TUI Group is giving itself until May to formulate strategy on five core areas, the operator said today during its first quarter results presentation.
The company, which was reporting its first set of results as TUI Group following the completion of the merger in December, is planning to reveal more details on a 'Capital Markets Day' on 13 May, which coincides with its half-year results.
The tour operatiing giant's digital transformation is one of the areas of focus and co-chief executive Friedrich Joussen touched on the development of a customer data and relationship marketing platform to take in the 'whole lifecycle' of a customer.
He stressed the importance of such an initiative and said a clear plan for execution would be set out in May.
The second area within digital, a dynamic packaging platform to bring brands to new markets, was launched as a protoype in Spain a few weeks ago. Again, more details in May but the operator says early signs are good and that it will look at how to spread that platform.
A question mark remains over non-mainstream businesses (online accommodation and specialist & activity divisions) with TUI saying it has 'seen many promising approaches' but still needs to put a plan together.
The businesses were put under the leadership of former TUI Travel finance boss Will Waggott late last year.
In terms of numbers for the quarter, the operator reported a 15% reduction in operating losses to Euro 108 million compared to the same quarter last year. Travel operating losses of Euro 149, are in line with expectations according to the company.
Online sales in mainstream travel increased three percentage points making up 40% of all bookings. In the UK online accounted for 53% of all bookings, up from 50% year-on-year.
Overall, the company says it is confident it will deliver full-year operating profit of between 10 and 15%.