Organisations & Operators,

Tui Group has terminated the brand use agreement with Tui Russia.
However, the Germany-based company was quick to clarify Tui Russia is not a company of the wider group.
The last shares in Tui Russia were sold by the Hanover-based company in 2021.
The existing brand license agreement allows Tui Russia to use the brand in various countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
This agreement has now been terminated.ADVERTISEMENTFritz Joussen, chief executive of TUI Group, said: “Tui condemns Russia’s attack and war against Ukraine.
“Our position is clear.
“The Tui brand must no longer be used by Tui Russia for its business and the company’s presence.”
Alexey Mordashov and Vladimir Lukin, both of whom have been sanctioned in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have both stepped down from the Tui supervisory board in recent days.

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American Express Global Business Travel has appointed Yael Klein as vice president and general manager for Germany.
In her new role, Klein will lead the business travel recovery in the country.
She will be responsible for driving growth and value across all products and services, and strengthening relationships with customers in all segments.
She will report to EMEA senior vice president and general manager, Jason Geall.
Geall said: “Yael joins Amex GBT at a pivotal time for our organisation and the wider travel sector – globally, in Europe and in Germany.ADVERTISEMENT“There is exciting work to be done as we support our customers through the recovery, while continuing to grow and move towards a new chapter for Amex GBT as a public company.
“We are very much looking forward to working with Yael.”
American Express Global Business Travel earlier this week reported a net loss of $474 million for 2021.
The figure was a slight improvement on the loss of $619 million loss reported for 2020, as transaction volume began to recover.
Including full-year numbers for Egencia, which GBT acquired last year, the 2021 results beat its forecasts issued a few months ago in terms of adjusted earnings, total transaction value and revenue.
Klein added: “Amex GBT is a fantastic company with many opportunities in Germany and around the world.”
Klein joins Amex GBT from AirPlus, where she has had a 22-year career leading teams in several departments and regions across the world, most recently in the roles of chief marketing officer and chief product officer.
She will start her role at Amex GBT in July.

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The Travel Corporation (TTC) has confirmed the global reorganisation of its tour brands.
Under the plans, brands including Trafalgar, Insight Vacations, Luxury Gold, Costsaver and Contiki will fall under a new division, TTC Tour Brands.
The entity will serve as a single source for sales, marketing and operations of the individual brands, whose identities and points of differentiation will be further elevated.
TTC Tour Brands will be led by Gavin Tollman, who becomes chief executive of the newly created division along with veteran TTC executives Ulla Hefel Böhler, who steps into the role of chief operating officer.
Dee Marrocco becomes chief marketing officer, while Duncan Robertson has been appointed chief digital officer.  ADVERTISEMENTAdam Armstrong remains chief executive of Contiki.
Laddering up to these executives will be heads of five aligned global sales and marketing regions in UK & Europe, Oceania, North America, Asia and South Africa.
According to Tollman, TTC Tour Brands was designed expressly to make it easier for travel agency partners to do business with the individual tour brands of TTC at a moment when touring and expert holiday guidance have become increasingly important to travellers.
“The expertise, comfort and confidence of a touring holiday has never been more relevant, and we saw a unique opportunity to leverage this moment to bring together our diverse and award-winning tour brands under a singular marketing, sales and operational structure,” said Tollman.
Currently sales and marketing director for Contiki, Costsaver and Trafalgar, Donna Jeavons will additionally take responsibility for Insight Vacations and Luxury Gold, leading the TTC Tour Brands across UK, Ireland and continental Europe.
Chris Townson will continue in his role as managing director for Uniworld Boutique River Cruises with the expanded remit of European markets, focusing on building on the strong growth that the brand is experiencing as it enters its fully operational 2022 European season on March 20th.
“I’m thrilled to lead the newly formed combined TTC Tour Brands team and am pleased we will be able to further support travel agents to match the right tour brand to the right client.
“I look forward to announcing our strengthened-on road sales team in the near future, which will ensure even greater coverage across the wide diversity of this brand portfolio.
“We’re creating a seamless selling experience for the travel agent community and while this structure may be new, it is designed with one constant: the benefit to our partners,” said Jeavons.

