ABTA 2012: TUI boss is failed talent show hopeful
Johan Lundgren, TUI Travel deputy chief executive, revealed he fell into travel after failing to make it as a musician.
The ‘secretive’ travel industry boss told delegates attending this year’s Travel Convention in Turkey that he tried to conquer America as a solo artist but didn’t manage to get an audition for a music contest, probably because his instrument of choice was the trombone.
"I didn’t want to play in a band, I wanted to be a soloist, but that was my first lesson in supply and demand," said Lundgren, as he was being quizzed on stage by Travel Convention moderator and ITN News journalist Daisy McAndrew.
McAndrew said she was intrigued to know more about Lundgren as there was little information about him online, a fact which she found ironic given TUI’s stated aim to target more customers through social media.
"I borrowed a lot of money from my mother to try to be a musician, but I didn’t make one audition and I decided I wanted to travel," he said. "I wanted to meet people after spending six years in a practice room."
His choice of career hasn’t given him many opportunities to play the trombone, but he has been able to put his knowledge of supply and demand into practice.
After years of keeping a lid on capacity, TUI UK has just announced it will be increasing its mainstream holidays next summer for the first time since 2007 and Lundgren said there would be more growth coming.
"We will not do this in any reckless way, we will only put on more capacity where we see there is demand," he said. "We have proven we have bucked the economic cycle." Lundgren said that despite the recession, sales of TUI’s differentiated products have grown 5%.
ABTA’s latest Consumer Trends Survey revealed customers have become more price conscious in the past 12 months and Lundgren said TUI was well-placed to take advantage of this trend, adding that few competitors had the same purchasing power.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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