UK-based tour operator TUI Travel has declared itself “pleased” with trading over the winter in its latest update to markets.

Chief executive Peter Long pointed to strength in domestic markets and argued the brand had outperformed rivals over recent months.

“We are pleased with our winter performance, particularly in the UK, where our focus on differentiated product and online distribution is resulting in us out-performing the market,” he explained.

“Summer 2012 volumes have improved in all key markets since our last update. 

“We are pleased with the development of bookings and pricing in the UK, where we continue to out-perform the market and have a strong performance in online sales.”

Trading in the UK continues to outperform the market, TUI Travel said, with 48 per cent of the programme on offer sold so far – a figure in line with last year.

The average selling price is currently up eight per cent, reflecting a cost base inflation of approximately five per cent and the continued increase in differentiated product sales.

“Our differentiated products, which are difficult for all our competitors to replicate, continue to perform strongly, and currently account for 63 per cent of UK bookings, up seven percentage points on prior year,” TUI Travel added in a statement.

Some 40 per cent of holidays were booked online for summer 2012, up five percentage points on 2011.

Looking forward, TUI Travel warned it continued to operate in a “challenging geopolitical and economic environment”.