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Mini cruises, fewer buffets: this is how TUI wants to “reinvent” the holidays
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Travel industry under pressure: TUI cuts 8,000 jobs
The travel company TUI, greatly affected by the crisis in Corona, has announced the reduction of 8,000 jobs worldwide. The jobs in question must be cut or stop occupying.
The world’s largest travel company was hit hard by the crisis. However, TUI expects a long summer. However, the group must be creative. The consequences will be noticeable to vacationers.
reThe question of whether the world after Corona will be completely different is still open to many. Not so for Fritz Joussen. Asking the journalist if the classic vacation trip still had a future, the TUI boss returned confidently presenting the quarterly balance: “What else do you want to do? Watch a movie?”
However: Joussen said travel will change, “by 2020 we will also reinvent the holidays: new destinations, changed travel periods, new local offers, more digitization.” The head of the world’s largest travel group has summer vacations in select destination areas. It is already possible this year. His hope: “The season starts later, but it could take longer.”
TUI has prepared for the border openings that are now approaching in many countries. The first hotels in Sylt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will open in the coming days. To make it easier for health authorities in other countries to relax restrictions, the Group implements a concept of safety and hygiene with ten key points in its hotels around the world.
This includes significantly reducing capacities in hotel restaurants and moving tables a minimum distance of 1.5 meters. At the same time, restaurant opening hours will be extended. Basically, there are fewer buffets, but more service personnel to operate the table with protective masks. Entertainment activities are only possible with a small number of participants without close contact, the company explains: “Golf or tennis can take place, but a soccer tournament cannot.”
In the future, hotel rooms will be cleaned with special cleaning agents that also remove Covid 19 viruses. Employee training has already begun in conjunction with consulting firm Cristal International Standards, which specializes in hygiene.
Fleet operator “Mein Schiff” is particularly cautious so that the cruise business is particularly affected by the Corona crisis. Until now, the high-growth business has been transformed into an expensive operation of floating quarantine stations during the crisis.
Jobs must be cut or not filled
“We are going on mini cruises,” Joussen announced now: “We are moving ships to northern Germany.” These are “short cruises in the North Sea with only 1000 guests on the ship to ensure safety here as well.”
Before the Corona crisis, the group, with just under 70,000 employees, organized vacations for around 20 million customers in 180 target countries and also operated more than 150 aircraft, 1,600 travel agencies and 16 cruises.
TUI survived the two-month shutdown of virtually all travel activities worldwide only thanks to a € 1.8 billion loan from state bank KfW. Additionally, the CEO announced that he would have to cut administrative costs by 30 percent, which included cutting 8,000 jobs. “Globally, this will affect about 8,000 jobs that we don’t fill or cut,” said Joussen.
In addition, 250 million euros leave the company each month: “In this sense, we have to try to start our business again as quickly as possible.” In general, the group currently has a liquidity of around 2,100 million euros.
Joussen bases his hope for economic recovery on two figures: First, TUI sales increased by between six percent and six billion euros in the first months of the new fiscal year before the pandemic broke out.
“Emerging stronger from the crisis”
On the other hand, the first reservations for the summer of 2021 were already 114 percent above the level of the previous year. “We were financially very successful before the crisis and will continue to be so after the crisis ends,” believes Joussen.
The TUI chief does not believe that traveling after the Corona crisis is much more expensive. In his opinion, prices would remain “reasonably stable”. “We will make attractive offers,” said Joussen: “We want customers to come back.”
The former head of Vodafone Germany wants to use the Corona crisis to accelerate TUI’s already planned conversion into a digital platform company. “TUI should emerge stronger from the crisis,” announced Joussen.
“But it will be a different TUI and you will find a different market environment than before the pandemic.” In particular, the digitization of all areas will be promoted. However, the Board of Directors rejects a forecast for the entire financial year 2020 due to ongoing uncertainty on the Corona front.
