Start of 2012 looks positive for Thompson & First Choice

Peter Long, boss of TUI Travel plc, says he is ‘unconcerned’ about the effect of the Olympics on holiday bookings next year.

 

Long, the chief executive at parent company TUI Travel, said ‘Most of our customers will not be wanting to pay the prices that are being charged so I am not too concerned.’ He states that following the release of brochures last week, Thomson and First Choice 2012 sales have started positively.

 

‘I was with Nick Longman (TUI Travel UK & Ireland distribution director) yesterday and he was telling us how pleased he was with initial demand for summer 2012,’ said Long.

 

‘For the Olympics, we are making an assumption that demand for tickets is greater in the South East so we may adjust our capacity in the South East and regions.

 

‘But there is plenty of time to see booking patterns.’

 

Thompson and First Choice both launched their summer 2012 brochures last week, with First Choice offering all-inclusive holidays for the first time.

 

According to Long, around a quarter of TUI Travel’s summer holidays are sold before Christmas, as some ‘astute’ customers look to book early and capitalise on special offers.

 

His comments came after TUI Travel plc published its interim which indicated the group made a first-half loss before tax of £364m, compared to £375m in the same period last year.

 

Long admitted that consumer sentiment was at a low ebb in the UK, but he said he did not foresee the situation worsening as those with stable employment would still be likely to book holidays.

 

However, consumers were ‘not biting’ as much as he had anticipated with cut-price holidays to Egypt because families were still wary of uncertainty in the region so bookings to Spain, Greek islands and Turkey were strong.