TUI Group puts cost of Rhodes wildfires at €25m

By Lisa James
09/08/2023
Home » TUI Group puts cost of Rhodes wildfires at €25m

TUI Group expects to take a financial hit of around €25 million (£21.5m) because of last month’s wildfires in Rhodes, which it says will have an impact on the company’s full-year results.

In a trading update, in which TUI reported a profitable third-quarter for the first time since the start of the pandemic, the operator said around 8,000 of its customers in the south of the island had to leave their hotels because of the wildfires.

TUI said: “The measures taken in Rhodes have a financial impact which will be reflected in the results for the full year.

“There will be costs for cancellations and lost business, customer compensation and repatriation flights – the Group expects these to be around €25 million.”

It added: “TUI took comprehensive care of the guests on site and also with additional return flights.

“For the customer it has once again been shown that the package tour booked with the tour operator offers great advantages and comprehensive service in extraordinary situations.”

TUI said Rhodes accounts for around 5% of the groups summer programme and 80% of TUI guests spend their holidays in the north of the island, which was not affected by last month’s wildfires.

For the three months to the end of June, TUI reported underlying group earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) has improved to €169m, compared to a €27m loss in the previous year.

Revenues rose to €5.3 billion, up 19% on the previous year.

Summer 2023 bookings are currently up 6% year-on-year, with prices up 7% on average.

TUI CEO Sebastian Ebel said: “Summer 2023 is going very well and demand for holidays remains high. The Mediterranean remains the most sought-after destination for summer holidays.

“The heatwave in Northern Europe in June and the wildfires in Southern Europe have only dampened temporarily the previously strong development – but overall it will be a very good travel summer and a good year for TUI in 2023.

“For the full year we continue to expect a significant year-on-year increase in underlying EBIT.

“We are investing today to continue to significantly grow profitably in the future. We continue to drive TUI’s transformation and strengthen our competitive position by investing in our profitable growth areas.” 

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