TUI Group - Topics & Positions - Sustainability | TUI Group - One of the world's leading tourism groups

Topics & Positions

Sustainability

Shaping the Transformation of Tourism

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.

The TUI Group is working to significantly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years. As an initial step, we have drawn up concrete roadmaps up to 2030. The targets in figures:

-24%

Emissions from TUI AirlineCO2e per rpk** by 2030, baseline year 2019

-27,5%

Emissions from TUI Cruises businessabsolute CO2e* by 2030, baseline year 2019

-46,2%

Emissions from TUI Hotels & Resortsabsolute CO2e* by 2030, baseline year 2019

Lighthouse for sustainable destinations

The sustainable transformation of our industry will only succeed if we think in terms of value chains and include holiday destinations as true partners in our plans. With this in mind, we are developing Rhodes into a beacon for sustainable holiday destinations together with the government of the southern Aegean and local stakeholders – with the Greek government also involved. Together, we are making an important contribution to a more sustainable tourism industry. Other destinations can benefit from the learnings on topics such as sustainable mobility, green energy, waste prevention and environmental education.

Our sustainability agenda

TUI’s sustainability agenda is based on three key areas: People, Planet and Progress. For these areas, we will actively shape the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainability with pioneering initiatives and ambitious targets. The areas at a glance:

People – Empower to drive development:

We want to ensure that people in destinations benefit from tourism. Especially in emerging and developing countries, tourism contributes significantly to development and prosperity. With the independent TUI Care Foundation initiated by TUI, we implement projects around the world that strengthen economic participation and local education. Through the “Tourism for Development Fund”, launched in 2023 in partnership with UN Tourism, the Foundation is providing ten million euros by 2030 to promote sustainable tourism in the world’s least developed countries (LDCs).

Planet – Reduce our footprint:

By 2050 at the latest, we are committed to achieve net zero emissions in all business areas as well as supply chains. As an interim step, we have set specific emission reduction targets for our airlines, cruise lines and hotels by 2030. In addition, we aim to change the way we use the planet’s natural resources and evolve into a circular economy company.

Progress – Accelerate the transformation:

We want to use our scale in the industry to increase the positive social and environmental impact of our holiday offerings. Together with our local partners, we will develop a sustainable business model that empowers customers to make sustainable choices at every step of their journey.

"We live in a decade of sustainable transformation – for TUI and the tourism industry as a whole. We want to strengthen and further develop tourism as a global driver of prosperity and development. TUI will continue to lead the tourism industry in sustainability -– with our ambitious goals, pioneering initiatives and holistic approach. Sustainability is a top priority for me personally and for TUI. We have proven in the past that we have the expertise and the right approach to make tourism more sustainable. That's why we don't see sustainability as a threat – for us, it's an opportunity.”

— Sebastian Ebel, CEO of TUI Group

Further expanding pioneering role

Why are we convinced that we will achieve our emission reduction targets? Because sustainability has been part of our corporate DNA for decades. For example, TUI pioneered the first sustainability department in the European tourism industry over 30 years ago. Since then, we have been working hard to reduce the environmental impact of our aircraft and cruise fleets, as well as our hotels, offices, and travel agencies. This includes multi-million-euro investments in state-of-the-art aviation and cruise technologies to improve carbon efficiency.