
Sustainable tourism is an important driver of growth in the global economy. It promotes social and environmental standards and enables wealth and knowledge transfer, especially to economically less developed regions. As a market leader, TUI embraces its responsibility to employees and partners – in Germany, Europe and worldwide. The political environment plays an increasingly important role. Only with fair competition and forward-looking legislation can tourism fully realise its positive contribution. We are actively involved in this process – in an open dialogue with Policymakers in Berlin, Brussels and in the destinations.
We live in a decade of sustainable transformation. As the world's leading travel group, at TUI we are aware of our responsibility. Our approach is to systematically strengthen the positive effects of tourism in holiday destinations while further reducing the environmental impact of travel. Our sustainability strategy includes strict targets to achieve this – and we are continuing to build on our pioneering role and our record of delivery.
Worldwide, almost one in nine jobs depends on tourism. With a contribution of 11.6 trillion US dollars to global GDP – accounting for just under ten per cent – the sector is of massive value to the global economy and society.
High government taxes, airport and air traffic control charges increase the cost of air travel in Germany – even for well-deserved annual holidays. At the same time, the industry is facing the challenge of reducing CO₂e emissions and becoming more sustainable. Our approach is to minimise CO₂e emissions by continuously investing in new and lower-emission aircraft. We want to use sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), reduce emissions to a minimum and continue to make affordable holidays possible in the future. To achieve this, we need clear framework conditions and reliable political support.
An increasing number of people want to take a cruise and discover the world while traveling the oceans. The TUI Group's cruise companies are seizing the opportunities for growth – sustainably and responsibly. By 2030, we want to reduce CO₂e emissions of our fleets by 27.5 per cent compared to 2019, in absolute terms. We will achieve this through the optimisation of routes, energy efficiency measures on board, use of shorepower and the transformation of fuels and state-of-the-art propulsion systems. Political support is indispensable.
Like no other form of travel, a package holiday offers peace of mind with the highest consumer protection standards. We are always there for our guests from the initial booking to the journey home, with our own teams in almost all holiday destinations. And we want to keep it that way. To ensure fair competition with large non-EU platform providers, a level playing field is needed instead of unilaterally imposing further burdens on package tour operators.
The public policy team of TUI Group will be happy to answer any questions you may have on tourism and travel policy.