TUI CEO: Innovations foster more sustainable tourism
- Cruises: Bio-LNG delivered to TUI Cruises fleet for first time
- Hotels: Photovoltaic systems already in place in 19 countries
- TUI CEO Sebastian Ebel: ‘I expect that we will achieve our goal of climate neutrality in our business before 2050.’
"Just a few years ago it was a vision, today it is reality: bio-LNG. Advances in the availability and scalability of alternative fuels will make a decisive contribution to enabling climate-neutral cruises by 2050 at the latest. Additional steps remain necessary, which we at TUI are consistently monitoring and implementing together with the TUI Cruises team: expanding the infrastructure for the use of green shore power, increasing energy efficiency, and optimising itineraries and routes to reduce energy consumption. With the first delivery of bio-LNG, TUI Cruises is reinforcing its pioneering role in making the cruise industry more sustainable," says TUI CEO Sebastian Ebel.
As bio-LNG is chemically identical to fossil LNG, it can be used in the existing dual-fuel engines of Mein Schiff Relax without any technical modifications. All newbuilds in the Mein Schiff fleet are equipped with dual-fuel engines and are technically designed to run on lower-emission fuels such as bio-LNG. Mein Schiff 7, which entered service last year, is also already prepared for the future use of green methanol. By 2030 at the latest, the TUI Group will reduce absolute CO2e emissions from its cruise business – which includes the two brands Hapag-Lloyd Cruises and Mein Schiff as well as the British Marella Cruises – by 27.5 per cent (base year 2019). The independent Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) has reviewed and confirmed the emission reduction targets for the airline, cruise and hotel sectors.
The TUI Hotels & Resorts division has ambitious reduction targets for 2030: emissions are to be reduced by at least 46.2 per cent compared to 2019. An important lever for this – in addition to increasing the energy efficiency of hotel operations and purchasing green electricity where available – is TUI's own green electricity production. TUI currently operates its own photovoltaic systems in 19 countries – from Costa Rica to Senegal and Cape Verde to Croatia, Thailand and the Maldives.
"Between 2024 and 2028, we will increase the electricity output from photovoltaic systems by a factor of eight. New systems are planned in Greece, Cape Verde and also in Germany. In addition, we are examining the extent to which innovations can massively reduce electricity consumption – for example, by cooling hotels with seawater or generating energy from food waste on site in hotels. At TUI, we are open to technological innovations, testing them and examining their scalability for our company. That is why I expect that we will achieve our goal – climate neutrality in our business – before 2050. We are working on this every day at TUI," says Sebastian Ebel, CEO of TUI Group.
TUI Group recently published its sustainability strategy for the mobility sector. The aim is to significantly reduce CO₂ emissions in the area of ground mobility. The proportion of electric vehicles in the entire TUI vehicle fleet – company cars, operational vehicles at airports and in destinations, and buses – is to increase to 80 to 90 per cent by 2030. In addition, charging stations for electric cars are to be available in 1,000 hotels worldwide – both TUI-owned and partner hotels – by then.
The TUI Edition of smart has been available since this summer. The smart #1 and smart #3 electric cars are available in a limited edition in the Premium Line and offer exclusive benefits for customers in Germany.
About TUI Group
The TUI Group is one of the world's leading tourism groups and operates worldwide. The Group is headquartered in Germany. TUI shares are listed in the MDAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and in the regulated market of the Lower Saxony Stock Exchange in Hanover. TUI Group offers its over 20 million customers integrated services from a single source and forms the entire tourism value chain under one roof. The Group owns over 400 hotels and resorts with premium brands such as RIU, TUI Blue and Robinson and 18 cruise ships, ranging from the MS Europa and MS Europa 2 in the luxury class and expedition ships in the HANSEATIC class to the Mein Schiff fleet of TUI Cruises and cruise ships operated by Marella Cruises in the UK. The Group also includes Europe's leading tour operator brands and online marketing platforms, for example for hotel-only or flight-only offers, five airlines with 125 modern medium- and long-haul aircraft and around 1,200 travel agencies. In addition to expanding its core business with hotels and cruises via successful joint ventures and activities in vacation destinations, TUI is increasingly focusing on the expansion of digital platforms. The Group is transforming itself into a global tourism platform company.
Global responsibility for sustainable economic, environmental and social action is at the heart of our corporate culture. With projects in 25 countries, the TUI Care Foundation initiated by TUI focuses on the positive effects of tourism, on education and training and on strengthening environmental and social standards. In this way, it supports the development of vacation destinations. The globally active TUI Care Foundation initiates projects that create new opportunities for the next generation.
