POLICY AGENDA Information from the tui Group for politicians and the public July/August 2014 CONtENts PAGE PLANNED MERGER OF tui AG 03 AND tui travel training PARtNERsHIP 04 CREAtEs OPPORtuNItIEs summer HOLIDAY CALENDAR: MORE time 05 MEANs LEss stress FOR HOLIDAYMAKERs NEWs 06 tunisia: tourism is a stability factor after the Arab spring Eu Package Holiday Directive still needs honing tuifly pay agreement secures prospects for 2,400 employees state-of-the-art ships for a cleaner environment tui At A GLANCE 07 Aktiengesellschaft Hotels & Resorts
2 POLICY AGENDA, July/August 2014 2 EDITORIAL Hanover, August 2014 Dear readers, For many people, the time of summer holidays is the most wonderful time of the year. The TUI Group s 74,000 employees around the world are looking forward to serving the 30 million customers who once again entrust their holidays to the logo with the red smile and its quality brands. At present, the management and consultative bodies of TUI AG and TUI Travel are working hard to come together as the world s number one tourism group. The new TUI is planned to be headquartered in Germany and listed on the London and Frankfurt stock exchanges. This constitutes a clear commitment to Germany as a business location, our European heritage and the global orientation of the Company. The merger will create high value added for customers, shareholders and employees and open up new opportunities for investment and cooperation in many different fields including the top brands RIU, Robinson and in the Cruises segment. In the next few weeks, the Executive Board of TUI AG and the Board of TUI Travel will be investing a lot of energy into making the merger happen. Our CEO Fritz Joussen and TUI Travel CEO Peter Long believe it is important to keep you informed about developments. Transparency is one of our key objectives. The present issue of TUI Policy Agenda, to be published on a quarterly basis in future, describes our Group s active involvement in various areas: promoting education and training in our partner countries, supporting sustainability and environmental protection. We would also like to draw your attention to a number of policy issues of great importance to the tourism industry. Yours, TUI Team Corporate and External Affairs 2
POLICY AGENDA, July/August 2014 3 PLANNED MERGER OF TUI AG AND TUI TRAVEL Global number one tourism group to strengthen Germany as a business location TUI AG, Europe s largest holiday hotelier, and the leading European tour operator TUI Travel Plc are planning to merge. TUI AG already holds a stake of 54 per cent in TUI Travel Plc. A merger between the two companies would give rise to the world s leading integrated tourism business. The merger would provide TUI AG with its own master brand, known around the world, and other renowned brands such as RIU, Robinson, Mein Schiff and Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten (MS Europa) with direct access to TUI Travel Plc s more than 30 million customers. This is an excellent basis for successfully offering new content and strengthens our common prospects for growth. Our shareholders, customers and around 74,000 employees in 130 countries will benefit from the planned merger, said the CEOs of the two companies, Fritz Joussen and Peter Long. At their meetings in London and Hanover, the Board of Directors of TUI Travel Plc and the Supervisory Board of TUI AG debated ideas from the managements of the two companies. They support the continuation of concrete planning, which will feed into the submission of a formal merger proposal to the TUI AG shareholders by the autumn of this year. New company to be headquartered in Germany with an international orientation The TUI Group will be headquartered in Germany and managed by the Executive Board and Supervisory Board as a joint stock company under German law. The goal is for the company to be listed in the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange, aiming for inclusion in the FTSE100 with an additional quotation on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in order to permit trading in euros and thus uphold the interests of German private investors in today s TUI AG. In order to ensure smooth and successful integration following the planned merger, the companies are seeking continuity in management. Today s CEOs of TUI AG and TUI Travel Plc, Fritz Joussen and Peter Long, are to manage the merged TUI AG as co-ceos until February 2016. Fritz Joussen will then be sole CEO, with Peter Long joining the Supervisory Board. When Professor Dr Klaus Mangold ends his term of office as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of TUI AG, Peter Long will succeed him in that function. Friedrich Joussen, CEO of TUI AG Our strengths are derived from the combination of a global tour operation business with six airlines and a unique portfolio of tourism products including hotels, clubs and cruise lines. Managed jointly under the TUI brand, familiar around the world, they all stand for unique holiday experiences, setting high quality standards in the overall sector. Peter Long, CEO of TUI Travel PLC. He is to become Chairman of TUI s Supervisory Board as of 2016. TUI AG operates Europe s best-known holiday brand. With more than 230 hotels and over 155,000 beds, the company is Europe s largest holiday hotel provider and one of its most successful cruise companies. TUI Travel provides a single uniform structure for a European tourism business with different tour operator brands, serving more than 30 million customers. Many customers also use the Group-owned fleet of charter planes with cutting-edge technology. 3
