TUI taps new market opportunities with StoryFlow: 55% positive sentiment and sharp insights

TUI is known to many for its all-inclusive vacations, but the travel company also offers group and individual tours. In order to strengthen TUI's position in this category, Validators initiated a needs study on the drivers (motives) and barriers within round trips. The ultimate goal was to increase consideration for TUI round trips so that both mental and actual market share grows.

The approach

StoryFlow: combination of qualitative and quantitative research

Because TUI wanted to work quickly and cost-effectively, Validators' StoryFlow method was a perfect fit. With StoryFlow, respondents do not just answer typed questions, but speak their responses as if they were working with a "talking" questionnaire. This results in:

1. Intuitive and comprehensive answers

Because participants speak their thoughts aloud, they go deeper into emotions and experiences than with traditional (short typed) responses.

2. Real-time transcription and sentiment analysis

The audio is converted directly into text, after which an in-house A.I. system rates these texts for positive, negative or neutral sentiment, among other things. This additional layer of analysis reveals which aspects are perceived as "deal-breakers" (very negative) or "thresholds" (moderately negative).

3. Category Entry Points (CEPs)

In combination with the qualitative part, a quantitative component was used to measure the relevance of certain CEPs. This gave TUI insight into which moments and motivations (e.g., "experience adventure" or "travel in comfort") are most decisive in booking a roundtrip.

The result

Richer insights

The recorded responses provided "richer" stories than traditional open-ended questions, allowing TUI to discover exactly what travelers are excited about and what barriers they experience.

Sentiment analysis reveals differences

Most experiences turned out to be positive (55%), which makes sense with the theme of vacations. Within the negative 8% responses, the sentiment analysis distinguished between "deal-breakers" (very negative, difficult to reverse) and "thresholds" (moderately negative, which can be removed with targeted improvements).

Concrete hooks for growth

This combined approach (qualitative and quantitative) allowed TUI to discover, among other things, how to strengthen its positioning in the roundtrip segment. The "hooks" that emerged from the StoryFlow interviews provided very practical points for improvement for both communication and offerings.

Concrete outcomes and follow-up

From the insights from StoryFlow and the CEP measurements, TUI has gained a clearer picture of the perception of travel around tours and the barriers that may be involved. This allows TUI to respond more specifically to travelers' needs and concerns, for example by:

1. Improved communication

The focal points of tours - whether "adventure," "rest" or "family time" - can be more emphatically highlighted.

2. Solution for “barriers”

By addressing less intractable bottlenecks (such as ambiguities about accommodations or itineraries), interested parties get a final push toward booking.

3. Strategic Brand Positioning

TUI is not only more strongly associated with sun and beach vacations, but also credibly profiles itself in the tours segment. This increases both mental market share (top-of-mind) and actual market share.

Thanks to the combination of quantitative and qualitative insights through StoryFlow, TUI now has a sharper compass to further optimize and promote its roundtrip offerings, ultimately making travelers more likely to choose a TUI roundtrip.

Image: TUI website www.tui.nl/rondreizen