Capital Markets Day for analysts: TUI Group sets out roadmap for growth

The TUI Group’s Executive Board has confirmed the goal of ensuring that the Group will achieve profitable growth and grow faster than the market in the next few years. The Group expects to achieve average annual profitable top line growth of at least three per cent* per annum by 2018. Moreover, its underlying operating result is expected to grow by at least ten per cent** per annum within the same period.

In order to achieve these goals, a number of measures will be launched. In the Central Region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland) and Western Region (Netherlands, Belgium, France), the proportion of online sales is expected to increase substantially, strengthening direct distribution. Moreover, the offering will be expanded in order to win additional customers. At the same time, longhaul flight capacity will also be increased, including third-party flying. Overall, TUI‘s travel offering is to be more tailor-made and offer more flexible durations.

The Group has identified further growth potential through the internationalisation of TUI’s own strong hotel brands and exclusive hotel concepts such as Robinson. In addition, new, exclusive hotel projects are to be developed and operated in prime locations. This approach will also strengthen TUI Group’s crucial competitive advantage: There is no other tourism group in the world that owns a hotel and cruise portfolio of this scope and is capable of designing an end-to-end travel experience for customers based on its own aircraft fleet. Through its investments, TUI shapes the future world of travel and tomorrow’s travel trends.

Additional turnover growth is also to be achieved by opening up new markets. In February 2015, the TUI Group launched the online platform tui.com/es in Spain for the dynamic packaging of flights, hotels and transfers.

The platform enables the Group to win additional customers and generate further growth – even in markets in which the Group has not established an in-house travel agency and tour operator business. “This is a very innovative and efficient investment in IT. It offers our customers ease of use, individual options for choice and packaging of holidays and constitutes a further step on the way to the online world,” said CEO Joussen. Such platforms are to be rolled out to other countries such as Portugal, Brazil and Turkey.

Fritz Joussen, Joint CEO of the TUI Group: “We seek to use the strength of our TUI brand on a global scale. A global brand experience and a global brand identity offer many advantages for our customers and for our employees. The appeal of TUI and the Smile are extremely high. A strong global presence of the TUI brand will strengthen our Group’s competitiveness in the digital age.” The Group is planning to carry out the brand migration process in two phases. The companies in the Netherlands, France and Belgium are to play a pioneering role in launching the TUI brand in their markets. The Netherlands are to introduce the brand in the autumn of this year. Other markets are to follow suit. 

The TUI Group is also planning to use one single branding for its airlines. TUI currently operates around 140 medium- and long-haul aircraft in various markets under different brand names (TUIfly, Thomsonfly, Arkefly, Jetairfly, TUIfly Nordic). A strong one-brand policy will make it considerably easier to use the aircraft of the European fleet and the crews across the individual countries, as demand requires it. The resulting increase in the effectiveness of TUI airlines is to enable TUI to deliver operational efficiency improvements worth 50 million euros per annum by 2018.

The TUI Group is planning to make further investments in the growth areas Hotels & Resorts and Cruises in the next few years. The hotel portfolio is to be expanded by around 60 new TUI hotels by financial year 2018/19. The core brands will be RIU, Robinson, Magic Life and the new hotel brand TUI Blue. The offering will be rounded off by the three hotel concepts Sensatori, Sensimar and Family Life. The hotel brands and hotel concepts differ in that the brands will be managed by TUI as hotel operator, while the hotel concepts may also be taken over by other hotel operators for their facilities.

The cruise fleet, which currently comprises 13 ships, will also be expanded in the next few years. Last week, Mein Schiff 4 was delivered for operation by the joint venture TUI Cruises. The new ship will depart on its maiden voyage in June. In the next two years, Mein Schiff 5 and Mein Schiff 6 will follow. The Group also has options for the construction of Mein Schiff 7 and Mein Schiff 8. With the acquisition of the Splendour of the Seas a few weeks ago, the TUI Group also initiated the rejuvenation and modernisation programme for the fleet operated by its UK subsidiary Thomson Cruises. It intends to continue the programme in future.

The team at Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten has managed to get the economic performance of the company, which operates the world’s two best cruise ships, back on track. The successful realignment was supported through the acquisition of Europa 2. The luxury segment is now excellently positioned in the market. The Executive Board of the TUI Group will also examine in detail where closer cooperation between the three companies can be achieved in the cruise business in order to deliver synergies.

The Executive Board has developed a very clear expansion plan for Hotels & Resorts and Cruises for the next few years in order to significantly increase its profitability.

Following the introduction of a new operational structure with three integrated regions and the decision to give up the designation “Mainstream”, other activities and businesses will no longer be designated as “Non-Mainstream”, either. These businesses, which include the Hotelbeds Group and Specialist Group, will instead be called “Other businesses”.  As already decided in the framework of the merger, these operations are run independently from other activities in order to maximise their value.

* based on constant currency
** CAGR
*** The implementation takes place with respect for all interests of third parties and existing contractual obligations

• Presentation Capital Markets Day

Group Corporate & External Affairs

• Kuzey Alexander Esener
  Group Corporate & External Affairs
  Group Communications / Head of Media Relations 
  Phone +49 (0) 511 566 6024