P O L I C Y A G E N D A, J u ly/a u g u st 2 0 1 4 4 T R A I N I N G PA RT N E R S H I P C R E AT E S O P PO RTU N I T I E S TUI brand ROBINSON promotes dual training in Turkey, Morocco and Greece Deep interest expressed by Prince Andrew, Duke of York TUI AG not only offers attractive holidays to tourists; it also offers young people all over the word a professional future in tourism. The TUI quality brand ROBINSON provides a dual training scheme at its Clubs in Turkey, Morocco and Greece. The so called dual training scheme for young professionals combines apprenticeships in a company and vocational education at a vocational school in one course for a period of up to three years. The scheme has secured the high quality of non-academic education in Germany for many years and has been adopted by other counties recently. At the ROBINSON Clubs on the Turkish Riviera, there are opportunities for both Turkish youngsters and young Germans of Turkish origin to complete their training in tourism on reception, at the bar and in the kitchen. What is special about it? Thanks to cooperation between the Turkish Education Ministry, the foreign placements unit at Germany s public employment service, and the Chamber of Industy and Commerce in Hanover, these young people will receive a diploma recognised in both Turkey and Germany. Promoting skills for Turkish teenagers and teenagers with Turkish roots who live in Germany opens up particular opportunities: These youngsters speak both languages and they are very familiar with German culture and German tourists, explains Martina Baier, who heads Human Resources at ROBINSON. They have an intercultural upbringing, and that makes them all the more suitable to work in the tourism sector, Baier continues. Create a decent framework Set new standards During their two- to three-year With this programme, TUI AG and its subsidiaries are meeting a social obligation by offering training to young people from low-income families who need particular support. Martina Baier, Head of Human Resources at ROBINSON course with ROBINSON the trainees take wide-ranging practical and theoretical modules. They receive an above-average allowance during the practical phase, and they are entitled to a month of paid holiday each year. They are also offered standard health insurance. While they train the young people lodge free of charge on hotel premises, where they also receive board. Once they have completed the course successfully, they are usually taken on by the company, and if they have a German passport or dual nationality they can even work in other countries. Apart from these training opportunities in Turkey, TUI has been running its own hospitality college in Agadir, Morocco, since 2008. It works with local authorities and the German cooperation agency GIZ to offer young Moroccans vocational prospects in the hotel and tourism trades. Recently TUI has begun stepping up training activities in Greece. This year the first young participants will begin a dual training scheme there. TUI is equally committed to training the trainers. By engaging in these activities we want to help combat youth unemployment, points out Martina Baier. Deep interest in the United Kingdom too Prince Andrew, Duke of York and a member of the British royal family, expressed his interest in Prince Andrew (right) and Thomas Ellerbeck at TUI HQ in Hanover 4
POLICY AGENDA, July/August 2014 5 professional goals and prospects. The dual training scheme that TUI is exporting has also met with interest in the United Kingdom, where it has the potential to generate new training opportunities. Through its majority stake in TUI Travel Plc, TUI AG employs about 14,000 people in the UK. Ambassador Simon McDonald (5th from left) and Prince Andrew (right) in discussion with TUI management trainees TUI s international training efforts when he visited the headquarters of TUI AG in Hanover on 4 June. The visit marked the tercentenary of the personal union between the British Crown and the House of Hanover. Key themes during the visit were training models and international career prospects for young recruits to the tourism industry. Prince Andrew, Simon McDonald, the British Ambassador in Berlin, Debbie Dwyer, Global Talent Resourcing & Leadership Development Director of TUI Travel Plc, Martina Baier and Thomas Ellerbeck talked to young management trainees about their Closing ranks with politicians Through its commitment TUI is playing an active role in international cooperation in the field of vocational training, initiated by the German Ministry for Education and Research. The government s aim is to export the tried-and-tested model of dual training, with its close links to the workplace. In times of crisis it has been seen as a basis for economic stability. This format, enshrined in the coalition agreement between Christian Democrats and Social Democrats, plays a key role in TUI s international training activities. SUMMER HOLIDAY CALENDAR: MORE TIME MEANS LESS STRESS FOR HOLIDAYMAKERS Education ministers not making the most of their opportunities The education ministers of the German Länder have made a decision: from 2018 to 2024 the summer holiday calendar will average 84.6 days. That is a tangible improvement on previous years. TUI AG and most tourism companies would have preferred the national framework to be extended to 90 days or more. That was also the recommendation from Länder first ministers and ministers of economic affairs. Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg will retain their privilege and not join the other states in their rolling roster. The shorter the holiday period, the more pressure travellers experience when booking a limited number of flights, hotel rooms and other holiday services. This imbalance between supply and demand is not in the interests of travellers, especially not the eight million or more families. But hotels, B&Bs and restaurants from the coast to the mountains also suffer because their capacity is overstretched for a few weeks, then under-occupied in the summer period just before and after. Congested roads and crowded transport are also the result of this excessively narrow summer holiday corridor. TUI AG believes the decision by education ministers is a step in the right direction. In the long term, however, the tourism sector would like to see the summer holidays extend over a 92-day period from 15 June to 15 September. Let s hope Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg also review their position and take part in the rolling system. 5
POLICY AGENDA, July/August 2014 6 NEWS Tunisia: Tourism is a stability factor after the Arab Spring During a visit to Tunis, Carmen Riu Güell, CEO of the Spanish Riu Hotels & Resorts and a member of the Supervisory Board of TUI AG, and Thomas Ellerbeck, member of the TUI AG Management Board, held discussions with Tunisia s Minister of Tourism Amel Karboul about the country s successful stabilisation since the Arab Spring and the further potential for development. Ms Karboul (41), who studied mechanical engineering in Karlsruhe from 1992 to 1996, wants to strengthen Tunisia s brand value and attract more international travellers to the country. TUI and the RIU hotel group are showing their commitment in North Africa towards sustainable, environmentally-aware tourism and supporting local destinations like Tunisia to generate added value. The TUI Group operates 17 flourishing hotels in Tunisia, including the RIU and Club Magic Life brands. Through its engagement the TUI Group is helping the country to succeed. Amel Karboul (left) and Carmen Riu meet in Tunisia EU Package Holiday Directive still needs honing Proposals from European Parliament impact consumers and travel industry The reform of the Package Holiday Directive approved by the European Parliament (EP) in March this year still has some progress to make. The idea behind the reform was to strengthen the rights of holidaymakers and protect them from serious losses. TUI AG has supported these aims for a long time. But the EP proposals overshoot the mark. Tour operators, for example, will have to pay compensation to clients who cannot set off on their holiday because they fall ill. This places customers at an excessive advantage, relieving them of any responsibility and offloading all costs onto the tour operator. The scope of the Directive has not been thought through either. Online providers are to be exempt from the new regulations giving a free ticket to click-through formats at the expense of consumer protection. These examples and others create distortions to competition. They are unacceptable and require urgent rectification when the EU Commission, Council and Parliament come together in autumn for trialogue negotiations. TUIfly pay agreement secures prospects for 2,400 employees In the spirit of Max Thrust, the programme designed to make TUIfly fit for the future, a long-term collective agreement was concluded in May 2014 for the workforce of around 2,400. Management reached agreement with the unions ver.di and Cockpit on an improved cost structure designed to enhance competitiveness. This puts TUIfly on course for growth once again despite the difficult market environment. State-of-the-art ships for a cleaner environment TUI Cruises expands the fleet With the new vessel Mein Schiff 3 launched in June, TUI is not just expanding its range of cruise experiences, but setting new standards for a clean environment and sustainability. Mein Schiff 3 consumes about 30 per cent less energy than comparable ships in her class. With a combined treatment system for waste gas to reduce emissions, she performs outstandingly on environment protection. A desulphurisation unit has cut sulphur emissions by up to 99 per cent and particle emissions by 60 per cent. Catalytic convertors prune nitrous oxide emissions by 75 per cent, implementing a cap that will not be required of newbuilds until 2016. 6
7 TUI AT A GLANCE Aktiengesellschaft Tour operator Tourism Hotels & Resorts Cruises Hotels & Resorts 6 airlines with 140 aircraft more than 230 hotels 30 million customers Riu from more than 30 markets Robinson Mein Schiff 1 MS Europa 180 destinations Iberotel Mein Schiff 2 MS Europa 2 1,800 travel agencies in Europe Grupotel Mein Schiff 3 MS Hanseatic Grecotel Mein Schiff 4* MS Bremen Dorfhotel Turnover Employees EBITA 18.5bn euros** 74,400 761.9m** * to be commissioned in 2015 ** in financial year 2012/13 TUI AG Karl-Wiechert-Allee 4 30625 Hanover www.tui-group.com PUBLICATION DATA Editor: TUI AG, Group Corporate & External Affairs Design, text: Hans Bellstedt Public Affairs GmbH Your contacts: Thomas Ellerbeck Member of the Management Board of TUI AG thomas.ellerbeck@tui.com +49 (0)511 566.6000 Frank Püttmann Head of Public Policy frank.puettmann@tui.com +49 (0)511 566.6030 Photo credits: The cover design uses photos by Roman Möbius and André Pfützner Fotolia.com and istockphoto.com/ JuhaHuiskonen p. 2: TUI AG, p. 4 Laurence Chaperon (CC-BY-SA-3.0-de), p. 5, p. 6 and p. 7: TUI Group Status: 1 July 2014 Mike Brauner Sustainable Development and Corporate Responsibility mike.brauner@tui.com +49 (0)511 566.2205 Druck ID 10421-1311-1002