Brexit and Heat Waves Are Hell for Holidays
Tui and Thomas Cook are still suffering from last year’s hot summer, as well as Brexit and a slowing European economy. It’s hard to see things improving.
Brits had kept spending on their holidays despite Brexit. That's all changing now.
Photographer: Cate Gillon/Getty Images EuropeEurope’s tour operators are on a holiday from hell. Late on Wednesday, TUI AG, which until now has defied the downturn in the region’s travel market, cautioned on earnings. Then Thomas Cook Group Plc, which delivered a nasty profit warning in November, said it was “reviewing” its airline business.
These two mainstays for Europe’s holidaymakers have been hit by a triple-whammy. First, last year’s heat wave put people off booking last-minute summer holidays. As soaring temperatures continued into the autumn, that also weighed on bookings into the winter holiday season and the summer of 2019.