The tourism group TUI is seeing an above-average trend towards early booking.

"Interestingly, never before have so many holidaymakers secured their dream trip for next summer immediately after their return," said TUI's Head of Germany Benjamin Jacobi at the presentation of the 2025 summer program in Berlin on Thursday. "The keyword is 'Relax, Return and Rebook'." Early bookers will benefit from discounts of up to 40 percent, usually until the end of February. According to the Group, prices are likely to rise by two to three percent overall in the coming season - and thus remain largely in line with inflation.

Turkey is becoming an increasingly popular destination for holidaymakers from Germany and is currently growing by over 30 percent at TUI. TUI aims to exceed the figure of over one million guests from summer 2024 once again. "The Greek islands are also starting the summer season with a high increase in bookings," TUI announced, but did not give any details about a week before the publication of business figures. TUI is also expecting over one million holidaymakers from Germany in Greece again and is expanding its offering. The perennial favorite Mallorca remains popular. With over 220,000 seats and 88 weekly flights, the Balearic island is the front-runner for the Group's own airline TUI fly.

The USA will remain the undisputed favorite long-haul destination for TUI guests in 2025. The company is further expanding its offering here, in particular in Florida, New York, on the West Coast and in Hawaii, and is adding new round trips and camper voyages.

According to TUI, the winter season is showing "strong growth". Holidaymakers are driving significant growth in bookings for trips to Egypt, the Canary Islands and Turkey. "With an increase in bookings of over 30 percent, the Turkish Riviera is the up-and-coming destination in the Mediterranean and number three in the popularity ranking behind Hurghada and Fuerteventura." Popular exotic long-haul destinations include Thailand, Indonesia and, increasingly, Vietnam.

(Report by Klaus Lauer and Ilona Wissenbach; edited by Sabine Wollrab - If you have any queries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets)).