Dismay over tour firm bed cutback

PALMA
TUI Travel has slashed the number of holidays it is offering next summer by 16 percent.
The group, which owns Thomson and First Choice, said the move should allow it to lift selling prices next year by about nine percent.
The capacity reduction mirrors cuts at main rival Thomas Cook, which includes the former MyTravel portfolio, which said earlier this year that it would reduce the number of 2009 summer holidays by six percent after a fall in early bookings.

The news could not come at a worse time for Majorca traders still reeling from a poor summer 2008 and a disappearing winter programme.
TUI dominates occupancy in resorts like Magalluf where businesses complained of a gloomy summer.