Launch of Experiences for Locals hailed as ‘new direction’ for operator, says Ian Taylor
Tui put domestic experiences on sale in the UK and Germany last week under the strapline ‘No passport needed’.
Group chief strategy officer Peter Krueger, head of Tui’s Holiday Experiences division, hailed the launch as “a new direction for us”, explaining: “We have six million customers in the UK, six million in Germany, going on holiday with us once a year.
“Now we can reach them with something they can do today.”
Tui is initially offering 350 ‘experiences for locals’ in locations including London and Manchester through a partnership between activities division Tui Musement and experiences booking platform Fever.
Krueger said: “Our aim is to go up to 3,000 experiences, mainly focused on the UK and Germany, but going to other markets.”
The experiences, including exhibitions, theatre shows, comedy gigs and food evenings, are available via the Tui app and website as well as through retail outlets.
Tui chief executive Sebastian Ebel confirmed: “A travel agency has the same content.” However, the aim is to drive customers to the Tui app more often.
Ebel noted: “A package [holiday] you buy only once every one or two years. Accommodation you buy three or four times a year, [but] experiences you can buy every day.”
He said: “It broadens what we offer. We’re well known to customers for their annual holidays, now we can be the day-to-day partner for leisure activities at home.”
Kruger added: “Further on we’ll offer restaurant bookings. In Germany, people know Tui sell more than packages. This is business we’re not known for in the UK. It is a big transformation.”
Tui Musement chief executive Peter Ulwahn described the new offerings as “local products for locals” which are “curated and security checked” and would address the question: “What can I do in my own city when I’m not travelling?
“You booked your holiday, but we have something for you to do this weekend.”
Ulwahn said: “Why do we do it? We want to offer customers [something] in between [their] sun and beach holidays, products to promote in the Tui app to encourage people to come back to the app.”
Tui Musement’s partner Fever, a New York-based global experiences booking platform launched in 2014, has extensive backing from private equity.
Ulwahn noted: “We’ve looked at partnerships with many players. Fever is a community [with] a different user base [to which] we’ll also sell our products.”
A Tui spokesperson noted: “We’ll put Tui product at more fingertips and the more we’re in contact through the app [the more the] benefit to our retail.”
Krueger highlighted the wider transformation underway, saying: “Our heritage is bringing people from northern Europe to southern Europe. [But] we’re orienting the company on the South a lot more.
“We’re the biggest bed stock owner in the Caribbean and we started a strategic growth initiative in the Asia Pacific region, developing 20 hotels in southeast Asia.
“We have 430 hotels and a pipeline of 70.”
Krueger said Tui will announce its 500th hotel at German trade show ITB in Berlin early March, adding: “Our plan is to grow to 600 hotels.”
Ebel insisted: “Tui is very different today to yesterday and will be very different tomorrow from today.”