TUI to play the European card

"We are looking for premium clients and not volume clients, and that explains the slightly different marketing approach," Schneider says.

Much as the company is still excited about and focusing on the outbound sector, Schneider emphasizes that TUI China will not neglect the businesses they have been doing for eight years.

In November, TUI China organized an inbound travel trade familiarization tour including more than 100 European tour operators and travel agencies.

"This tour reinforced our absolute confidence in the future of China's inbound travel market, a market that we are leaving no stone unturned to promote," Schneider says.