TUI to make big cost cuts, says holiday demand still high

LONDON (Reuters) – European travel company TUI said that it needed to implement a cost-cutting programme to enable it to survive in a market weakened by the coronavirus pandemic, adding that it was ready to resume providing holidays and was seeing high demand.

TUI said on Wednesday that its target was to reduce its overhead cost base by 30% across the group, and that could result in the loss of 8,000 roles which are either not recruited or reduced.

The company, which was forced to halt its flight and hotel activities because of the virus, said it was ready to resume providing holidays and that they would be possible this year using new social distancing and cleaning measures.

“The demand for holidays is still very high. People want to travel,” said TUI’s chief executive Fritz Joussen.

(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Christopher Cushing)