TUI Travel, a UK-based travel company, has announced an upbeat forecast for the UK travel market this year.
The company, which has recorded a decrease in its operating loss of £16m, to £93m in its first quarter results for the period ended December 31, 2012, has reported significant continuous growth in the UK. It has achieved a 4 percent increase in its cumulative market share for the summer of 2013, and a 2 percent gain in the January booking period, resulting in a 7 percent increase on the same period last year.
Peter Long, the chief executive officer at TUI Travel, said, ‘We are pleased to report that our strong trading momentum has continued with particularly encouraging growth in the UK and Nordics. Our leading position in the UK has further benefited from increased market share as a result of higher demand for our unique holidays. Across all our key markets demand for the overseas holiday remains strong, despite the overall economic environment.
We are confident that our customer focused strategy is driving performance and based on current trading we expect to be towards the top end of our roadmap guidance of 7 percent to 10 percent underlying operating profit growth for the 2013 financial year.’
The company is feeling upbeat with a 9 percent increase in summer 2013 bookings in the UK, and a 10 percent increase in summer 2013 bookings in the Nordic countries.
TUI Travel is reported to be one of the largest leisure travel companies, offering around 240 brands in 180 countries, and dealing with around 30 million customers globally.
