Palma / Shanghai, 4 March 2019

TUI and leading online provider in China start partnership

200 million Ctrip users have direct access to TUI tours and activities

China, South-East Asia and the Tours & Activities sector are strategic growth markets for the TUI Group. TUI and Ctrip, the leading Chinese online provider, have agreed on a strategic partnership. Ctrip's 200 million monthly users will have direct access to the tours and activities offered by TUI's subsidiary Musement. TUI recently acquired the Milan-based technology Startup Musement and intends to expand it into the world's leading digital platform for activities and excursions. "China, our investments in IT and further digitisation and the growth field of tours and activities are important pillars of TUI's growth strategy for further internationalisation and the development of new markets. The cooperation with Ctrip shows how closely TUI's new business areas are linked and synergies within the Group are created. Market access to 200 million Ctrip users in China offers considerable potential for growth in Asia and the activities of our Spanish subsidiary TUI Destination Experiences", said TUI CEO Fritz Joussen.

The steadily growing number of Chinese holidaymakers will increasingly be provided with tailor-made offers at their holiday destinations. These include round trips, excursions and activities in all the world's major holiday destinations as well as tickets for sights and museums in over 1,900 cities. As part of the partnership between Ctrip and TUI, it is also planned to develop exclusive excursions and one-day tours in Chinese for many destinations. Musement's overall portfolio, which is also available to customers from China, currently comprises 150,000 products.

With the acquisition of Musement in late summer 2018, TUI, as the world's leading provider of destination experiences, further strengthened its digital business and continued its growth course. "The strategic partnership with Ctrip shows the immense opportunities the online business offers us in the area of tours and activities. We have an unbeatable portfolio of tours and activities - and we have a powerful digital platform that enables us to target customers with individual offers. We are convinced that this strong combination will enable us to consistently expand our online market share in the coming years," says Fritz Joussen about the cooperation with Ctrip.

The Spanish subsidiary TUI Destination Experiences is one of the TUI Group's three strategic growth pillars alongside Hotels & Resorts and Cruises. As part of the "TUI 2022" strategy, business in China and Southeast Asia is to be significantly expanded.

About TUI Group

The TUI Group is one of the world's leading tourism groups and operates worldwide. The Group is headquartered in Germany. TUI shares are listed in the MDAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and in the regulated market of the Lower Saxony Stock Exchange in Hanover. TUI Group offers its 19 million customers integrated services from a single source and forms the entire tourism value chain under one roof. The Group owns over 400 hotels and resorts with premium brands such as RIU, TUI Blue and Robinson and 17 cruise ships, ranging from the MS Europa and MS Europa 2 in the luxury class and expedition ships in the HANSEATIC class to the Mein Schiff fleet of TUI Cruises and cruise ships operated by Marella Cruises in the UK. The Group also includes Europe's leading tour operator brands and online marketing platforms, for example for hotel-only or flight-only offers, five airlines with more than 130 modern medium- and long-haul aircraft and around 1,200 travel agencies. In addition to expanding its core business with hotels and cruises via successful joint ventures and activities in vacation destinations, TUI is increasingly focusing on the expansion of digital platforms. The Group is transforming itself into a global tourism platform company.  

Global responsibility for sustainable economic, environmental and social action is at the heart of our corporate culture. With projects in 25 countries, the TUI Care Foundation initiated by TUI focuses on the positive effects of tourism, on education and training and on strengthening environmental and social standards. In this way, it supports the development of vacation destinations. The globally active TUI Care Foundation initiates projects that create new opportunities for the next generation.

About TUI Musement

TUI Musement is a global Tours & Activities business that combines a highly curated product portfolio, scalable digital platforms and in-destination service by local teams, to source, develop, distribute and deliver products in three categories:

  • Experiences: Excursions, activities & attraction tickets
  • Transfers: Between airports, hotels and ports
  • Tours: Multi-day itineraries encompassing flights, hotels, experiences and transfers

Available in all major beach and city destinations, products are sourced from leading travel businesses or developed in-house by TUI teams, including the TUI Collection, the flagship experiences portfolio of TUI Group, and National Geographic Day Tours, unique and immersive small group guided experiences.

Products are distributed to customers, including the 19+ million TUI customers, through TUI websites and apps – such as the Tours & Activities dedicated TUI Musement app, as well as in-destination local teams and B2B partners, including some of the world's leading OTAs, tour operators, airlines, hotels, travel agencies and cruise lines. TUI Musement is one of the major growth areas of the TUI Group and employs approximately 7,000 people worldwide.