Dhe boss of the tourism group TUI, Sebastian Ebel, considers the era of cheap flights to be over and has warned against high prices for spontaneous bookings in the summer. In the first summer after the end of the corona pandemic, TUI recorded exceptionally high demand, TUI boss Ebel in the “Bild am Sonntag”. Greece was best booked. In some holiday resorts there are almost no more free hotel beds, said Ebel.
In 2023 there will therefore be no “last-minute summer” like in previous years. “On the contrary: the prices will be higher rather than cheaper shortly before departure, because the hoteliers and airlines also know that a lot is still booked at short notice,” warned Ebel and emphasized: “Spontaneous bargains will be the absolute exception.”
In the case of air travel, there is also the reduction in capacity at the airports. The demand for holiday flights exceeds the supply. “Therefore, these cheap offers with isolated exceptions for marketing campaigns will no longer exist as they used to,” said the TUI boss.
It is advantageous for the travel groups if many consumers do not book at too short notice – the companies can then better manage their capacities.
During the Corona crisis, the Hanover-based company used government aid loans of around 4.3 billion euros. TUI has now repaid all state aid.