In March, Tui announced it would fold its Sensimar and Family Life brands into Tui Blue – which then amounted to just 10 hotels – to create the world’s “largest leisure hotel brand”.

The Tui Blue portfolio now includes 97 hotels across 18 countries, serving more than one million guests, with “further hotels” in the pipeline to break through the 100 hotel mark – Tui’s target come the start of 2020.

Its expansion and consolidation over the past year, meanwhile, has allowed Tui to push Tui Blue into new destinations, including more long-haul destinations such as Vietnam and Zanzibar.

“By expanding Tui Blue’s footprint, the tourism group is further consolidating its leading position within the international leisure hotel sector,” said Tui.

Erik Friemuth, managing director Tui Hotels and Resorts, said: “In future, Tui Blue will cater for more than one million customers per year, contributing to the brand’s strong global footprint. Our flagship hotel brand will thus be a relevant player in the leisure hotel sector from next summer.

“Thanks to our ambitious growth strategy, we also have further hotels in our pipeline and will soon exceed the 100-hotel mark.“

Besides strengthening its presence in southern Europe and the Caribbean, Tui is aiming to scale up the brand’s expansion into south-east Asia and the Indian Ocean.

The brand will also make sustainability a key focus of its operations through water saving initiatives, reducing carbon emissions per guest per night, and reducing single-use plastics.

It will look to utilise more locally-produced ingredients, recruit more local staff and obtain authoritative sustainability certification.