German aviation investor acquires majority stake in French scheduled carrier, license in Malaysia, locations in China and Thailand, Singapore and Lankawi homeport for TUI cruise companies, further milestone in the implementation of TUI’s strategy in all business segments.

TUI is the world’s leading tourism group. Since 2014, its portfolio of subsidiaries and international shareholdings has been clearly aligned to help implement the Group’s strategy.

The Group has now taken the next step towards becoming a “pure play tourism” company with the sale of the French scheduled carrier Corsair. TUI Group has sold a majority stake in its French airline Corsair to German investor INTRO Aviation. INTRO will acquire a 53 per cent stake in Corsair as a first step. Under the agreement, TUI Group will initially retain a minority stake of 27 per cent, while Corsair’s Employee Benefit Trust will retain a 20 per cent stake. The financial details of the agreement have not been disclosed.

The French long-haul scheduled carrier is unable to deliver any synergy effects for TUI Group, TUI tour operators and cruise companies, and the Group’s five European charter airlines. The sale will reduce TUI’s fleet by seven long-haul aircraft: three 747-400s as well as two A330-200s and A330-300s each.

“We are consistently transforming TUI to focus on tourism, its core business. Here, we are investing in hotels and cruise ships, and increasingly in holiday experiences in the destinations. These are segments in which we are growing, and where we are continuing to expand our global activities. We are exiting non-core business areas that do not leverage any synergies for the Group. The sale is the right move for TUI and will also benefit Corsair and its staff,” said TUI CEO Fritz Joussen.

Since the merger and integration of its former subsidiary TUI Travel at the end of 2014, TUI AG has successfully transformed from a trading business to the world’s leading integrated tourism group focusing on hotels, cruise ships and destination activities. This strategy resulted in the sale of numerous non-core subsidiaries and it has increased the Group’s leeway for comprehensive investments in hotels, ships and digital platforms in order to strengthen its future business.

The sale now initiated will create new and sustained prospects for the French airline Corsair and its employees. The investor is specialised on aviation and investments in aviation companies. Corsair’s business will be part of the investor’s core business.

TUI is expanding its presence in the growth market of South-East Asia: TUI International Holidays is being established in Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is to become the location for TUI International Holidays Malaysia. The licence for the start as a tour operator in Malaysia was issued to TUI by the Government of Malaysia. As a result, TUI is continuing to expand in the growing Asian markets.

Already today, South-East Asia is an attractive destination for Europeans. TUI is focusing on increasing numbers of South-East Asian guests, who are travelling more frequently and differently than in the past, and wants to grow in this region. Destinations include both Europe and the countries of South-East Asia, where TUI today already operates its own hotels and clubs in Sri Lanka, on the Maldives and in Thailand.

"We are developing holiday offers which are also attractive to Asian travellers in both neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka and Thailand, as well as the long-haul routes from Asia. The start of the new division in Kuala Lumpur is an important step towards addressing even more Asian customers in the future", said Frank Rosenberger, TUI's chief development officer for new markets. Rosenberger is responsible for the "TUI 2022" strategy, with which TUI aims to reach one million additional customers in new markets by 2022. Unlike the classic TUI markets in Europe, this business should be operated via the Group's digital platforms and together with strong partners.

The travel experiences are thereby increasingly being developed and managed locally in Asia. The marketing of TUI Hotels & Resorts for the region will be controlled from Bangkok. For the growing segment of tours and activities, TUI Destination Experiences has already started a partnership with Ctrip which, with 200 million users per week, is China's leading online portal. TUI China, already founded in 2003, will support the growth strategy with strong locations in Shanghai and Beijing.

The expansion of the TUI hotel portfolio in Asia is meanwhile progressing. "As a developer, investor and operator of hotels, we have a very strong position in Europe, in Mexico and in the Caribbean. We have started to expand in Southeast Asia and want to grow to a total of 20 or 25 hotels in the next few years. We also want to market our hotels in the region. The short and medium-haul destinations in the region are becoming increasingly attractive to guests from Southeast Asia, for example, our Robinson Clubs in Asia or the RIU Hotel in Sri Lanka. Here, TUI's strong hotel brands have enormous potential", said Sebastian Ebel, Member of the Executive Board of TUI AG and CEO Hotels & Resorts, Cruises, Destination Experiences.

Asia is also moving into focus in the cruise segment, the third growth segment of TUI in addition to hotels and activities. TUI's three cruise lines are now regularly calling at Asian ports. TUI Cruises and Marella Cruises have each stationed a ship in Singapore and Langkawi during the winter season.