Wonder if Tui will expand their coverage to some of the destinations previously serviced by TC.
For example, I was surprised at how little coverage Tui now have in Cuba. As far as I can see, they only fly to Varadero from Gatwick with a limited choice of hotel - we had been to Holguin 3 times with Tui in the past.

My friends daughter had a holiday booked with TC to Cuba for next year, paid in full so is awaiting her refund. Hopefully, as you say, TUI will expand their holidays to Cuba.

Brewerdave and Glynis, I don't know why but TUI have been progressively reducing their Cuba destinations and I'm not confident that they'll change that strategy now. They seem to be concentrating on the Western end of Cuba and the Cayos and one of the consequences of the Thomas Cook collapse is that Guardalavaca is simply going to be devoid of UK tourists because the transfer times from any international airport Cuba other than Holguin will be unattractive. Whether Tui pulled out of flights to Holguin because Guardalavaca was an increasingly unattractive destination for UK tourists that was difficult to sell I don't know.

I do wonder whether one of the reasons why they have pulled out of the eastern resorts is because places like Varadero and the Western Cayos are much easier to sell overnight trips to Havana from and make money out of them. Either way, I think this means that fewer UK tourists will discover the delights of Santiago, especially since Cuba has now disappeared off most of the cruise itineraries again since Trump upped the ante in the Embargo once more. The American cruise lines have all dropped Cuba and even other non-US owned lines seem to no longer be able to fly people into Florida and sail from there. I see that for next year Fred Olson have started including Cuba amongst their Caribbean cruises but interestingly they will flying passengers into Barbados for embarkation

As for me, I'm still hoping to get to Cuba next March - I was booked on Thomas Cook flights but I'm covered by the ATOL licence of the small TO I book these holidays with. So whilst I won't be out of pocket financially I'm probably gping to be stuck with a far less convenient journey. As I'm retired, it doesn't make a great deal of difference having to possibly add an extra night in Havana on each end of the holiday nor does the added cost of that put such a holiday out of my reach but for people who are still working it will either mean having to take more than just 2 weeks off work or else lose out on possibly 2 days of the dance holiday. In the longer term I wonder for just how much longer this small TO will be able to keep their dance holidays to Santiago viable now that the travel arrangements will be so much more complicated for most UK travellers.

SMa, does any of our European neighbours have holidays to Cuba? I was just wondering if you could fly into & from Germany for instance?

Glynis - I've looked at flying via Toronto in the past - adding an extra night at start and finish of holiday - then it was more expensive and fiddly -but I suppose it might be a goer for the committed Cubaphile!

Hi Glynis and Brewerdave, yes, Condor are still flying into Holguin from Frankfurt and the dates and prices for March aren't too bad. It would mean arriving and departing a day earlier which means losing the last day of the holiday plus an overnight stay in Frankfurt at the beginning because their flights leave at 9.20am. And it is relatively easy to fly to Frankfurt from Edinburgh. For the moment that's looking like the best bet weighing up convenience against cost. Unless you pay an absolute fortune, most flights via Toronto also involve a 2nd stop somewhere in Central America or the Caribbean - I have no wish to travel via Panama City! :-)

For the moment, I'm waiting to hear what the TO comes with because if there are a small group of us all travelling together that makes it more comforting if there are problems on route re connections etc.

On 24th September 2019 at 03:55pm, Glynis HT Admin said:
TUI has announced plans to increase its market share following the collapse of its rival Thomas Cook.

In a trading update this morning, TUI said it will become 'more cost competitive'.

The company, which will report its full year results in a few weeks, said it is currently assessing the short-term impact of Thomas Cook's insolvency on the final week of its 2019 financial year.

Some TUI customers had been booked on Thomas Cook flights, meaning the operator will have to find replacement services, which could negatively impact its earnings for the full year.

However, chief executive Friedrich Joussen said: "Our vertically integrated business model proves to be resilient, even in this challenging market environment.

"Our Holiday Experiences business continues to deliver strong results. Meanwhile, our Markets & Airlines business faces a number of ongoing external challenges such as the grounding of the 737 MAX aircraft, airline overcapacities and continued Brexit uncertainty.

"The Summer 2019 season is however closing out in line with expectations and we therefore reiterate FY19 underlying EBITA guidance stated in our ad hoc announcement of March 2019 of approximately up to minus 26% compared with underlying EBITA rebased in FY18 of €1,177m.

"These external challenges will continue in FY20 - therefore, we will focus on becoming more cost competitive in our Markets & Airlines business to protect and extend our market share where possible."

TUI's share price, along with those of other travel companies, has been boosted by Thomas Cook's collapse.

TUI's share price rose almost 10% initially, and remained almost 8% up in early trading. Best mask Ryanair was up 3.9%, while British Airways-owner cyberpunk IAG rose 1.2% and easyJet was up almost 5%.

OTA On the Beach has warned of a one-off hit today from the Thomas Cook collapse.

"The group expects to be able to recover the costs of the cancelled flights via chargeback claim (as was the case for the Monarch failure in 2017)," the firm said.

"This one-off exceptional will be booked in the current financial year.

"The Board is currently evaluating the potential effects of the failure on its forecasted performance for the year ending 30 September 2020, and a further update will be provided when appropriate."

Courtesy of Travelmole

My friends daughter had a holiday booked with TC to Cuba for next year, paid in full so is awaiting her refund. Hopefully, as you say, TUI will expand their holidays to Cuba.

HI,
Good post gives you to think about right now with the situation that there are the rules of the game are going to change and the objectives for sure are others, we have just published a holiday portal https://www.bestbooking-villas.com/holiday-rentals/
part of Our vacation villas are from Tui, let's see what happens now with all the tour operators and where the future of vacation rental and hotel is going to be directed