TUI AG, the world’s largest tour operator that is also a significant action in the cruise industry, said that cruise bookings had started to soften in November in the wake of news about the new Omicron variant of Covid-19.

“The short- term booking environment continues, with bookings strong in September and October, however November softer in light of recent sentiment and news flow,” the company said in a statement. 

“As a result, incoming bookings for H1 2022 are slightly behind pre-C-19 comparable periods, but at significantly higher rates.  Bookings for H2 2022 and 2023 are level with pre-C19 comparable periods, at higher rates,” TUI said.