Tui to strengthen focus on solo travellers and groups


Stephen Penn stephen.penn@travelweekly.co.uk


Tui has revealed plans to develop more solo and group travel options in the next year.


Tui executive board member


David Burling made the pledge at World Travel Market, where he announced that work was already under way to develop better opportunities for single travellers, as well as for large groups. “In my view, too many


websites are simplified to sell the two-person holiday, meaning smaller or larger groups can often miss out,” he said. “At Tui, we are focusing on all party sizes, whether that be a solo traveller or a family of six with grandparents, and doing a lot of wor to mae it easier to find suitable trips on our website.” Burling said Tui would look at


what solo travel tours or products were working within the business across Europe to see whether they could be successfully developed


Palladium to take up to 80 agents to new hotel in Costa del Sol


Palladium Hotel Group has pledged to take up to 80 UK agents to experience its new hotel in the Costa del Sol next year. The 335-room, four-star,


beachfront Palladium Hotel Costa del Sol opens in July 2019. It will be the group’s first property on Spain’s Costa del Sol. Nacho Gozalbo, UK and Scandinavia sales director, said: “We will be doing fam trips for


NEW: The TRS Coral Hotel in Mexico opened last week


agents to the Costa del Sol in the second half of next year. We will aim to get 40-80 agents out there.


28travelweekly.co.uk15 November 2018


NEWS IN BRIEF


Centara to grow Thailand range with four hotels


Centara Hotels & Resorts is to open another four hotels in Thailand and is set to confirm plans for a further 10 in the coming weeks. The Asia and Middle East hotel group intends to expand its portfolio by 50% between 2017 and 2022. centarahotelsresorts.com


El Al to start Tel Aviv flights from Manchester


Manchester is to gain a three-times-a-week El Al service to Tel Aviv, Israel, from May 26, 2019. Introductory one-way fares start at £199. elal.com


BURLING: ‘We need to develop products that work for solo travellers’


“We know many single travellers do not want to do the same things that couples would”


as products for the UK market. “We need to develop products


that work for solo travellers, particularly within our tours programme, as we know many single travellers do not want to


do the same things that couples would,” he said. “We do this well in our Belgium and Netherlands business. What I do in my day-to-day life is copy things from one market to another, so we will be working with them to see how they sell solo travel, and developing that in the UK, Germany and other areas.” Burling said the products would


be rolled out within the next year. tui.co.uk


We are trying to work more with the UK trade – it’s key for us.” The hotel group last week opened its 670-room Grand Palladium Costa Mujeres Resort & Spa and the adult-only, 450-room TRS Coral Hotel at the same Costa Mujeres resort in Mexico. The five-star, adult-only TS Cap Cana Hotel, which has 120 rooms, has also just opened in the Dominican Republic. Next year, the group’s Bless Collection Hotels brand will open its first two properties, in Madrid and Ibiza. The openings will bring


Palladium’s portfolio to 50 hotels. palladiumhotelgroup.com


Mövenpick makes first foray into the Maldives


Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts has opened its first resort in the Maldives. The Mövenpick Resort Kuredhivaru Maldives, which is on a private island in the Noonu Atoll, has 105 villas and suites. movenpick.com


Visit California to fuel UK growth with TV ad


Visit California will launch a TV advertisement on Boxing Day to build on projected growth from the UK. It predicts a 2.6% year-on-year increase in UK visitors during 2018 to 721,000, on the back of a 1.4% rise last year. visitcalifornia.com


Rotana eyes new hotels in Asia, Africa and Europe


Rotana is to open six properties by the end of next year. The Middle East and Africa hotel specialist will open properties in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania and the United Arab Emirates. rotana.com


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