TUI Group, Europe’s largest tourism company, has become a model company that the industry has paid attention to because it took the lead in applying blockchain technology to the tourism industry。

The purpose of TUI using blockchain technology is to establish a unified database in multiple European countries，Improve operational efficiency。CEO Fritz Joussen said，Company puts 100 million hotel rooms on private blockchain，Plus cloud services and other supporting systems，Able to contribute half of the company’s target profit (10%) every year。 

As a company that focuses on asset-heavy operations，The two most important businesses of TUI are hotels and cruise ships。Following the use of blockchain technology to solve hotel inventory problems，TUI Group recently plans to add a cruise ship to strengthen its cruise business，This is the beginning of the company’s strategy of upgrading cruise ship 188bet online sports betting modernization and expanding fleet size。

This travel group, which has operations in many European countries, is not the largest cruise operator in the world，But the number of cruise ships will reach 18 by 2023。In comparison，Carnival Cruise Line, the world's largest cruise operator, has nine brands with a total of 103 cruise ships。 

As part of plans to strengthen cruise business，British Marella Cruises, a subsidiary of TUI Group, intends to purchase the Tianhai New Century cruise ship established by Ctrip and Royal Caribbean。In addition，The Mein Schiff 2 cruise ship originally planned to join British Marella Cruises will temporarily stay under the TUI Cruises business。

“We will continue to increase investment in the cruise business，Expand the scale of cruise ships and improve the level of cruise modernization。After taking these measures，We will increase the prices of TUI Cruises，Accelerate the growth rate of this segment，" said Sebastian Ebel, Head of Cruises at TUI Group。

TUI’s acquisition of the New Century cruise ship also means that Skysea Cruises, established by Royal Caribbean and Ctrip, will be closed。However，Royal Caribbean holds a 50% stake in TUI Cruises。 

Skysea Cruises will cease business operations at the end of this year，But Royal Caribbean continues to serve the Chinese market，And claimed that it will "maintain a good cooperative relationship with Ctrip"。 

In addition to the Tianhai New Century cruise ship joining TUI UK’s Marella Cruises，TUI’s high-end cruise business Hapag-Lloyd Cruises will also add two new ships，TUI Cruises will also add three new ships。The three existing cruise ships will be retired by then，TUI will have a total of 18 cruise ships by 2023。 

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188bet app download In the past few years，TUI Group has been transforming from a travel operator to a comprehensive travel group with a vertical integration model，More inclined to asset-heavy operations。The key to this plan is to expand the cruise business，This way，TUI is gradually transforming from a trading company to a revenue company。

“Being a revenue company means that the company has to sit on a lot of assets，Then allocate these resources based on the principle of maximizing returns，Maximize resource utilization before the end of the financial quarter，And adjust the price according to supply and demand。” TUI CEO Frits Joussen said this last year。 

Follow this guideline，It is not difficult to understand why TUI invests heavily in cruise ships。Possibly also important，Cruising is still a very popular way to travel。Cruise Lines International Association predicts that the number of cruise passengers will reach 27.2 million in 2018，YoY growth of 5.4%。 

But the only problem TUI faces is pressure from competitors。TUI is the fifth largest cruise company in the world，MSC Cruises is the closest competitor。Currently，MSC Cruises is also implementing expansion plans，The cruise line will have 26 cruise ships by 2026。 

"It is worth noting，Pressure of weak demand may be directed towards Europe，This is mainly because the growth of China’s cruise market is less than expected，Cruise companies have to open up new markets to find new needs。" Richard Clarke, senior analyst at investment bank Bernstein, wrote in a notice to investors。 

“But，We think，European markets are prepared to handle foreseen supply increases。” 

Four major challenges in the cruise tourism market

Viewed from the global cruise market，188bet app download Carnival、The three major cruise companies, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian, account for more than 80% of the global market share。Although Carnival’s share fell from 50% in 2008 to 47% in 2013，But due to the large size of its ships，It is expected to still account for 40% of the global share by 2026，。Viewed from the cruise ship deployment area，Caribbean、Mediterranean Sea、Europe、China and Australia rank in the top five，The top five countries with the fastest growing demand are the United States、China、Germany、UK and Australia。 

A report released by the Cruise Lines International Association，The cruise industry has a significant impact on the global economy。2016，Cruise cruise tourists reached 24.7 million，Providing more than 1 million jobs，Salary paid $41.1 million，Global output value reaches 126 billion US dollars。CLIA also states，In the past five years，Cruise travel demand grows 20.5%。Without a doubt，The cruise market has a lot of room for growth in the future。However，This market also faces many challenges。 

Attracting first-time consumers has become the focus of the world’s major cruise lines。First，These companies can no longer fill new and old cruise ship slots by stealing passengers from competitors。There are statistics displayed，Tourists booking a cruise for the first time are likely to purchase this product again in the future，Some travelers have even booked their next vacation on the ship。 

The launch of large new cruise ships every year puts great pressure on cabin booking。Due to excessive carrying capacity，Cruise companies have to cut prices on products or introduce more services on board for tourists，Even use the deck to increase the 188bet online sports betting prices of drinks and specialties to increase income。

Airline passenger tax has a huge impact on airline-cruise packaged products，Especially UK to Caribbean、Products for routes from the United States to Europe (Mediterranean or Baltic Sea)。According to CLIA UK statistics，In 2012，The number of tourists from the UK booking air-cruise packages to the Caribbean fell by 21% year-on-year。 

Many vacationers think cruises are too expensive or boring。To eliminate these negative perceptions travelers have about cruises，Cruise company provides movies、TV Series Service，Inviting popular idols to endorse new cruise ships and other measures to attract tourists。

The factors that attract travelers are complex and diverse。CLIA travel agency survey data shows，The influencing factors for travelers booking cruise products are: value/price accounted for 86.6%；Route itinerary accounted for 77.7%；Cruise brand awareness accounts for 76%；Departure port locations account for 61.3%；Cruise supporting facilities account for 39.3%。

*This article was compiled by Zhihui analyst Li Haiqiang from skift，Original title: "TUI Group Is Quietly Joining the Cruise Heavyweights》.