Greece to Have 30 ‘TUI Blue’ Hotels from Summer 2020

TUI Blue For Families. Photo source: TUI Group

From Summer 2020, TUI Sensimar and TUI Family Life hotels in Greece will reopen under the TUI Blue lifestyle brand, bringing the number to about 30.

The move is part of travel giant TUI’s plans to build TUI Blue as the world’s largest leisure hotel brand within the next few years and includes the company merging three of its brands – Blue, Sensimar and Family Life – into one: TUI Blue.

With seven global hotel brands today, TUI is aiming to have a brand line that supports growth, its retail in Germany and other markets but also in digital channels.

TUI Hotels & Resorts Managing Director Erik Friemuth.

“Maintaining seven brands is a lot, so we want to create one brand that will cover a broad customer segment and allow us to create high awareness and high brand preference that will lead to higher direct sales in our own channels,” Erik Friemuth, Managing Director TUI Hotels & Resorts, told GTP Headlines on the sidelines of the recent ITB Berlin 2019 trade show.

Out of its seven brands, TUI selected two of its very fast growing concept brands – Sensimar, which is adults only; and Family Life, which is for families – and will combine them with its most successful and most recent one: TUI Blue.

“We think that this is a good opportunity to take these two concept propositions and merge them with our recently launched TUI Blue hotel brand, which after three years of being in the market, is our most successful hotel brand with regards to customer satisfaction,” Friemuth said.

TUI Blue hotels in Greece

The TUI Blue portfolio will grow from ten today to some 100 hotels by 2020.

Rhodes Airport, Greece. Photo © GTP

Around 30 of these TUI Blue-branded hotels will be in Greece in destinations including Rhodes, Corfu, Zakynthos, Crete and Kos.

Taking a moment to comment on the Greek market, Friemuth underlined that Greece has performed exceptionally well the last years.

“I think that the Greek market is very strong,” Friemuth said, adding that even though Turkey and North African countries are making a comeback this year, he sees Greece performing very well.

“I think that is because Greece is a fantastic country with fantastic hotels and hospitality. TUI has a very long tradition in Greece and our guests really appreciate that… There is a high customer loyalty in Greece,” he added.

TUI’s hotel portfolio includes a total of 43 hotels in Greece, of which 11 are operated as concept hotels with third-party hoteliers. Besides the hotels operating under the Family Life or Sensimar brands (which will be transformed into TUI Blue), the portfolio includes hotels operating under the brands Atlantica, TUI Magic Life and Robinson.

TUI Blue brand

According to Friemuth, following the merge of the three TUI brands, TUI Blue will provide clear guidance to holidaymakers and travel agents searching for hotel offerings to fit the customers’ preferences.

Existing TUI Blue guests particularly interested in experiencing an authentic taste of local experiences will find the right hotel in the portfolio offered under the name TUI Blue For All.

TUI Blue For Two (adults-only). Photo source: TUI Group

In line with the previous TUI Sensimar hotel brand, TUI Blue For Two is an adults-only concept for guests placing the focus of their holiday experience on the time spent together, whereas TUI Blue For Families – previous Family Life brand – offers many different activities designed for all ages and has specifically been tailored to meet the needs of large and small families.

According to TUI, its TUI Blue branded hotels already achieve top net promoter scores. With its new flagship hotel brand, TUI will considerably expand innovative services relating to the hotel stay. Individual services such as Select Your Room will be available to an even larger number of guests. Moreover, the technology concept relating to the Blue app will be launched in all hotels so that all guests will benefit from the digital service assistant.

“TUI Blue is a very authentic brand proposition that really has its roots in the destinations its present, which means that the hotels are very much embedded into the environment, while the local culture and local cuisine play a big role,” Friemuth said.

TUI Blue For All. Photo source: TUI Group

TUI’s other hotel brands and concepts will not be affected by the merge of TUI Blue with TUI Sensimar and TUI Family Life.

Alongside TUI Blue, TUI Group’s growth strategy will continue to focus on its traditional RIU brand, its two club brands Robinson and TUI Magic Life, and the 5-star resorts run under the TUI Sensatori brand.