Tui Announces Global Restructuring At The Cost of 8,000 Jobs

The pandemic has caused the most disruption to the travel industry ever recorded with several airlines already casualties of the current climate, with several more on the brink of collapse.

News reports this morning state that whilst Tui is reopening selected hotels in Germany in the coming days and other European destinations also preparing to welcome holiday makers.

It is likely that reopening of the travel industry will be slow and Tui have warned that up to 8,000 jobs could go of the 70,000 employees Tui has across its global operations as it looks to cut costs by 30% to manage the financial impact of the pandemic.

Tui have received a state backed loan from Germany for €1.8bn to bolster its finances but with travel restrictions remaining in many countries it looks as though it will be a while before holidays return to “normal”.

Tui chief executive Fritz Joussen said: "The demand for holidays is still very high. People want to travel.

"Our integrated business model allows us to start travel activities as soon as this is possible again. The season starts later, but could last longer.

"For 2020, we will also reinvent the holiday: new destinations, changed travel seasons, new local offerings, more digitalisation."

In a statement, Tui said it was ready to resume providing holidays this year, using new social distancing and cleaning measures.

"The health and well-being of both customers and colleagues remain paramount and we are assessing how we can responsibly adapt to measures so that leisure travel can resume," the firm said.

"We are preparing new procedures for the airport process, on board our aircraft, in hotels and on our ships, so that any social distancing recommendations or guidelines can be implemented, without compromising customer enjoyment and travel experience."

Tui said its restructuring would affect its airline business and would also involve selling off "non-profitable activities".

"We are targeting to permanently reduce our overhead cost base by 30% across the entire group. This will have an impact on potentially 8,000 roles globally that will either not be recruited or reduced,"