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Women in Travel has released its first ever Social Impact Report, a deep dive into the impact of the life-changing initiatives and programmes it has delivered since its inception in 2018.
The release also marks the fifth anniversary or the organisation and International Women’s Day.
Women in Travel is a UK-based, award-winning social enterprise dedicated to empowering all women using travel, tourism and hospitality as a ‘force for good,’ with the founding principle that empowered women thrive and in turn foster thriving communities.
It partners with employers and charities to provide women – especially those who are marginalised, vulnerable and under-represented – with visibility, confidence, access to training and mentoring, and eventually employment and enterprise.
Conceived in support of a number of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, Women in Travel’s three core programmes are: Employability Programme (often referred to as the Women Returners programme); Entrepreneurship and Mentoring (including one-to-one, group, mentoring circles and a Male Allyship Programme), all operated under the values of integrity, honesty and respect.ADVERTISEMENTMany of its beneficiaries, particularly those on its Employability Programme, are referred from domestic abuse, refugee or modern slavery charities such as Refuge, the Refugee Council and the Sophia Hayes Foundation amongst others.
In the last five years, and in particular in the last two years since the start of the pandemic, Women in Travel has supported over 1,207 women across all programmes.
At the same time, the body has helped 154 women with over 1,200 hours of guided support through its Employability (Women Returners) Programme.
Woman in Travel founder, Alessandra Alonso, said: “We knew we had been busy, and we knew we had made a significant impact in providing life-changing training, mentoring and opportunity.
“With the fallout of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic, our mission has become increasingly important, and more and more companies are seeing the benefits of having access to the often hidden and invisible talent that Women in Travel affords – it’s a win-win for both business and individual.
“We have exciting plans to further develop and deliver our vital work, but as with every social enterprise, we need investors to understand the value and support us.”
Woman in Travel has also successfully supported 80 women – who had lost their income as a result of the collapse of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry during the Covid-19 pandemic – into training or employment, following a four-fold increase in referrals.
The body also trained the first three women micro-entrepreneurs as tour guides in its Entrepreneurship Programme.
With the release of the report, Women in Travel is urging more partners and investors to recognise and support its important work.
Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics reported nationwide job vacancies hit 1.3 million in January – with travel firms highlighting recruitment as one of the most pressing issues facing the sector – and there are currently 400,000 vacancies in hospitality alone, according to UKHospitality.
Women in Travel seeks to bridge this employment gap to the benefit of both individual and industry, encouraging businesses to look at potential versus qualification as they seek to fill vacancies and rebuild post pandemic, and highlighting they can offer access to an incredible pool of untapped talent.
More Information
A full copy of the report can be downloaded here.

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As the financial fallout from the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, Tui Group has been informed that the ownership of its shareholder Unifirm has changed.
Consequently, the shareholder structure of the group has changed.
The holiday giant said it was made aware of the moves through regulatory notifications.
Unifirm has sold a 4.13 per cent stake in Tui AG to Severgroup.
However, the shares would still be attributed to Alexey Mordashov – who stepped down from the Tui board last week after being sanctioned by the European Union.
Filings in the UK last week showed that Mordashov also shifted control of an estimated $1.1 billion stake in mining company Nordgold to his wife, Marina Mordashova.
Unifirm has now seen its shareholding in Tui AG decrease to 29.87 per cent.ADVERTISEMENTIn this context, Mordashov has notified that his subsidiaries KN-Holding and Rayglow have sold their shares held in Unifirm to Ondero.
Tui has meanwhile also received a voting rights notification from Ondero regarding a corresponding acquisition.
Supervisory Board
Also over the weekend, Vladimir Lukin has resigned from his mandate on the supervisory board of Tui.
He informed the company that he had previously terminated his contractual relationship with Severgroup.
Lukin had been a member of the supervisory board of Tui since June 2019.

