The Great TUI Package Price Hike

Considering a break out from the stay-cation cycle next year? You may have to think again. Whilst the average family continues to feel the pinch, the owners of Thomson and First Choice Holidays, TUI UK, have recently announced its package holiday prices would rise more than 5% in 2012 – on top of a 3% increase this year.

How much more will I have to pay?
In real terms, the inflation busting rise will add roughly £27 per person, or £110 for two adults and two children on any summer package holiday with Thomson and First Choice Holidays. Whilst the cost of living continues to rise, TUI’s profits continue to show strong growth, increasing to £470million this financial year.

These record profits come despite a slight overall reduction in the number of British Holiday Makers booking a TUI package over the summer just passed. Even with this drop, it appears the appetite of the British holiday maker for using TUI’s service is still fairly strong, with over 5 million people choosing a TUI holiday last year. That’s just under one in twelve in the entire country. So, chances are if you asked all the families down your street who they booked their last holiday through, there is a good chance the names of Thomson or First Choice will crop up.

Rising in Profits = Rise in Compensation?
With the coffers of TUI’s bosses being filled to bust, will those who have had their holiday blighted by and bring a holiday compensation claim receive more compensation? Most of us know someone who has had an accident on holiday, be it a minor graze from a slip, or something with far more serious consequences.

It may be naïve to suggest that TUI, and other similar package providers, will be quick to further open their hearts, and their wallets, at the news that profits continue to rise. However, with the sheer number of accidents abroad occurring on TUI’s watch, the package providers may be well served in boosting the compensation kitty available to its customers.

Greater compensation, and greater transparency in their awards of compensation for holiday makers, would probably benefit all parties in the long run. With improved levels of compensation, the goodwill towards the package provider would slowly filter through the public; this would inevitably drive more people to the package provider who protects its customers. This is not rocket science, nor any ground breaking business plan; just simple consumer protection which benefits everyone.
It is no secret that the past 3 years have been tough going for the British consumer; if the traders and fiscal analysts are to be believed, it seems that times are going to get worse before they get better. With prices on the rise, British holiday-maker will want, and deserve, a greater sense of security that, if the worst does happen, the package provider will dip a little deeper into their rather sizeable pockets than they do now.

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