or choose a different destination from one of the TUI brochures. The TUI snow guarantee is valid for 36 ski areas in Germany , Austria , Switzerland and France and for some 200 hotels. New to the winter sports brochure are not only numerous hotels in the Alpine countries but also winter sports destinations in the USA and Canada.
Overall for the 2007/2008 winter season TUI is delivering 26 TUI brochures to the travel agencies. Apart from expanding the product range in the car holiday brochures there are numerous new hotels and programmes, for instance, for city breaks, on the Canary Islands and in North Africa. Further-more, the product line has been substantially expanded in the long-haul segment. For the coming winter season TUI has concentrated above all on developing travel to Asia (see also the detailed press releases on this subject at www.tui-group.com).
TUI Island opens to visitors in the virtual world of Second Life
Anyone interested in a virtual holiday before the actual holiday can now visit TUI on the online digital world of Second Life. Internet surfers land with an aircraft on the TUI island, where they can spend time in different holiday worlds based on TUI subbrands ”Schöne Ferien”, “Weltentdecker” and “Premium”. For instance, In the “Weltentdecker” area, guests can decide to go on a jungle path tour, a rafting trip or on a treasure hunt in an abandoned temple. For those who prefer something quieter, they will find luxury water-bungalows or a wellness temple in the Premium zone on the island – just as in the real life Premium brochures.
The TUI Island programme is rounded off with virtual hotel tours, detailed information on TUI products as well as a travel agency for booking real holidays.
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