Eliana Willis

TUI Group has reported first quarter revenue for 2021 of just €468.1 million, down from €3.85 billion a year ago.
Due to travel restrictions around the world, the hospitality giant also saw losses of €699 million on an adjusted basis for the first three months of the year, compared to a loss of €147 million last year.
However, the rollout of vaccines in the UK and across Europe has begun to boost confidence ahead of the summer.
TUI said customer demand for summer 2021 was strong despite major uncertainties, with 2.8 million bookings already made, with average prices up 20 per cent compared to summer 2019.
The company said it was planning to operate around 80 per cent of the summer 2019 programme.
Fritz Joussen, chief executive of TUI Group, said: “As expected, customers will book their summer holidays much later this year than in normal years.
“However, demand remains strong, people want to travel – this is shown by the already good number of bookings for the summer.
“A look at the historically high savings rate in the EU also underlines that the scope for consumer spending is high.

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“The significant increase in spending on booked travel reflects this very clearly.
“Holidaymakers are catching up and are willing to pay more for their holidays.
“For tourism, but also for hospitality and cultural enterprises, this trend is a good signal.
“The market and customers are in the starting blocks; the demand is there. Everyone is waiting to earn their own income from the business again.”
Joussen added that the quick pace of vaccinations against Covid-19 in the UK could see travellers return to market earlier.
He continued: “Great Britain is economically a very important and large market for TUI.
“There, the vaccination campaign is progressing very rapidly; according to current plans, all Britons over 50 years of age are to receive a vaccination offer by the beginning of May.
“By mid-July, 75 per cent of the population there should have been vaccinated, so that herd immunity is achieved.
“This will have an immediate impact on the booking and travel behaviour of Britons for the summer of 2021.
“It also gives hope that the other European countries important to TUI will also be able to accelerate their vaccination strategies.
“In the transition period, rapid tests can play an important role, especially in tourism.
“We should use these opportunities wherever possible for the sake of the many millions of employees in the European tourism sector and the travellers.
“With uniform and reliable regulations on rapid tests, we can leave quarantine obligations and closed borders behind us.
“Rapid testing instead of quarantine is a demand of the travel industry, to which TUI also adheres.”
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Chancellor Rishi Sunak has confirmed businesses in the UK will have an addition six months to pay back loans offered to help them navigate the Covid-19 crisis.
The decision means businesses can choose to make no payments on their loans until 18 months after they originally took them out.
The option to pause repayments will now be available to all from their first repayment, rather than after six repayments have been made.
Pay as You Grow loans will also enable borrowers to extend the length of their loans from six to ten years (reducing monthly repayments by almost half) and make interest-only payments for six months, in order to tailor their repayment schedule to suit their individual circumstances.
These Pay as You Grow options will be available to more than 1.4 million businesses which took out a total of nearly £45 billion through the Bounce Back Loan Scheme.

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This is in addition to the government covering the costs of interest for the first year of the loan.
From today, lenders will begin reaching out to borrowers to provide information on repayment schedules and how to access flexible repayment options.
Sunak said: “Businesses are continuing to feel the impact of extended disruption from Covid-19, and we’re determined to give them the backing and confidence they need to get through the pandemic.
“That’s why we’re giving Bounce Back Loan borrowers breathing space to get back on their feet, through greater flexibility and time to repay their loans on their terms.
“Lenders will proactively and directly inform their customers of Pay as You Grow, and borrowers should only expect correspondence three months before their first repayments are due.”
Commenting on the news, Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, said the decision would help struggling businesses.
She added: “This is a welcome announcement from the chancellor as the greater flexibility offered in repayment options will give valuable breathing space for many hospitality businesses.
“The overwhelming majority are under huge pressure after months of little or no income, with cash fast running out and an ever-increasing debt pile as a result of prolonged periods of closure.
“While this does provide relative respite for some, it’s important that banks are as flexible as possible in allowing hospitality businesses to access better terms and follow through with this announcement.
“Government has a role to play if this is not seen to be taking place.”
She continued: “The survival of thousands of businesses and the ability of the hospitality sector to play a full part in the nation’s economic recovery hangs in the balance.
“What’s urgently required is a clear roadmap to reopening, a solution to the ongoing rent debt issue that continues to cast a huge shadow over the sector, along with an extension of the business rates holiday and VAT cut.
“These measures will help give hospitality a fighting chance to get through this crisis, to grow and create jobs once again.”
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The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is calling for governments to abandon the concept of ‘high-risk countries’ and instead focus on how individual ‘high-risk travellers’ are treated at borders.
The body is urging governments around the world to shift their focus from whole countries, towards individual travellers.
Instead, WTTC says governments around the world should redefine their whole approach to risk assessment, to revive international business and leisure travel.
Combined with a common international consensus on the metrics used to assess risk and a laser-like focus on a cost-effective, comprehensive, and rapid departure and arrival testing scheme for all travellers, could pave the way forward for the meaningful return of travel.
It would also ensure only those affected are forced to isolate, while travellers who test negative can continue to enjoy safe travels through observing hygiene protocols and mask wearing.

