Implementation of ESG reporting at TUI Group | Control

How can sustainability reporting requirements be effectively implemented in tourism? Guido Kessener and Matthias Schock from the TUI Group provided insights into the company's sustainability agenda and explained how controlling and internal audit master this challenge.

The role of the TUI Group in the tourism industry

In the 2023 financial year, the TUI Group and its 65,000 employees served around 19 million customers. The company has 360 hotels, 126 aircraft and 16 cruise ships – figures that illustrate the size and influence of the TUI Group in the global tourism market. Tourism serves as a motor for cultural exchange, creates jobs and makes an important contribution to fighting poverty. In many travel destinations it is the decisive driver of development and prosperity, even if it also leaves an ecological footprint.

TUI's sustainability agenda goals up to 2030

The TUI Group pursues the goal of strengthening positive effects and reducing the ecological footprint. The agenda is based on three pillars:

• People: Ensuring that local people benefit from tourism and fostering a generation of changemakers.
• planet: Achieve net zero emissions across the business and supply chain and transform into a circular business.
• Progress: Designing a sustainable business model for the tourism industry and empowering customers to make sustainable vacation decisions.

To achieve its goals by 2030, the TUI Group has launched a number of concrete projects.

• Airlines are expected to reduce their CO₂ emissions per passenger kilometer by 24% by 2030 compared to 2019. To achieve this, the fleet is being modernized, flight routes optimized and sustainable fuels are increasingly being used.
• TUI is also relying on lower-emission strategies in the cruise business. For example, slow cruising, the use of shore power in ports and alternative fuels are expected to reduce CO₂ emissions in this area by 27.5%.
• The company sees the greatest savings potential in the hotel sector: through the use of renewable energies and resource-saving processes, emissions here are expected to be reduced by an impressive 46.2%.

Project management and success measurement

In order to achieve the sustainability goals, the TUI Group has introduced effective project controlling, which enables projects to be managed and their success to be measured. The Daptiv project database is used for this purpose, which enables decentralized recording and self-assessment. A central comparison with defined milestones ensures that projects remain in line with the goals. Regular reporting to the Board of Directors and the Group Executive Committee ensures effective management of the project portfolio. Problems are identified and addressed promptly.

TUI Group has introduced a web-based data management system (DMS) to collect ESG data in a decentralized manner. The system enables improved verifiability of the data, as the entry is made depending on the asset (hotel, aircraft, ship). Although the KPIs are less suitable for operational management as lagging indicators, the DMS still provides a central overview and facilitates the traceability and auditing of ESG data.

Climate-related risks in the annual financial statements

The progress in ESG reporting was made clear by the speakers, starting with the introduction of the non-financial statement for the 2017 financial year as well as the implementation of the TCFD and the EU taxonomy. The next step includes the implementation of the CSRD and comprehensive disclosure of climate-related financial risks, which will be completed by the end of 2025.

The speakers gave insights into how TUI proceeds when assessing climate risks:

Guido Kessener and Matthias Schock also gave insights into the current CSRD project: A clearly defined core team is working on this, which consists of TUI's sustainability team, but not only this team – because teamwork is required to implement the requirements , a wide variety of stakeholders must be involved. At TUI, the project is being driven forward jointly by Controlling and Internal Audit. The collaboration begins in the projects and continues in day-to-day business. This approach is intended to ensure that the processes are applied effectively and the measures are thoroughly checked.

The first results of the double materiality analysis were also shared and discussed with the conference participants: For TUI, material risks and opportunities were identified, especially for the CSRD standards E1 and S1.

Notice: A detailed article on ESG reporting at TUI by Guido Kessener appears in

Controller Magazine 1/2025 mid-January.