BERLIN — As an integral part of the TUI vacation-package empire, stand-alone TUI Blue Hotels & Resorts is about to embark on its next step with a luxury brand called The Mora.
In an interview with Hotel News Now at the International Hotel Investment Forum, Wesam Okasha, TUI Blue’s managing director, said The Mora will debut in Zanzibar on June 10 and is a brand that offers a “new definition for luxury” and “targeted, personalized service.”
Okasha said such initiatives now can be put into place by TUI because the company has become a very interesting partner for hotel operators. But flexibility remains key.
“We are proactively hunting management contracts because this is how we would better protect the brand, but we will sometimes go on franchises and also on concept, where the concept is purely for the markets in which tour operators are contributing,” he said.
He added growth in the new Mora brand will be “cautious.”
The goal is to adapt TUI Blue to new travel demands, Okasha said.
“Today, what we are doing [is] transforming this company. … Now, in the future, we are going to new destinations where the tour operators will not be contributing as much as in the past,” he said.
The company has opened a new sales office in Dubai to be closer to new sources of hotel demand.
He said TUI Blue has created a lot of noise in the market over the last two to three years, and the drumbeats will only get louder.
“The community is watching us,” he added.
For more of Okasha’s comments, including on how the firm is rolling out its environmental, social and governance initiatives across its global platform, watch the video above.