Read this in: German

When I do Interviews I usually speak with great and interesting personalities. It is always fun and very interesting to know more about the person, their vision, their spirit. It kind of impresses me to hear their story.

Of course everyone is different and sometimes writing about someone it not as easy as it might seem. You have to try to find the right way to ask questions and to get answers. Because if you get “Yes” “NO” “maybe” doesn’t make a nice Interview.

But on the other hand you meet people you talk to them and you instantly feel that sort of connection. You ask your questions and you enjoy talking to each other. This is what happened with Artur Gerber. He is that kind of person – open, friendly, and funny, too.

He seems like a down to earth person. Someone who appreciates the people around him.

He has been working in the Hotel business since his training. That’s pretty long. You definitely have to love what you do. Otherwise you wouldn’t do that for so long.

TUI´s decision to bring him on board in order to create a new brand experience wasn´t to difficult, because he is an expert.

I met Artur Gerber in Turkey at TUIBLUE Palm Garden Hotel. It was a press trip to get to know the new brand TUIBLUE. A brand that is totally fresh and new and has a lot to offer to the clients. It was a wonderful press trip (btw).  I will write another post about it very soon. I have to sort out first all my material. 😉

Anyway who exactly is this guy that I’m talking about? He is the new CEO of TUI Hotel Betriebsgesellschaft mbH. Meaning – he will mainly establish and grow the new brand TUIBLUE. I asked exactly 5 questions. Which I would describe fast and on point.

Mr. Gerber why TUIBLUE?

TUIBLUE is something special. I know, I know everybody says something like this about his brand. But really it is special. Starting with a great, open-minded and innovative team. They are really good and it makes a lot of fun working together. We all believe in this new concept.

What’s so special at TUIBLUE?

TUIBLUE is more of an international brand. But besides that it is designed really individually for people who want to do the best out of their “Club vacation”.
That’s exactly the point. You can have a typical all-inclusive vacation where you don’t have to worry about anything and relax the whole day at the pool/sea. But you can also achieve a great and totally individual vacation. If you are interested in sports for example, you will love BLUEFIT.

Just another example. You have the wife who wants to relax with a great book and a good cocktail in her hand. The kids play in the kids club with our extensive program. The husband wants to get fit in two weeks but without having to isolate from the family. He can get an individual program from our personal trainer with sports and food scheduled. He can enjoy our slow Smoothies and train outside in the green. This is all possible at TUIBLUE.

In fact there are 5 priority topics in this new concept:

BLUEFIT (for body and soul), culinary (authentic, typical and healthy food), technology (extremely good wireless, Apps, iPads), Design (definitely important for the mind and eyes) and of course the adventure. And believe me – we offer quite a variety of adventurous experiences if that is what you want.

You may think – that sounds expensive. Maybe it sounds like that but it isn’t. We start with a week All-incl. price between 550,-€ and 600,-€.

Artur Gerber

To me you seem like a really innovative thinker. How about bloggers and social media…?

Oh thanks. And yes we (our team and I) are really up-to date with social media as a way to communicate. We think that bloggers are important in our business and we are open to work with them too. We love Technology (as you could experience in our Hotel) and social media is really a big thing. We know that travel blogs have a deep impact on the travel industry. We are looking forward to connect even more with travel bloggers and of course you as our potential future clients.

There are lots of discussions on the fact – is an influencer really valuable for the business. And why should they pay for bloggers anyway. Most companies have no budget for that. What about you? Do you think the same?

Due to many surveys we know that Influencer are valuable. We definitely integrate that kind of work into our marketing strategy. And as everything that plays a role in marketing has to have a budget. So my answer is – No. I have a different opinion on the importance of Influencers. Because in my (our) opinion  we do value Bloggers and we do have a marketing budget for the collaboration with an Influencer. I believe that there will be a lot of changes in the next few years in this business. Especially with all that new platforms, tools and Influencers. It will be exiting to watch and actually be part of that change.

TUIBLUE Palm Garden Hotel

Life motto?

Do it with passion or not at all.

I believe 100% in this motto. If you do something with passion it will work out sooner or later. But if you do things just because you have to do that without any kind of passion then you will not achieve excellence and greatness.

Thank you very much for the Interview 

Artur Gerber