TUI confident about tourism season

London - TUI Travel, the world's biggest tour operator, said it was confident about 2014 after seeing strong demand for holidays in its key January booking period and as its seasonal operating loss narrowed in its first quarter.

The British group, which owns the Thomson and First Choice holiday brands, reported an underlying operating loss of £108m for the three months to December 31, compared to a loss of £116m in the year earlier period.

"Overall, trading remains in line with our expectations and we are confident of delivering 7% to 10% growth in underlying operating profit during the year," chief executive Peter Long said in a statement on Thursday.