By Elliot Wright, 9th February 2010
Holidaymakers will have to dig deep into their pockets this
summer as one of the UK's biggest travel firms reported a 9% rise
in its average selling price.
Tui Travel - which owns Thomson and First Choice - said prices
will go up after demand for holidays increased by 6% between
November and January.
Positive quarterly figures for the travel giant may indicate
that - for holiday firms at least - the worst of the economic
downturn is over.
It added: "We are seeing holiday demand improving across all our
source markets, with sustained improvements in booking volumes over
the last three to four months."
TUI said the average cost of a winter break was also 10% higher
in the UK after it managed to match capacity to demand.
Across the quarter to December 31, the company said losses
widened by £72 million to £107 million due to planned capacity
reductions and tougher comparisons with a year earlier.
TUI said there had been a significant improvement in
profitability in the current quarter, leading TUI chief executive
Peter Long to suggest that the worst of the downturn may be behind
the company.
He added: "I expect positive momentum in each of the remaining
quarters of 2010 as trading benefits from improved demand in all
source markets."
In the UK, TUI has increased capacity for this summer by 3%.
It has added an extra ship to meet demand for cruise trips,
while it has increased its presence at regional airports where it
is either under-represented or where a competitor has gone out of
business.
"We continue to monitor supply and demand and have retained
sufficient flexibility to adjust capacity accordingly."
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