Tourism Tui now also wants to attract customers in Latin America

Tui, the world's largest travel group, has been offering vacations in Brazil for a long time. Now the German company is turning the tables and wants to attract Latin American customers here too.

Tui, the world's largest travel group, is starting to sell tours, cruises and excursions in Latin America. "Tui is a global company with a global presence, but today we mainly sell to European customers," CEO Sebastian Ebel told the German Press Agency in Hanover.

Latin America represents a further growth opportunity. "Through our digital platforms, we are able to meet the increasing demand in the region and expand quickly."

Tui Spain and Portugal will provide the expertise for the Latin American market, where Spanish and Portuguese are spoken. They are already working closely with travel agency partners in several countries in Latin America, including Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay and Colombia. It will now be possible to book trips directly via a new digital platform.

Comparatively small market

Holidaymakers from Latin America prefer to book package tours to Asia, North America and Northern Europe, including Tui's own river cruises in Germany. According to the statistics portal Statista, turnover in the entire South American travel and tourism market is expected to amount to around 34 billion euros this year. By comparison, turnover in Europe is expected to be eight times as high - more than 275 billion euros.

Customers' desire to travel continues to provide Tui with a tailwind: a month ago, the Group presented its figures for the third quarter. The hotel business with brands such as Riu, Tui Blue and Robinson recently grew significantly and cruises also remained in demand.

A total of 5.8 million guests had traveled with Tui by the end of June - four percent more than a year ago. All in all, the company exceeded analysts' sales and profit expectations and even spoke of a record quarter.

SDA