TUI eyes independent sector with direct sell

TUI has launched an online channel for selling hotel beds directly in a bid to capture the “independent” travel market. The travel group has launched www.tui-hotels.com, which will sell nights in the hotels featured in its brochures as well as other hotels that sign up to the site. There will be about 5,000 hotels on the site by the end of the year. At the moment the site is for the German market, but country-specific sites in other languages will be launched shortly. TUI says it is keen to cash in on the online travel market. The group says it estimates that 10% of business and holiday travel will be booked online by 2005. It says that online turnover for the entire group has increased by a factor of ten in the last three years and is now worth 726 million euros. The site is aimed at selling directly to the consumer and through the trade. Agents making bookings will receive a commission of between 8% and 12%. TUI says it hopes consumers and agents will also package hotel bookings with flights. Hotels will have control over their own inventory so they can dynamically price rooms according to demand. TUI interactive managing director, Michael Ohm said: “The Hotel Portal is a market place for customers who wish to book flexibly, and hoteliers who wish to manage flexibly. We provide hoteliers with a dynamic tool with which to manage their products in line with the market situation.” Report by Ginny McGrath