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Europe's largest tourism company TUI reports seasonal losses despite strong turnover

Xinhua, May 15, 2017 Adjust font size:

Europe's largest travel and tourism company, TUI, Monday reported a seasonal loss of 193.3 million euros (212.1 million U.S. dollars) for the first six months of the 2016-2017 fiscal year, excluding the late timing impact of Easter 2017.

According to its financial report published on Monday, TUI reported an increased operating loss of 214.4 million euros during the period, up 3.8 percent compared to the loss of 206.4 million euros in the previous year, factoring in foreign exchange rates and the Easter timing impact.

In 2017, the lucrative Easter holiday business was in April so the corresponding travel revenues fall in the second half of the financial year.

Above average levels of sickness temporarily halted travel operations in October, further affecting the operating result.

However, the company said its turnover increased by 8.2 percent to 6.69 billion euros, compared to 6.18 billion euros in the same 2015 to 2016 period.

The Hanover-headquartered TUI group is currently undergoing a transformation "from tour operator to tourism business," TUI Group CEO Fritz Joussen said, as the group moves its focus towards hotel and cruise brands. The hotel and cruise sectors improved their operating result by 27.9 percent to 122.8 million euros and 52.1 percent to 75 million euros, respectively.

The current customer numbers for summer 2017 increased in line with the expectations by four percent year-on-year. TUI confirms its targeted EBITA growth of "at least 10 percent," said Joussen. The lower demand for travel into Turkey and Egypt is compensated by increased demand for Greece, Spain, Cape Verde, Cyprus, and the Caribbean.

Earlier this week, Joussen announced TUI's plan to expand into the Asian tourism market in a joint venture with Chinese partner CTS Group.

"China will be a travel hub within Asia," Joussen said. The group targets an additional turnover of over one billion euros as a result of the expansion. (1 euro = 1.10 U.S. dollars) Endit