[ad_1]
Saturday, January 02, 2021
“Many flights are booked quickly”
Tui boss expects a travel boom in summer
The tourism industry is more affected by Corona’s restrictions than almost any other. But according to Tui’s boss Joussen, the crisis could be followed by a boom. Among other things, the group wants to send its cruise fleet out to sea in full force.
Europe’s largest tourism group, Tui, expects a strong revival of the travel market, which collapsed during the Corona crisis this year. “We are expecting a fairly normal summer,” said Fritz Joussen, Tui’s CEO of the “Rheinische Post” in Düsseldorf. However, “only about 80 percent of the flights will be offered than in the years before the Corona crisis to achieve optimal utilization.” During the July and August holidays, many flights on the Mediterranean routes are likely to be booked quickly. The offer for May is reserved at 50 percent.
The company offered most of the trips at the same prices as in 2020 and 2019, but vacationers would spend more on trips. “Customers book higher quality. Many have extra room for maneuver in their budget, then choose a 5-star hotel over a 4-star hotel,” said Joussen. One reason is that coupons for trips canceled in 2020 are redeemed. “All of our market research shows that there is a huge desire on the part of people to be able to travel again after this difficult period in Corona.”
Joussen even anticipates that current vaccines will make all travel restrictions unnecessary: ”If we have protected particularly vulnerable groups from infection, the restrictions may drop dramatically overall.” Travel restrictions would no longer be provided. The international travel business collapsed dramatically in 2020. Tui had to save himself from bankruptcy with a government aid worth several billion euros.
Tui’s boss announced that the group’s 16 cruisers would be reinstated. The most important destinations in the summer would be Spain, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and Portugal. It also expects a great demand from domestic car destinations. It is not until 2022 that the tourism industry is expected to recover to the level of the 2019 record year, and 2021 will be a year of transition due to a still weak first half of the year.
