TUI AG, the Hanover based tourism group that is listed in London, said its cruise operations are performing well, both in Germany and in the UK.
In Germany, TUI owns 50% of premium market TUI Cruises and the expedition to luxury market operator Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten in full, while in the UK, its cruise operations consist of Thomson Cruises.
Referring to the winter 2016-17, TUI said cruise continues to deliver growth with the first winter of operations of Mein Schiff 5, and good yields and load factors across the fleets.
Revenue performance in northern Europe reflects growth in long haul, particularly from the UK, and UK cruise as well as higher demand for the Canaries, mainland Spain and Cape Verde. “This is offset partly by lower demand for Turkey and Egypt, in particular from the Nordics,” TUI said in a trading statement.
With regards of the summer 2017, TUI Cruises will launch Mein Schiff 6 in June 2017 and sales for this and our other ships continue to progress well. “UK revenue and selling price performance reflects continued growth in long haul and cruise (with the launch of TUI Discovery 2 in May), as well as the impact of currency inflation for euro based destinations,” the company said.
Overall, winter 2016/17 and summer 2017 are trading in line with the management’s expectations.
“Our balanced portfolio of markets and destinations, our focus on growth in own hotel and cruise brands and our strong balance sheet put us in a robust position, despite the impact of macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges in certain source markets and destinations,” TUI said.
“We therefore reiterate our guidance of at least 10% growth in Group underlying EBITA in 2016/171. We are continuing to deliver the transformation of the business, financed by our strong cash flows and the proceeds of disposals, which we believe will put us in an even stronger competitive position and create a less seasonal business for the long term,” the company said.
TUI will publish the first half of its financial year results on 15 May.
