Speaking after the company published its results for the second financial quarter (three months to 31 March 2023), Tui chief executive Sebastian Ebel said the business will offer new product, content, more airline seats and additional hotels to boost its market share.
"By increasing the frequency of the Tui UK market, we get more back from our customers who want to travel for five, 10, 12 days, so it is important the product we bring into the market is profitable," he continued.
"This is one way we expect to increase our market share in the UK, not by bringing in more competition, but by using product which is already available and adding the Tui benefits to them."
Ebel said the trend of customers opting for higher value products and longer stays is "still very much intact", which, as a result, has lead to higher prices.
"The money from these price increases goes into higher product quality, as well as offsetting inflation and into a better margin for the business," he explained.
He also vowed to restore the European travel giant to its "former strength" as bookings inch back towards 2019 levels.
"The UK is performing significantly well and if we look at the bookings of the last six weeks, we will see prices have increased significantly," he added.
"We have promised to grow profitability in the UK, and one of the pillars of how we will look to improve that is through dynamic packaging, as we have not had significant market share in that sector which gives us a lot of benefit.
"This is one of the reasons we plan to sell more in the UK, as the margins of dynamically packaged product are very attractive, so it is a must-do to gain profitable market share in the UK."
Ebel also discussed Tui’s plans to bolster its sustainability credentials, saying the company should not only be looking to lead the market in terms of bookings and business, but also sustainability.
"Sustainability is an opportunity, not a threat. More and more investments into our environmental goals have a higher return.
"It is slightly more difficult with airlines and ships than it is hotels, but what we do know is that fines will start to come up if we don’t have a good blended ratio, thus leading to even higher pricing."
