'We are the market leader in quality. Today, a commitment to environment and sustainability is part of our customers' expectations. This is why our goal is to be the market leader in this important field as well.'
Dr Volker Böttcher, Managing Director, TUI Central Europe

TUI Central Europe comprises the distribution, tour operating and airline businesses in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Eastern European markets.

In Central Europe, our stakeholders have shown a great interest for many years in environmental management and ‘green’ products. Our focus is on encouraging our suppliers to become more sustainable – hotels, transfer buses and aircraft – as well as protecting nature in our destinations. Expectations of the environmental performance of hotels are particularly high. For several years now there has been a growing interest not only in climate change, but also in the social aspects of sustainable development. Various topics, such as the protection of children, fair working conditions and the economic participation of destinations in the success of tourism, are gaining importance.

We have appointed environmental champions to manage sustainability activities in all the major businesses in TUI Central Europe. They meet regularly to exchange ideas on the latest developments and coordinate how they should proceed.

Climate Change

We established the TUI Klimainitiative ('Climate Initiative') in 2007/08, aiming to offset the carbon emissions of aircraft. In partnership with the Swiss carbon offset provider myclimate, passengers flying with TUIfly and customers travelling with TUI Travel tour operators from Germany, Austria and Switzerland have the opportunity to offset the carbon emissions caused by their flight or package holiday when they book their holiday.

In this way, they have already invested more than €600,000 in climate projects in Eritrea, Turkey and in the Peruvian Andes, to save more than 30,000 tonnes of carbon. Along with a reduction in carbon emissions, the projects contribute to long-term economic and social development in these regions, reducing air pollution, creating jobs and increasing quality of life. All the projects are set up as VER (Verified Emission Reductions) projects and are certified to the internationally recognised Gold Standard for climate protection initiatives.

Destinations

The businesses of TUI Central Europe participate in projects worldwide which benefit either the local population or nature in the destination and ensure that the destination remains attractive and prosperous. These businesses provide support in various ways: by making donations to organisations such as the ‘Association pour le Développement de l'Energie Solaire’, which produces solar cookers in Madagascar, or by supporting the Marine Biology Institute of the University of Vienna in their research projects on coral protection and turtles. The businesses also sponsor school projects in Ecuador and take part in projects such as the Year of the Dolphin 2007/08 in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).

Balearics strategic partnership
The Balearics are a major holiday destination for TUI Central Europe. TUI Deutschland is working with the Environment Ministry of the Balearics Government to deliver several projects that will protect the natural environment of the islands.

For example, TUI Deutschland and OSRAM, one of the world’s leading light bulb manufacturers, jointly promote energy efficient lighting in the Balearics. TUI hotel partners in Spain, Germany and Austria can request advice on energy efficient lighting and take advantage of TUI’s low-price offer on light bulbs.

In October 2009, TUI Deutschland will start to plant the first TUI forest in east Majorca. In the Llevante nature reserve, 57,600 wild olive and pine trees will be planted over a number of years on a 48-hectare site. The aim is to stop the continuing ground erosion of the coastal slopes and to raise awareness of environmental issues among our customers.

TUI Environmental Champion
In 1996, TUI Deutschland began to monitor its hotels on environmental criteria, and now assesses them every year. This monitoring has prompted a significant increase in the environmental activities of hotels associated with package tourism in recent years.

The most environmentally-friendly hotels receive the TUI Umwelt Champion ('Environmental Champion') award, which has been successfully highlighting the environmental commitment of TUI hotels for 14 years. As only the 100 best hotels are named Environmental Champions, an effective competition has developed over the years. Thanks to the TUI Environmental Champion label, customers who value environmentally-friendly accommodation can quickly find a hotel that offers high environmental standards in our brochures.

Futouris
The tourism industry is traditionally closely connected with the environmental and cultural background of our host countries. To support this connection, Futouris: Die Nachhaltigkeitsinitiative (‘the sustainability initiative’) was launched in January 2009. The aim of this association is to pool resources throughout the industry and maximise its impact. In addition to the original members – TUI Deutschland, TUI AG, Gebeco, airtours, TUI Suisse, TUI Austria and TUI Leisure Travel – several other tour operators have announced their intention to join. The initiative started under the patronage of the Deutscher ReiseVerband (DRV), the German travel industry association and is intended to be a platform for sustainable commitment in tourism and to be open to all companies.

Futouris emphasises dialogue with the local population and promotes projects for improving living conditions, supporting education, protecting nature and the environment, and preserving biodiversity.    

Our People

The enthusiasm of our people for sustainable development has a strong influence on our corporate development. For this reason, we integrate sustainability issues into our training so our young colleagues become aware of the subject at an early stage. As education is a permanent process, we provide regular training for travel agency staff, tour representatives and hotel contract managers.

In the offices of TUI Deutschland in Hanover, 10 colleagues manage the coordination of environmental activities and try to minimise the environmental effects of our headquarters and beyond. They have brought about the use of fairtrade coffee in the café, certified organic food on the canteen menu and the free availability of business bicycles.

Green Days
TUI Green Days are enthusiastically received. They are regular events to inform our colleagues of the latest environmental themes and we have held them annually since 2004. In 2007, we invited scientists and other specialists to give talks on the risks and opportunities that climate change presents to tourism, to increase awareness of the situation among our colleagues.

Our Customers

Our customers are the basis of our economic success and our inspiration to continually improve our service. Market research has uncovered a new customer trend which is spreading to all areas of life in our source market: 16% of Germans would like consumption of goods and services to be responsible and ethical (ref 1). In the opinion of many marketing experts, this hails the beginning of a long-term change in consumer behaviour.

TUI Grüne Welten
To address the target group in an appropriate way, in Winter 2008 TUI Deutschland and TUI Suisse set up TUI Grüne Welten (‘TUI Green Worlds’). For the first time, we put an online ‘green’ world of experience and adventure on the market, offering environmentally-friendly hotels, climate-neutral holidays, nature experiences and volunteering holidays. These products attract the growing group of customers who are looking for more sustainable holidays.

Reef Check
In Egypt, we offer our customers the opportunity to take part in a practical sustainability project. Here TUI, working with Robinson Club Soma Bay, supports the worldwide reef protection initiative Reef Check. Under the guidance of a marine scientist from Reef Check, we not only offer divers and snorkellers a completely new insight into the colourful underwater world, but also sound scientific information about the biodiversity of the coral reefs.

(ref 1) Zukunftsinstitut GmbH: Dr. Wenzel, Ch. Rauch, A. Kirig (2007) Target Group LOHAS: How the green lifestyle conquers the markets