Holiday giant TUI has enjoyed its best first quarter and strongest start to a financial year in its entire history.
Underlying operating profit – for the three months to the end of December (TUI’s financial year runs to the end of September) improved by €26.3m, from €50.9m to €77.1m. Group revenue also remained nearly constant at €4.9bn in an unchanged competitive and economically challenging European market environment. A total of 7.1 million customers chose TUI in the first quarter.
TUI Group CEO Sebastian Ebel, said: “The first quarter results meet our expectations and clearly demonstrate that we are achieving sustainable growth with our strategy. Holidays remain a priority. Our hotel and cruise businesses, as well as the tours and activities segment, continue to grow highly profitable. Markets + Airline is also showing early positive results thanks to consistent transformation, the opening of new markets and ensuring high capacity utilisation. The combined strength of Markets & Airline together with Holiday Experiences is what powers the TUI ecosystem.”
Mr Ebel added: “With a positive result in the first quarter, we have made a good start to financial year 2026, including strategic progress. We have accelerated our transformation in Markets + Airline and are converting to a global marketplace for curated travel. We are growing globally and reducing seasonality. With Romania, we have launched a new source market in Eastern Europe and gained new customer segments. On the hotel side, we are seeing new hotels in growth regions such as Africa and Asia. We are strengthening our independence from traditional European markets. Our TUI app is becoming increasingly popular. We are also continuing to invest in stationary distribution – in Eastern Europe alone, we are opening 50 new travel agencies this year. Travel agencies remain important partners: many customers book earlier and higher quality there. That’s why this partnership is important for both sides.
“In summary, we can say: TUI remains on a clear growth trajectory. We are pleased with our first‑quarter performance. Our integrated business model enables strong synergies between our two business areas: Markets & Airline — covering our tour operators and flight operations — and Holiday Experiences, which includes our hotels, cruises, and TUI Musement. This will also be crucial for the rest of the year. Bookings for winter 2025/26 and summer 2026 meet our expectations, demand remains robust.”
Mathias Kiep, CFO of TUI Group, said: “The vertical integration of our business model increases capacity utilisation and ensures attractive margins despite a challenging environment. With the best first quarter in our company history, we have created a solid foundation for a successful financial year 2026. In addition to operational improvements, we have also strengthened our financial profile and further reduced net debt. TUI is financially resilient and on track for sustainable underlying EBIT growth of approximately 7-10 percent CAGR.”
