TUI to ditch Sensimar and Family Life hotel brands

TUI is to ditch its Sensimar and Family Life hotel brands and instead bring the properties together under the TUI Blue name.

The group said its aim was to build TUI Blue into the world’s largest leisure hotel brand within the next few years. With the addition of the Sensimar and Family Life brands, its portfolio will grow from 10 to 90 and it plans to open more properties in 2020. A spokeswoman said the portfolio would ‘exceed 100 soon’.

"The expanded portfolio of TUI Blue hotels will enhance the visibility and relevance of the brand," TUI said in a statement. "Customers will benefit from a wider choice of TUI Blue hotels around the world."

Under the new branding, TUI Blue hotels will go under the name TUI Blue for All, its adult-only hotels will be branded TUI Blue For Two, replacing the Sensimar brand, and TUI Blue for Families will replace the Family Life brand.

TUI said customers would benefit from a wider choice of TUI Blue hotels around the world as, apart from its strong footprint in southern Europe and the Caribbean, it plans to focus on other growth regions including South East Asia and the Indian Ocean.

"Hotels remain a strong and attractive growth segment, and TUI has many years of experience as a hotel developer, investor and operator. TUI is the leading international tourism brand. What we were lacking was a hotel brand with a global presence incorporating TUI in its name," said Group CEO Fritz Joussen.

"Since the development and launch of TUI Blue three years ago, the TUI brand name has become part of the hotel experience. After the successful launch phase of the first ten hotels, building the brand as our global flagship hotel brand is the consistent next step for us to significantly expand our hotel segment, go even more global with the brand and increase the target audience."

TUI Hotels & Resorts MD Erik Friemuth added: "Comfort, quality, design and authentic experiences of the country – these are the hallmarks of TUI Blue. It is a modern, casual, low-key brand, attractive for different target groups and life phases."

With its new flagship hotel brand, TUI said it will considerably expand innovative services relating to the hotel stay including making ‘Select Your Room’ available to a larger number of guests. Also, the technology concept relating to the Blue app will be launched in all hotels, so that all guests will have access to the digital service assistant.

TUI’s other hotel brands and concepts will not be affected. 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, it said.

For this summer and next winter, TUI Sensimar and TUI Family Life hotels will continue to be offered under their current brand names. From summer 2020, the hotels will reopen as TUI Blue.