German travel and holiday giant TUI Group, Europe's largest tour operator, revealed Wednesday better-than-expected results after notching up record revenues, as it said traveling remains "very popular" despite rising prices for trips abroad.
The company affirmed that it sees strong booking for the upcoming season and that locations including Türkiye, Greece and the Balearic Islands are among the most sought-after destinations.
TUI continues to expect a good year as a whole and, after six months, can also look back on a strong second quarter of the financial year, it said.
"TUI successfully closed the second quarter of the financial year 2024 due to people's continued high willingness to travel," it added.
The group – set to switch its listing from London to Frankfurt – reported pre-tax losses of 403.1 million euros ($436.5 million) for the six months to March 31, against 648.8 million euros a year earlier.
Holiday firms traditionally post losses over the quieter winter months.
Revenues jumped 15.2% to 8 billion euros in the first half, the company's data showed.
Its group loss stood at 330.5 million euros, against the losses of 558 million euros a year earlier.
Peel Hunt analyst Ivor Jones said some investors had hoped TUI would upgrade its forecast before the travel-busy summer season which had lifted its shares ahead of the results.
Shares in TUI, which operates holidays, hotels, cruises and an airline, reversed early losses and were up around 2% at 8:11 a.m. GMT.
TUI said it was particularly seeing "high demand" for package holidays. But the firm said its average prices were around 4% higher for the summer season than a year ago.
The group’s summer program is 60% sold, with 9 million bookings for the upcoming peak season, up 5% year-over-year.
In the U.K., summer bookings so far are 3% higher, with 65% of the season sold.
Sebastian Ebel, TUI Group chief executive, said: "Travelling is very popular with people."
"We see trends that will further strengthen this in the future: experiences are becoming more important than possessions, and the middle classes are growing in many parts of the world."
TUI added it was "aware of the ongoing challenges in the geopolitical environment" but is sticking to full-year guidance, with aims to increase revenue by at least 10% and underlying operating earnings by at least 25%.
The firm said milder winter weather "motivated many last-minute travelers to make winter bookings" in its second quarter.
It said 5.1 million people booked trips over the winter season, with 700,000 added since its last update in February.
Prices were 3% higher on average for winter holidays, it said.
TUI added that medium and short-haul destinations are driving bookings for the summer.
"Greece, Türkiye and the Balearic Islands are once again proving to be the most popular destinations for summer holidays," it said.
TUI’s time on the London market will officially come to an end on June 24, having recently switched to Germany, where it is also headquartered.
But the group has stressed previously that the move will have no impact on its companies and activities in the U.K.
It recently said the U.K. "is and will remain a core market for the group."
Resilient demand from TUI boosts the prospects of Türkiye's tourism industry representatives who anticipate record arrivals from Germany this year, particularly in the southern resort of Antalya.
More than 3.3 million Germans arrived in Antalya throughout 2023, second to around 3.5 million tourists from Russia and arrivals from Britain, which ranked third with almost 1.32 million.
Türkiye welcomed around 49.2 million foreign tourists in 2023, which with combined arrivals of Turkish citizens living abroad stood at 56.7 million last year.
Antalya alone hosted nearly 15.7 million foreigners last year, a new record with the latest data suggesting robust arrivals in the first four months of this year as well.
Travel firms are hopeful that 2024's summer season will surpass pre-pandemic levels, despite economic uncertainty, delays in plane deliveries and rising jet fuel prices.