Sustainability at TUI

We want to help keep Europe’s waterways as pristine as possible, so our river cruise ships are playing their part. For example, you won’t find any plastic straws, and we’re cutting down on the number of single-use plastic bottles we have onboard. Instead, each cabin comes with a reusable water bottle, and paper straws are the norm in the bars and restaurants. We’ve also put recycling bins in the public areas across all of our ships. All three of our ships were completely renovated before setting sail and the old furniture was donated to a local charity in the Netherlands. To top it all off, some of the new carpet we installed is made out of recycled fishing nets.

We’ve all seen and heard the sad stories about the effect plastic has on the environment, and for us the call to action was loud and clear. That’s why TUI has joined the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative (GTPI) to ensure problematic plastics are removed from our sector as quickly and sustainably as possible.

TUI has been working for many years to reduce the use of single-use plastic and switch to more sustainable alternatives, like reusable water bottles and straws made from pasta and paper. So far, over 257 million pieces of single-use plastic have been removed from our hotels, cruise ships, airline and offices since 2015. Whichever holiday you choose in our line-up, you can relax knowing we’re constantly looking at ways to improve our sustainability efforts.  

Our Green & Fair hotels are spread across some of the globe’s must-see cities, beach spots and mountain villages. In Ibiza, the TUI Magic Life Cala Pada serves up the island’s storybook scenery and a cluster of cool sustainability features. This beachside hotel sidles up to a pine and juniper-backed beach and generates its energy from renewable sources. In fact, guests have solar thermals to thank for their hot showers and temperature-controlled water. And, as for the source – a well, nestled within the hotel’s grounds, keeps water flowing throughout the hotel.

At TUI we’ve reached a significant new milestone in our mission to reduce the environmental footprint of our hotel operations. Our first ever solar plant has gone live in Turkey and we’re using its energy to power select hotels. The acquisition of our plant in the Antalya Mountains is a big step forward in our plan to invest in clean energy sources. In future more of the region’s hotels could be run using renewable energy produced by our plants. That makes Turkey one to watch – what happens here could set the standard for destinations to come.

Making tourism destinations more sustainable is part of future-proofing holidays for communities, the environment and generations to come. That’s why, in 2022, we teamed up with the Greek and Southern Aegean governments to launch the Destination Co-Lab Rhodes. This initiative brings together the local tourism industry and international partners to help strengthen and transform Rhodes’ tourism industry into a shining star for sustainability around the world. Such a big-name destination taking on its own transformation to become more sustainable in this way is a world first.