tui com

August 29, 2025

TUI.com isn’t just another travel site—it’s the digital front door to one of the most powerful players in global tourism. If you’ve ever booked a holiday through a big-name tour operator, chances are TUI had something to do with it.


What is TUI.com?

TUI.com is the German-language booking portal for TUI, short for Touristik Union International. It’s the go-to place for anyone in Germany planning a holiday with flights, hotels, transfers, or cruises bundled into one package. But TUI is much bigger than just this one website—it’s the digital storefront of a $25 billion travel empire.

Think of TUI.com like a super-efficient travel agent in your browser. You can grab a last-minute all-inclusive to Turkey, schedule a family beach week in Mallorca, or plan your honeymoon in the Maldives. One site, one booking, everything sorted.


The Scale Behind the Screen

Behind TUI.com is the TUI Group, a German multinational with serious muscle in tourism. It owns five airlines flying from airports across Europe, over 400 hotels, 16 cruise ships, and hundreds of physical travel agencies.

This isn’t some niche startup trying to hack the travel industry. This is the travel industry.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

  • 150 aircraft across airlines like TUI fly and TUI Airways.

  • 16 cruise ships operated through brands like Marella Cruises and TUI Cruises.

  • 400+ hotels including premium brands like TUI Blue and RIU Hotels.

  • Over 21 million customers annually, across Europe and beyond.

When someone books on TUI.com, they’re tapping into this massive engine of logistics, aviation, and hospitality.


Booking Experience on TUI.com

The website’s structure is classic German efficiency. Straightforward, no fluff. Categories like Pauschalreisen (package holidays), Last Minute Urlaub, and All Inclusive Urlaub are laid out clearly.

Pick a country—Spain, Greece, Egypt. Then sort by filters like kid-friendly, couples-only, or luxury. Everything you’d expect, but with tighter integration than most competitors. TUI owns much of what they sell. That means smoother operations and better control over quality. If something goes wrong, they don't blame a third-party supplier—they are the supplier.

There’s also flexibility baked in. Thanks to their “Flex Tarif,” many bookings can be cancelled or changed without penalty. That’s become more than just a nice perk—it’s a dealbreaker for post-pandemic travelers.


TUI’s Global Footprint

This isn’t just a Germany thing. The group runs localized portals like TUI.co.uk for British travelers and TUI.nl for Dutch users. Each serves up offers tailored to its market, but they’re all plugged into the same global infrastructure.

Booking a Greek beach trip from Birmingham or a Canary Islands week from Berlin? Different front-end, same backend—TUI planes, TUI reps on-site, TUI hotels.

They also partner with massive global names. For cruises, they’ve got joint ventures with Royal Caribbean. For their luxury hotel line, they’ve built brand equity around properties like Robinson and TUI Blue.


How TUI Makes Its Money

TUI has multiple revenue streams:

  • Package holidays are the bread and butter.

  • Flight-only bookings are a growing segment, especially with rising airfares.

  • Cruise bookings are on the rise again post-COVID.

  • Hotel and resort ownership provides recurring income.

  • And tours and experiences, offered through their TUI Musement arm, round out the trip.

Their model works because they control most touchpoints. Owning aircraft and hotels isn't cheap, but it gives them pricing power and tighter control over customer experience.


Recent Trends and Performance

TUI posted revenues over €23 billion in 2024, with a net profit just over €500 million. That’s impressive considering the damage COVID did to the sector. They’ve since streamlined operations, improved cash flow, and offloaded non-core assets.

But it hasn’t all been smooth. German bookings dropped 3% in early summer 2025, though UK bookings held steady. The group had a net loss of around €206 million in early Q1, despite a revenue uptick. Analysts blamed inflation in Europe, a sluggish German consumer base, and a few late aircraft deliveries.

To handle surging demand while waiting on aircraft, TUI’s CEO confirmed they’ve started working with partner airlines like Ryanair—a move that raised eyebrows but made sense operationally.


Sustainability Isn’t Just a Buzzword

TUI Group talks a lot about sustainability, but they back it with numbers. They’ve committed to cutting their carbon intensity by 24% by 2030 (per passenger-kilometer), compared to 2019 levels.

Their airline fleet is shifting to more fuel-efficient Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. And TUI Cruises is investing in ships that can run on cleaner fuels like LNG. Still, it's a tough sector to decarbonize—aviation and cruise lines are notorious emitters—but TUI seems serious about doing what it can.


Why TUI.com Still Matters

With competition from DIY travel apps, metasearch engines, and Airbnb, why does a traditional player like TUI.com still pull in millions of users?

Trust and simplicity. Booking through TUI means one point of contact. No juggling airline customer service, hotel reception, and taxi drivers in a foreign language when something goes sideways.

And for a massive chunk of European travelers—especially families—there’s still a ton of value in that.


FAQ

What does TUI stand for?
Touristik Union International. It’s a legacy name from when multiple European travel firms merged under one group.

Is TUI an airline or a tour operator?
Both. TUI owns multiple airlines, but it's primarily a vertically integrated tour operator. That means it handles everything: flights, hotels, transfers, excursions.

Is TUI only for German travelers?
No. TUI operates across Europe with country-specific platforms like tui.co.uk, tui.nl, tui.se, and tui.fr.

Can I cancel my TUI booking for free?
If you select their “Flex Tarif” option during booking, yes. It allows cancellation or changes without penalties.

Is TUI.com safe to book with?
Yes. It's backed by the TUI Group, a publicly traded company with decades of operational history. Bookings are ATOL-protected in the UK and insured in the EU.

How big is TUI compared to competitors?
TUI is the largest leisure, travel, and tourism company in the world by revenue. It's significantly bigger than Jet2, easyJet Holidays, and most regional players.


Final Thought

TUI.com isn’t trying to reinvent how you travel. It’s not gamifying your hotel search or building a new blockchain loyalty system. It just works—and it’s built on a company that moves millions of people every year with military precision. For those who value simplicity, reliability, and experience, TUI.com is still the heavyweight champ in European holiday travel.