TUI Group: Conditions created for rapid resumption of travel activities after challenging Corona Year 2020

Vicky Karantzavelou wrote 

TUI is preparing intensively for a new start in 2021 after the corona crisis year 2020. The pandemic is not over, but there is light at the end of the tunnel and the prospects for tourism and for TUI are good. The demand for holiday travel is there – consumers in all age groups say that travelling is one of the most missed activities for them in the Corona year. 2021 will be a transition year for tourism, and 2022 is expected to see a return to pre-Corona levels. In particular, the holiday sector will recover faster than the sector as a whole. TUI had made an excellent start to the financial year before the outbreak of the pandemic, but the worldwide travel warnings since March 2020 then forced the Group to largely discontinue business. Among other things, there was no Easter business, no travel at Whitsun and only very limited summer business in the Corona crisis year 2020. The Group introduced cost-cutting and financing measures at an early stage and accelerated the global realignment. In addition to securing additional liquidity, extensive cost-cutting projects were launched. The long-term goal of reducing annual costs has been raised from the previous 300 million euros to the current 400 million euros.

Fritz Joussen, CEO of the TUI Group: "The rapid measures to cut costs and secure liquidity are important for the Group. They are a stable foundation for the future. TUI was in perfect health before the crisis and we want to return to our former strength as quickly as possible. The market is intact, our business model is future-proof and customer demand is there. Holiday travel remains very relevant for people. At the same time, international tourism is strengthening the southern euro zone and North Africa in a special way. We are very well positioned to resume operations on a larger scale as soon as the lockdowns are lifted and destinations are reopened. Our business model with our own tour operators, the travel agencies, aircraft, hotels and ships under the TUI umbrella makes a resumption possible very quickly. The prospect of successful vaccinations from the beginning of the year makes us confident. All indicators point to a successful restart of the travel business as soon as the pandemic is over. We are prepared for this new start. We are consistently continuing the change we have initiated in order to be better and more efficient after the crisis".