Brits are “leading the way” in demand for summer breaks abroad, holiday giant Tui said today.
The firm says bookings from the UK are currently 11% above the level for summer 2019, before the Covid crisis erupted.
The leap comes despite recent airport chaos, which threatens to impact summer getaways, and the risk of more pandemic travel restrictions.
A separate survey from the website Skyscanner also suggested a strong appetite for sunshine breaks abroad despite the cost of living crisis.
Of those planning to spend more on foreign holidays, half were putting the money towards longer trips.
Tui said the UK was top of its list of customers bookings for this summer.
However, it reported a strong bounceback in sales from across the countries where it operates.
Bookings overall are back to 85% of 2019 levels and are expected to be close to pre-pandemic levels by the summer, it added.
The firm carried 1.9 million customers in the past three months, a ten-fold increase year-on-year.
Holidaymakers are continuing to book more at short notice, it said.
The average price of its holidays is up around 20% this summer, although the operator insists this is due to customers booking longer stays, better hotels and package tours.
The recovery helped Tui more than halved its losses for the past six months.
It expects to return to profit by the end of the year.
Tui chief executive officer Fritz Joussen said: “2022 will be a good financial year.”
He added: “After two years of crisis, things are clearly progressing.”
