TUI’s summer season has officially started in Turkey with around 180,000 guests flying into Turkey in April and May. To mark the occasion members of TUI Group’s Executive Committee met hundreds of Turkish hotel partners last week to discuss plans to further grow its holiday programme across the destination for Summer 2023. TUI has a series of hotel partner events happening across the world to meet with partners face-to-face and update them on TUI’s strategy.
Sebastian Ebel – TUI Group CFO, David Burling – CEO Markets & Airlines, Helen Caron – Group Product & Purchasing Director and other senior TUI representatives met with partners in Fethiye and Antalya to present its plans to bring significantly more customers to Turkey next summer, compared to 2019 pre-pandemic levels. TUI also updated on how it is looking to focus on developing its winter programme and extending the season in Turkey. Information on trends it is seeing amongst guests was also shared as TUI has seen guests upgrading their holiday, booking longer durations, room upgrades and activities as people have missed their breaks in the sun.
Over 90% of TUI’s capacity to Turkey is a package holiday, so hotel partners are guaranteed beneficiaries when one of TUI’s flights land. It works with a thousand hotel partners across Turkey, who are key to its holiday strategy.
TUI has been operating holidays to Turkey for over 40 years and it offers over 12,000 flights to and from the destination from all its source markets – via its own TUI airlines or partner carriers. TUI has grown its capacity for this summer and will bring over 1.5 million guests to Turkey from its 13 source markets in 2022. Around one million them will be holidaying across the resorts of Antalya and around 500,000 in the resorts of Izmir, Bodrum and Dalaman.
The partner events were held at the TUI BLUE SENSATORI Fethiye and at the Rixos Premium Belek. TUI also used the opportunity to present TUI BLUE Palm Garden in Antalya with their TUI Global Hotel Award. The hotel won the category for Best Hotel – TUI Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Poland.
Based on customer feedback, the TUI Global Hotel Awards recognise hotels that have received outstandingly high satisfaction scores from TUI customers and have demonstrated their commitment to sustainability. The TUI Global Hotel Awards winners were announced a few weeks ago in a virtual ceremony, with local presentations happening to personally congratulate hotel partners.
Two other hotels were also congratulated at the event for achieving fantastic feedback from TUI customers. Concorde de Luxe Resort in Antalya and Kirman Sidera Hotel Luxury & Spa in Antalya were shortlisted in the Top 5 for some categories.
As a key destination to TUI’s growth strategy, TUI also named one of its newest aircraft Antalya. The official name-giving ceremony took place at Antalya airport at the beginning of the month, with World Champion gymnast, Ayşe Begüm Onbaşı selected as godmother of the aircraft.
