The admission came as the group released a pre-close trading update, which also showed that winter 2015-16 was 90% sold, although Cook said this was 2% lower than at this time last year.

In the UK specifically, the group is 3% down on bookings, and 8% down for continental Europe. In northern Europe bookings are up 4%, but overall total bookings are 3% lower than last year.

Average selling prices have increased though – by 3% overall and in the UK by 11%, as well as by 9% for seat-only sales.

Looking at its 2016 summer programme Cook said it was 40% sold – also 2% lower than at this time last year. “The uncertain geopolitical environment is causing some customers to postpone booking their holidays, leading to a later booking pattern,” the group said.

“Bookings continue to be disrupted by a volatile geopolitical backdrop, as some customers postpone their holiday decisions, leading to a later booking pattern for the Summer season,” it added.

“We know that customers want a summer holiday but we can see that some are leaving it later to book this year as they consider their options," admitted chief executive Peter Fankhauser.


“Against this backdrop I remain confident that we are doing all the right things as a business. It’s clear also that customers value packaged travel more than ever and feel safer in our hands.”

Fankhauser added that Cook’s “early actions to move capacity away from regions such as Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt have positioned us well for increased customer demand to resorts in the Western Mediterranean, with strong sales to the Canaries, Balearics and the Spanish mainland in recent weeks".

He said the group had also seen an increase in sales to long-haul destinations such as the US and Cuba.


“In addition, we remain focused on delivering our strategy for profitable growth," Fankhauser said.

"Sales to our own-brand hotels have continued to increase while customer satisfaction is significantly up across all our markets... I am confident that, in spite of the current market conditions, the actions we are taking to implement our strategy will continue to deliver improved results.”