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Gloria Guevara, WTTC chief executive, said: “Risk based on entire countries is neither effective nor productive. Redefining risk towards individual travellers instead will be key for unlocking the door to the return of safe international travel.
“We need to learn from past experiences and crises such as 9/11.
“We cannot continue labelling entire countries as ‘high-risk’ which assumes everyone is infected.
“While the UK is currently seeing high levels of infections, clearly not all Britons are infected; the same goes for all Americans, Spaniards or the French.
“The reality is much more complex.
“Not only does it stigmatise an entire nation, but it also halts travel and mobility when many people who test negative on departure and arrival could safely travel without exporting the virus.
“We have to recognise this reality and redefine the risk to focus on ‘high-risk’ individuals.
“We firmly believe implementing a comprehensive testing regime and the use of technology is the only practical way to restore international travel securely.
“Furthermore, a comprehensive testing programme will be less expensive than the economic cost brought on by blanket quarantines and lockdowns.”
She added: “This refocus would avoid exporting the virus and enable the free movement of travellers, while still observing enhanced hygiene protocols such as mask wearing and social distancing.
“We must learn to live with the virus, as it will take time for the global population to be vaccinated.
“This is why WTTC has long advocated introducing a comprehensive and cost-effective test on departure and arrival for all international travellers, as a way of preventing those carrying the virus from spreading it.”
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Some customers still have not received all their money back for cancelled holidays, despite the online travel agent committing lastminute.com to the regulator that all refunds would be paid by the end of January, Which? has revealed.
After months of breaking the law on holiday refunds, the company was investigated by the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) in December and it agreed to pay all outstanding package holiday refunds that were cancelled on or before December 2nd by the end of January.
Despite this, Which? has seen reports from several customers through social media who still had not received a full refund after the deadline had passed.
At the time of the intervention, the seventh largest travel agent in the UK owed more than £7 million in refunds for holidays cancelled on or before December 2nd.
Although it seems to be paying back customers for the hotel portion of their trips, Which? found evidence that it had not returned the cost of cancelled flights to some of its customers by the deadline.
Some online travel agents have reported difficulties in securing refunds from airlines to pass on to their customers, meaning many people have reported only receiving partial refunds for their cancelled package holidays.

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However, under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Regulations 2018, if a package holiday is cancelled by the provider, the customer is legally entitled to a full refund within 14 days.
A package holiday is a combination of at least two types of travel or travel-related services made through the same source in a single booking, most commonly flights and accommodation.
The commitment made by lastminute.com to the CMA was to refund all money to customers for both accommodation and flights.
Only after Which? approached lastminute.com were both customers told they would receive their money back for the outstanding portions of their refunds.
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: “Despite being given ample time to return all outstanding refunds to customers – as well as clear instructions regarding its liability for refunding both accommodation and flight costs – lastminute.com has failed to meet this commitment to the regulator.
“This is perhaps unsurprising to its customers, given it was voted the UK’s worst accommodation booking site in our latest survey, faring little better when it was ranked for flight bookings.
“The CMA was right to intervene to demand action from the online travel agent, but after failing some of its customers once again, tougher measures need to be taken.
“The CMA should uncover how many customers were not refunded in time and take appropriate action against lastminute.com, sending a clear message that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable.”
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On the Beach Group has said consumer demand remains “very weak” following a series of disruptions owing to Covid-19.
Ahead of its annual general meeting today, the company said UK web traffic, bookings and spend on online marketing activity across the first four months of the financial year down 73 per cent, 83 per cent and 85 per cent respectively.

