Extended services will soon be chargeable in TUI

Advice and extended services will soon be chargeable in TUI's travel agencies. A so-called service fee is planned, which customers will pay for the compilation of detailed offers, performance comparisons or further information on holiday destinations and entry regulations. On the one hand, this is intended to send a signal that extensive advice has its price, according to company circles. On the other hand, the concept is intended to attract those customers who continue to value personally supervised preparation and protection of their trip. "In other service sectors it is now established that good service is rewarded," said Hubert Kluske, Sales and Marketing Director of TUI Germany. Flat-rate service charges should become the "market standard". The strategy of corresponding additional fees is of course not without risk, said a works council. "But the time has come and we have to try it out now." In this way, part of the effort is to be absorbed if some customers obtain extensive information in the branch. It is not a kind of "entrance fee" - certain basic information remains free of charge. According to the company, the costs only arise once the booking has been made. A basic tariff for 15 or 29 euros - depending on the total travel price - is planned, for which you can get a detailed offer or an "individual travel concept". For 25 or 39 euros, "support with special concerns" or reservations for activities in the hotel are included. The price model had been under discussion for a long time. Other providers as well as many travel agencies in Austria and Switzerland have already done so, the employee representatives said. The aim is also to dovetail the sales channels between brick-and-mortar and online business more closely. In the case of TUI bookings on the network, a similar reference to in-depth services will come from a certain point in the future. The employees should also benefit from the fee system. Part of the commission for bookings therefore flows into a team cash desk for all colleagues in the office. There will also be training courses on the new consulting concept. The group also refers to its competitor DER Touristik, which has introduced a fee in its DER travel agencies since the end of 2020. TUI franchise partners are supported in introducing fees. However, the owners decide for themselves whether, when and how they want to implement this. Like Lufthansa and other tourism and aviation companies, TUI is suffering extremely from the virus pandemic with global travel restrictions. Both groups had to be saved from collapse with government aid worth billions. Because of the vaccination campaign, which is only slowly picking up in many countries, and the third corona wave, the industry fears for its lucrative summer business, which had largely failed in 2020.