TUI Group is looking to grow its TUI Blue hotel offering to more than 300 properties with a particular focus on Southeast Asia, China, Africa and the Middle East.
Unlike some of TUI’s other hotel ventures, TUI Blue hotels are operated either under management contracts or by franchisees.
The company presented the business model to investors as well as representatives of the hotel industry at a hybrid event in Dubai earlier this week.
TUI has signed contracts for the first TUI Blue hotels in China and the company has recruited Wesam Okasha the former senior director of development in West Africa for Hilton.
TUI can offer investors access to its 27 million customers as well as its digital hotel platform.
What They Said
Erik Friemuth, managing director TUI Hotels & Resorts, said: "TUI Blue's new management and franchise model allows our future partners to benefit from this and offer guests unique holiday experiences. Together, we aim to become the leading leisure hotel brand with more than 300 hotels worldwide."
Why This Matters
For a long time TUI did a lot of its hotel development on balance sheet and in house. This new asset light approach should enable it, in theory to expand much faster and into markets it has less experience of.