Articles tagged “tui”

China slowdown? Meituan rivalry? Naaah, Ctrip had a fab 2018. Domestic travel remains strong, but it is international travel growth that’s exciting. Now we know what drives its latest partnerships with TUI’s Musement and Rezdy.

Well, well, well, it's not just Thomas Cook that's struggling. TUI is feeling the pain as well, and given its size and power, it's fair to say the whole European tour operator market is now in a bad way.

There have been several new technologies, from the New Distribution Capability to direct-connect, and blockchain, that have at times shown promise in easing the grip of the global distribution systems. For the last 20 years, the incumbent distributors have always managed to exert or shore up their roles.

Thomas Cook might have been a victim of circumstance but it probably hasn't helped itself. It is caught between the asset-heavy approach of TUI and smaller, more nimble online rivals. It needs to get its house in order to ensure it doesn't keep repeating the same mistakes.

Two and a half years after the Brexit vote, the UK is still sorting out its departure from the European Union. As the clock ticks down and the situation gets more serious, we should expect more horror stories in the coming months.

How seriously is EasyJet going to take the packaged vacations market? More seriously than it did before for sure, but enough to compete with the plethora of tour operators and online travel agencies out there? At this stage it's hard to tell.

Trips, experiences, tours, activities – you call them what you like, travel brands want a bigger piece of the sector. For plenty of companies, it's no longer just about the flight or hotel.

TUI is using some of the cash it amassed from selling companies such as Hotelbeds to buy a business from ... Hotelbeds. Maybe its taken a bit of time for the management to realize that tours and activities are strategic and a potential growth area.

TUI seems to have found a good use case for blockchain technology, and the implied cost savings would help boost profits. But could TUI achieve the same result with an alternative?

Despite facing plenty of challenges, Spain saw a healthy growth in international tourists in 2017. But this year is likely to be tougher because of Barcelona's troubles and with places like Turkey regaining some of their popularity.