Underlying Group EBIT rises to €77.1 million (previous year: €50.9 million) thanks to strong performance in Holiday Experiences (Hotels & Resorts, Cruises, TUI Musement) and Markets + Airline
Revenue remains stable at €4.9 billion, reflecting robust demand for TUI products
Full-year 2026 guidance confirmed: Revenue increase of 2-4 percent, underlying EBIT growth of 7-10 percent
Travel trend continues: 7.1 million guests (+2.2 percent vs. Q1 2025) chose TUI in Q1 2026 – dynamically packaged trips increased 8 percent to 0.8 million guests
Holiday Experiences demand remains positive for the second half. Higher average rates reflect continued strong demand
Markets + Airline are seeing robust booking momentum for winter 2025/26 and summer 2026, driven by higher average prices and a trend toward later bookings
TUI Group CEO Sebastian Ebel: "The first quarter results meet our expectations and clearly demonstrate that we are achieving sustainable growth with our strategy. Holidays remain a priority. Our hotel and cruise businesses, as well as the tours and activities segment, continue to grow highly profitable. Markets + Airline is also showing early positive results thanks to consistent transformation, the opening of new markets and ensuring high capacity utilisation. The combined strength of Markets & Airline together with Holiday Experiences is what powers the TUI ecosystem.”
Hanover, 10 February. TUI has started financial year 2026 promisingly with the best first quarter in its history. Underlying operating profit (EBIT) improved by €26.3 million to €77.1 million (previous year: €50.9 million). Group revenue also remained nearly constant at €4.9 billion (previous year: €4.9 billion, +1.3 percent at constant exchange rates) in an unchanged competitive and economically challenging European market environment. A total of 7.1 million customers chose TUI in the first quarter. At today's Annual General Meeting, a dividend of €0.10 per share is to be approved for the first time after a long break due to positive 2025 performance.
TUI Group CEO Sebastian Ebel: "With a positive result in the first quarter, we have made a good start to financial year 2026, including strategic progress. We have accelerated our transformation in Markets + Airline and are converting to a global marketplace for curated travel. We are growing globally and reducing seasonality. With Romania, we have launched a new source market in Eastern Europe and gained new customer segments. On the hotel side, we are seeing new hotels in growth regions such as Africa and Asia. We are strengthening our independence from traditional European markets. Our TUI app is becoming increasingly popular. We are also continuing to invest in stationary distribution – in Eastern Europe alone, we are opening 50 new travel agencies this year. Travel agencies remain important partners: many customers book earlier and higher quality there. That's why this partnership is important for both sides.
In summary, we can say: TUI remains on a clear growth trajectory. We are pleased with our first‑quarter performance. Our integrated business model enables strong synergies between our two business areas: Markets & Airline — covering our tour operators and flight operations — and Holiday Experiences, which includes our hotels, cruises, and TUI Musement. This will also be crucial for the rest of the year. Bookings for winter 2025/26 and summer 2026 meet our expectations, demand remains robust."
Mathias Kiep, CFO of TUI Group: "The vertical integration of our business model increases capacity utilisation and ensures attractive margins despite a challenging environment. With the best first quarter in our company history, we have created a solid foundation for a successful financial year 2026. In addition to operational improvements, we have also strengthened our financial profile and further reduced net debt. TUI is financially resilient and on track for sustainable underlying EBIT growth of approximately 7-10 percent CAGR."
Development of Q1 Financial Year 2026
Seasonally, the first quarter of the financial year is typically negative in terms of results for travel industry companies. TUI has reversed this trend and was able to improve on last year's positive Q1 result once again.
In the Holiday Experiences area, underlying EBIT increased by 8.9 percent from €196.2 million to €213.7 million. All segments contributed positively to this growth operationally. The Hotels & Resorts segment operationally exceeded the previous year's record result in the months of October to December 2025: adjusted for special effects, the result increased by €6 million. Overall, underlying EBIT was €131.0 million (previous year: €150.3 million), burdened by a loss of €10 million as a result of Hurricane "Melissa" in Jamaica and a positive valuation effect from the previous year of €15 million. Occupancy climbed by 1 percentage point to 81 (80) percent, while the average bed rate achieved fell by 2 percent compared to the previous year to €92 (94).
The strong development of the Cruises segment in Q1 financial year 2026 was supported by high demand, higher occupancy and fleet expansion. Underlying EBIT improved by 70.8 percent to €82.3 million (previous year: €48.2 million). Available passenger days were significantly higher than the previous year at 3.0 (2.6) million. Occupancy also increased by 3 percentage points compared to the previous year period to 98 percent. The average rate was nearly stable at €211 (213).
