Iran war and Jamaica hurricane cost TUI €61m in half-year results 

Europe's largest tour operator, TUI Group, absorbed €61 million (J$11.2 billion) in combined one-off losses from the Iran war and Hurricane Melissa's devastation of Jamaica during the first half of its financial year, forcing the German travel giant to pare back its full-year earnings guidance even as underlying demand held firm.

Chief Executive Sebastian Ebel acknowledged that without the twin shocks, the results would have been considerably stronger. "We had a strong Q2 and a wonderful H1 — it would have been even better if we wouldn't have had the impact of the Iran war and the Jamaica hurricane," Ebel told analysts on Wednesday. "I always say someone took away the cream on the cake. That's how it is."

The company booked a €40-million charge linked to the Iran conflict and a €21-million  (J$3.9-billion) charge tied to the Jamaica hurricane across the two quarters.

 Ebel explained that Hurricane Melissa, which hit last October, forced prolonged closures across the company's Caribbean hotel portfolio.  

"The hotels had to close for a minimum of two months, maximum of up to six months for renovation or restructuring," he said. "Even when we were able to open one or the other, we had to do it with lower yield." 

The closures pushed booked occupancy for Hotels & Resorts in the second half down six percentage points, with Caribbean capacity trimmed as a result. The Jamaica impact was spread over two quarters, with a €16-million hit in the first quarter and a further €5- million hit in the second quarter.

TUI sold its 49 per cent stake in Riu's property portfolio in 2021 but retained a management joint venture with Riu covering around 100 hotels worldwide. As TUI's core business is tour operations and airlines, it continues to fly and transfer guests to Riu properties — along with many other hotel brands — as part of its integrated travel model.

The Iran war cut deeper and more broadly. TUI's cruises segment absorbed €20 million in lost revenues and repatriation costs after two ships — Mein Schiff 4 and Mein Schiff 5 — were stranded in Persian Gulf ports in March with itineraries cancelled. The Markets + Airline division sustained a further €20 million hit from the conflict, as the closure of Eastern Mediterranean routes triggered a wholesale shift in consumer demand towards Western Mediterranean destinations, compressing margins and disrupting the company's capacity planning. Both vessels departed Gulf ports on April 18 during a ceasefire pause and are expected to resume Mediterranean summer itineraries from mid-May, the company stated.

Overall, Tui reported second-quarter underlying earnings before interest and taxes of negative €188.3 million at constant currency, an improvement of €18.5 million over the prior year. It also made its “best-ever” first-half underlying EBIT of negative €111.3 million  “despite a negative €40 million Iran war and negative €21 million Jamaica hurricane impact”.

Chief Financial Officer Mathias Kiep said the geopolitical disruption compounded an already-cautious booking environment. Summer 2026 booked revenue is running seven per cent below the equivalent period last year, with the UK market down 10 per cent and Germany off three per cent. Nearly half of consumers surveyed by TUI said they had not yet booked a summer holiday, with 38 per cent of those expected to book as late as August to October. 

"We have summer bookings which are not on the level that we were expecting when we set the guidance," Kiep said. "That's why we needed to adjust it."

In April, TUI suspended its revenue growth guidance — previously set at two to four per cent above last year's €24.2 billion — and reduced its underlying EBIT target to a range of €1.1 billion to €1.4 billion, against a prior-year outturn of €1.41 billion. Ebel said the second half would carry the ongoing tail of the Iran disruption. 

“This will also impact our second half-year results,” Ebel added.

TUI's net debt held steady at €3.0 billion at March 2026, and the company said its balance sheet remained resilient enough to absorb the shocks, while continuing its transformation toward integrating artificial intelligence into its tour and travel services. Group customer volumes rose two per cent to 5.6 million in the quarter. 

Business@gleanerjm.com