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As a result of the four-week lockdown in November and the subsequent UK-wide lockdown that commenced in early January 2021, combined with further reductions in winter flying programmes, consumer demand for forward holidays has remained very weak,” explained a statement.
The company said it was responding to the latest travel restrictions by taking holidays off-sale that depart prior to May.
Simon Cooper, chief executive of On the Beach Group, commented: “The first four months of our financial year have seen differing tiering levels across the UK, followed by the current nationwide lockdown and ban on international leisure travel.
“Clearly this has and continues to impact booking volumes and the Board believes that booking volumes will remain weak through half one and into half two.
“Following the prudent activities undertaken in the last financial year, the group remains in a strong and debt-free financial position.”
On the Beach said it had £93 million on hand at the end of last month.
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The Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has launched its investigation into Teletext Holidays.
The probe, launched under consumer protection law, comes after the body received hundreds of complaints that people were not receiving refunds for package holidays cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In some instances, Teletext customers reported that they were promised refunds by a certain date, only to have that date pushed back.
The CMA will now engage with Teletext to gather further evidence on whether the company has broken consumer protection law.
Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of the CMA, said: “We understand that the pandemic is presenting challenges for travel businesses, but it is important that the interests of consumers are properly protected and that businesses comply with the law.

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“We’ll be engaging with Teletext to establish whether the law has been broken and will take further action if necessary.”
The announcement follows significant action by the CMA in relation to holiday cancellations.
The government body has written to over 100 package holiday firms to remind them of their obligations to comply with consumer protection law, and has secured refund commitments from a number of holiday firms, including Love Holidays, Lastminute.com, Virgin Holidays, TUI UK, Sykes Cottages and Vacation Rentals.
The CMA is also investigating whether airlines have breached consumers’ legal rights by failing to offer cash refunds for flights they could not lawfully take due to the pandemic.
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: “Which? has received a steady stream of complaints from Teletext Holidays customers who have been left chasing refunds for cancelled holidays, so it is right that the CMA is investigating the company.
“Nearly a year on from the first wave of cancellations, it’s unacceptable for anyone to still be waiting for their money back.
“Customers have been understanding of the difficult circumstances travel companies faced in the past year, but it’s clear now that some operators feel empowered to act with impunity.
“The regulator should establish the scale of the problem and, if necessary, quickly take appropriate action against the company to send a clear message that it will not stand for this kind of behaviour.”
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World Travel & Tourism Council chief executive, Gloria Guevara, has praised the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines in the UK, arguing the programme will support the recovery of the hospitality sector.
Latest government figures show more than ten million Brits have had at least one does of a vaccine, or around 15 per cent of the adult population.
Many are in the most vulnerable groups, including those over 70-years-of-age, employed in healthcare or by nursing homes.
In response, Guevara said: “The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) recognises the tremendous progress made by the UK government to lead the world with its comprehensive vaccine rollout across the country, together with a highly-targeted testing programme, to stop the spread of the virus.

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“We believe these two measures are critical to beating Covid-19 and getting the country back on its feet and on the move again.
“That is why we support the comments made by UK transport minister, Robert Courts, who warned borders would be harder to reopen under a blanket travel shutdown.
“WTTC has long opposed costly and ineffective blanket travel bans and quarantines, as they are stalling the country’s economic recovery and significantly slowing the revival of the global tourism sector.”
She added: “Shutdowns are also shown to be entirely counterproductive and simply don’t stop the spread of Covid-19, and its emerging variants.
“We fully support the points made by the minister and agree that a total shutdown is not the way forward to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and argue that a wider shutdown would be harder to lift, as has been the case in both Australia and New Zealand.
“WTTC believes that the only way to save tourism while protecting public health, is the introduction of an internationally recognised testing scheme on departure and arrival.
“A rapid and cost-effective testing regime would avoid exporting the virus and enable the free movement of travellers which would see the return of a sector, critical to powering the UK economy post Covid-19.”
Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire/PA Images
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