Holidaymakers booking shorter trips

13/05/2011

People are scaling back their traditional fortnight break in summer and chosing to book 10 or 11-day holidays, according to one travel group.

TUI Travel said the bookings were helping to boost the firm as people tighten their belts and following the unrest in Libya and Egpyt.

Peter Long, chief executive of TUI Travel, said bookings picked up slightly in April but that came after a flat first quarter.

But he said TUI was outperforming other UK rivals such as Thomas Cook, helped by demand for its specialist resorts, such as all-inclusive holiday villages.

The Thomson owner cut its underlying losses by £15 million to £307 million in the latest six months to March. Sales rose by 5% to £5.21 billion.

The impact of the unrest of in North Africa cost it £29 million, with a late Easter meaning a further hit of £17 million. Good growth in its Nordics business and a turnaround in Canada were the strong points.

Mr Long expects the group to meet City forecasts for this full year, though he remains cautious about the outlook for bookings going forward.

"The UK consumer mood is not getting worse" he says, "but there is a lot of pressure on incomes".