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The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has convened an emergency session of its executive council in response to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
The session will be held in Madrid on March 8th.
Following the request of Guatemala, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia and Ukraine for the suspension of the Russian Federation from membership of UNWTO, the UNWTO secretary general has called the session.
The decision was made following consultations between the secretary general and the chair of the executive council, from Côte d´Ivoire.ADVERTISEMENTThe in-person council session will be held in Madrid.
It is the first time in history the executive council will address a request of this type.
Article 3 of the UNWTO statutes states that the fundamental principles of the organisation are the “promotion and development of tourism with a view to contributing to economic development, international understanding, peace, prosperity and universal respect for, and observance of, human rights”.
UNWTO has unequivocally condemned the actions of the Russian Federation, noting that they are a clear breach of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity and contrary to the principles enshrined in the UN charter.

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Alexey Mordashov has resigned his position on the supervisory board of Tui Group after being sanctioned by the European Union.
By some estimates the second richest man in the country, he has been hit by restrictions along with dozens of other wealthy Russians.
Sanctions can include an asset freeze on funds and assets held in the European Union, as well as travel bans on individuals.
Mordashov made his fortune off a majority stake in Russian steel company, Severstal.
The action was taken following the Russian invasion of Ukraine last week. ADVERTISEMENTThe aim of the EU sanctions is to prevent Mordashov from disposing of his shares in Tui Group.
This is to prevent him “from realising any proceeds or profits from his investment in Tui,” a statement from the company said.
As a result of the war in Ukraine triggered by Russia, the European Union issued new sanctions on February 28th, which additionally include further representatives of the Russian economy.
Mordashov has been a shareholder in Tui Group for around 15 years and currently holds around one third of the share capital in the company.
“The European Union sanctions relate to Mordashov as a person, not to Tui Group, in which he is a shareholder,” a statement added.
“In this respect, these sanctions against the shareholder have no impact on the company in which he holds shares.”
Fritz Joussen, chief executive of Tui Group, had earlier sought to minimise the relationship between Tui Group and its largest shareholder.
Earlier this week he said: “We assume that any restrictions or sanctions against Mordashov will not have any lasting negative consequences for us as a company.”

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Alexey Mordashov, the largest shareholder in Tui Group, has been sanctioned by the European Union.
By some estimates the second richest man in the country, he has been hit by restrictions along with dozens of other wealthy Russians.
Sanctions can include an asset freeze on funds and assets held in the European Union, as well as travel bans on individuals.
Mordashov made his fortune off a majority stake in Russian steel company, Severstal.
The European Union and United States have led sanctions against wealthy Russians and the Russian state as the country launches an invasion of neighbouring Ukraine.
Fritz Joussen, chief executive of Tui Group, sought to play down the connection.
“Some of you have also asked me about our largest single shareholder Alexey Mordashov and our position with him.
“Mordashov has been a TUI shareholder for around 15 years and has held about a third of our company since he propped it up during the Covid-19 crisis,” he said.
“Two thirds of our shareholders are from Germany, the EU, the UK, the US or are funds.
“Mordashov is also one of 20 representatives on the supervisory board elected by shareholders at the annual general meeting. ADVERTISEMENT“However, our company is run by the executive board, like any German public limited company, and not by the shareholders or the supervisory board.
“We therefore assume that any restrictions or sanctions against Mordashov will not have any lasting negative consequences for us as a company.”
Joussen added Tui itself was no longer represented with companies in Russia and Ukraine.
He continued: “As you know, we sold our shareholdings in the tour operators in Russia and Ukraine some time ago.
“However, in order to ensure the safety of our customers, we will make or have already made adjustments in some areas, such as flight routes and cruise destinations.
“We are in contact with the employees of service providers in Ukraine who work for us and are supporting them as best we can to keep themselves and their families safe.
“TUI Cruises is also intensively looking after crew members from Ukraine who are employed on board our fleet of ships.”
In a statement released through the Tass news agency in Russia, Mordashov said he was shocked by the decision.
“I have never been close to politics and have always focused on building economic value at the companies I have worked for both in Russia and abroad, creating jobs and supporting local communities.
“I have absolutely nothing to do with the emergence of the current geopolitical tension and I do not understand why the EU has imposed sanctions on me,” the businessman said.
“For a very long time, I have been engaged in the development of economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation with many European countries and I fail to understand how these sanctions against me will contribute to the settlement of the dreadful conflict in Ukraine.”

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