- Hotel strategy focuses on differentiated products and global customer growth
- TUI tabs into upscale customer segment with launch of new brand
- Laid-back luxury for a new kind of holidaymaker
- Hotel cluster development in Zanzibar continues
TUI Group's hotel growth strategy is increasingly focusing on destinations where a variety of hotel brands can be developed to meet the different holiday needs of guests. Zanzibar, for example, is a popular holiday destination all year round. It is therefore no coincidence that TUI chose the island off the East African coast for the launch of its new hotel brand The Mora. Nestled at Muyuni Beach, The Mora Zanzibar features 250 suites and four restaurants. The new brand name is derived from the Latin word for “pause” and the hotel experience is designed to appeal to a new kind of holidaymaker who is looking for laid-back, contemporary luxury with a highly tailored and flexible approach. The existing 5-star resort has been customised to meet the needs of these guests and now been officially opened in the presence of TUI CEO Sebastian Ebel and the President of Zanzibar His Excellency Dr Hussein Ali Mwinyi.
"Our new hotel brand The Mora embraces a current trend: Experiences are becoming more important than possessions”, says TUI Group CEO Sebastian Ebel. “This development is proven by the strong performance of our successful hotel and cruise business with internationally recognised brands. We are now expanding our portfolio in the growing luxury segment, thereby reinforcing our strategy to attract new and existing customers to our holiday destinations worldwide.”
TUI Hotels & Resorts’ portfolio already includes three other hotels in Zanzibar, two Riu hotels and the TUI Blue Bahari Zanzibar. Further new hotel experiences are already being planned. The destination in the Indian Ocean is an appealing stopover for the luxury cruise ship MS Europa and offers a choice of 20 beachfront hotels for TUI’s tour operator guests. TUI Musement, the leading Tours & Activities business of TUI Group, offers more than 60 experiences in Zanzibar, including over 20 private excursions developed for The Mora guests.
Peter Krueger, Executive Board member at TUI and responsible for the segment Holiday Experiences which includes the hotel business: "Building and operating hotel clusters under various brands is a key element of our TUI Hotels & Resorts strategy. Our vertical integrated business model at TUI Group gives us a strategic advantage of developing new destinations. Zanzibar is another great example of the development of a new destination and cluster. Our hotels business is set for strong growth and to support this we have invested in a global and multi-channel distribution platform. We aim to expand our TUI Hotels & Resorts portfolio globally to 600 hotels in the medium term. Since 18 months we are adding on average 10 new hotels per quarter to our pipeline that will be realised in the coming years and are well on track."
In order to drive the sustainable development of Zanzibar, TUI is working with the independent TUI Care Foundation, which is currently running four programmes on the island ranging from upcycling projects to fostering new social enterprises. TUI Care Foundation has started its activities on the island in 2016.