TUI Musement was also able to increase its result from the previous year. In the reporting period, 2.3 million experiences were sold (+1 percent). The number of transfers remained constant at 6 million. The underlying result of the segment improved in the traditionally weaker winter quarter to €0.5 million (previous year: -€2.3 million).
The Markets + Airline area (tour operators and TUI Airline) benefited from operational efficiency improvements and a reduced cost base despite a competitive market environment. Underlying EBIT rose to -€115.3 million (previous year: -€125.2 million). 3.7 million guests traveled with TUI in Q1 financial year 2026 – 2 percent fewer than in the previous year. This development reflects the strategic reduction in risk capacity, the focus on disciplined capacity management, and the growth of dynamic products as part of the transformation. Average occupancy in the markets was one percentage point higher than in the previous year at 86 percent. The number of holidaymakers who opted for a dynamically packaged trip also increased by 8 percent to 0.8 million guests.
The Central region with tour operators in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Poland generated a positive underlying result of €11.7 million for the reporting period (previous year: €7.4 million). In the Northern region (UK, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland), underlying result rose from previously -€88.5 million to -€79.7 million. The underlying EBIT of the Western region (Netherlands, Belgium, France) fell slightly by around €3 million to -€47.3 million (previous year: -€44.0 million).
Booking dynamics for Holiday Experiences continue to develop positively in competitive market environment
In the Holiday Experiences area, strong demand in the Hotels & Resorts segment continues. This means that, taking into account the Jamaica effect, occupancy for the second quarter from January to March remains constant, but rates increase by +3 percent compared to the previous year. Looking at the second half of the year, occupancy is currently 4 percentage points lower, which, in addition to the Jamaica effect, is due to the opening of new hotels and thus the expansion of available capacity. The outlook for rates is also positive for the second half of the year at +3 percent.
For Cruises, occupancy in the current second quarter is +4 percentage points above the previous year and +3 percentage points for the second half of the year. Capacities are being increased through fleet expansion, with demand continuing to exceed supply. The Mein Schiff Relax was added in financial year 2025, with the Mein Schiff Flow to follow in summer 2026. The fleet will then consist of 19 ships. Available passenger days increase by +9 percent in the second quarter and by +6 percent in the second half of the year. Average prices increase by +1 percent in both the second quarter and the second half of the year.
At TUI Musement, the expansion of the segment continues. The offering is being expanded in beach and city destinations and increasingly includes multi-day experiences in the portfolio. TUI Musement has also gained Jet2 as another partner, which offers its customers excursions and experiences via a platform provided by TUI Musement. Partners already include booking.com, easyJet and lastminute.com. An increase in bookings of a mid-single-digit percentage is expected for both the second financial quarter and the second half of the year. The number of transfers is in line with our assumptions for Markets + Airline in both the second quarter and the second half of the year.
Booked revenue in the Markets + Airline area is moving at -1 percent in winter 2025/26 and -2 percent in summer 2026 within the framework of our planned risk capacity. Winter weather in the source markets in recent weeks has led to a later booking time.
In winter 2025/26, the Canary Islands, Egypt and Cape Verde are popular destinations. Popular long-haul destinations are Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Thailand. TUI guests' most popular destinations for summer 2026 are once again Spain, Greece and Turkey.
Guidance for Full Year 2026
TUI continues to focus on operational excellence and profitable growth. The outlook reflects the continued sustainable growth in the Holiday Experiences business area and the transformation of the Markets + Airline business area.
The hotel portfolio is also growing. With over 460 hotels worldwide, TUI is internationally the leading group in holiday hotels. A further 70 hotels have already been signed and planned. The TUI Aria, another TUI River Cruises ship, will be commissioned in March 2026, and the next TUI Cruises cruise ship, the Mein Schiff Flow, will be commissioned in summer 2026.
On this basis, the Group confirms the following outlook at constant exchange rates for financial year 2026[1]:
- a 2-4 percent increase in revenue compared to the previous year
- a 7-10 percent increase in underlying EBIT compared to the previous year, mainly due to expectations for summer 2026
In the medium term, TUI also expects at constant exchange rates:
- average growth in underlying EBIT of approximately 7-10 percent CAGR,
- a net debt ratio of less than 0.5x
- a dividend payout of 10-20 percent of underlying earnings per share from fiscal year 2026 onwards
The results of today's Annual General Meeting are expected for late afternoon.
[1] Based on constant currency and taking into account the current market environment and the prevailing macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties.