“Covid has been like a wrecking ball to the travel industry.” TTC’s Martin Alcock joined BBC News this morning to discuss TUI’s Q1 financial results and to highlight the plight of the UK travel sector.
In the year since January 2020, TUI has gone from the most successful trading month in its history to needing more than €4bn of German government and shareholder bailouts to survive.
TUIs actual Q1 trading results released a few hours after this interview, showed Winter bookings almost 90% down on last year, in line with what we’re seeing across the market.
A large group like TUI has access to multiple capital and funding options to help them get through these tough times. Many smaller travel businesses don’t have that luxury.
TUI are still hopeful of delivering 80% of their normal Summer ’21 programme. Even if that still feels over-optimistic at this point, the good news is just around the corner. Until then we need a tailored package of UK government support and a clear roadmap to get us travelling again.
Following this interview, TUI announced a €699m loss in Q1 as lockdowns and travel restrictions severely limited demand for fights in the last three months of 2020. You can view the results here.
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