Neil Swanson insisted while it was “business as usual” at Tui, the operator is focused on helping customers arriving into EU destinations after the scheduled EES roll-out on 10 November.
EES is a new electronic system that will replace the physical passport stamping when crossing external EU borders, such as the UK’s with the Schengen area post-Brexit.
Abta revealed on Tuesday (8 October) that hundreds of its members had joined video conference calls in recent weeks to understand the EES and how it would work.
Speaking to TTG at the 2024 Abta Convention, Swanson said: “I would like to have a bit more detail about what is going to happen. I’d like to see the government doing more. I don’t know how it’s going to play out – anything could happen.
“We’ll have staff at airports at destinations that is where it’s going to affect customers. We will make sure that we have an extra presence.”
Swanson revealed that Tui will put “more staff” in airports following the roll-out, but couldn’t confirm numbers when asked by TTG.
Despite having concerns about the roll-out, Swanson, who took over from Andrew Flintham earlier this month, said: “I’m sure it will be okay. We’ve been communicating what we know to customers.
“People book with us because they want to be looked after. We’re telling people how things are looking and all the information is on our website. Tui is in a good position.”
On Tui’s recent efforts to sell more through third-party agents, Swanson confirmed there had been a “significant double-digit” jump in the past year.
When asked how high he would like that part of the business to grow, he said: “I would like to see sales via third-party agents go as high as possible. There’s no ceiling – that is even with significant double-digit growth this year.
“We’re seeing stronger growth which is not really surprising. People want to speak to someone.”
Swanson, though, did admit “not everyone trusts us” but “in time we will be in a better position to take more of that business”.
Tui will put 2026 summer holidays on sale next week, the earliest it’s ever launched a programme.
The programme features 2,000 hotels, thousands of free kids’ places to destinations including Florida, and 92 flying routes from 24 UK airports.
The Maldives, Mauritius, Lake Garda and Majorca join Tui’s weddings programme and same sex weddings are now available in Croatia and Greece, with ceremonies in more than 180 venues across 15 destinations available.
Phillip Iveson, Tui UK and Ireland commercial director, said: “For summer 2026 we’re offering our widest range of destinations with free kids’ places, the convenience of being able to fly from 24 UK regional airports, market-beating luggage allowance on our family concepts like Holiday Village, Sensatori and Tui Blue, and the icing on the cake is our TUI run kids clubs with UK accredited staff across 112 hotels.”
