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Melvin Mak has been appointed Group Director Sustainability & ESG at TUI Group. He will take over as head of the international sustainability team immediately. In his new role, he will report to Thomas Ellerbeck, Member of the Group Executive Committee and Chief Sustainability Officer at TUI Group. Melvin Mak had already taken on the role on an interim basis in recent months. Melvin Mak has in-depth knowledge of sustainability in the tourism industry. For more than 14 years, he has been responsible for the sustainable transformation of TUI, first as Sustainability Manager for TUI Netherlands, later as Head of Sustainability for the Western Region and, since 2020, as Head of Sustainability Strategy & Technology. With a bachelor’s degree in International Tourism Management (Tio Business University, Amsterdam) and a master’s degree in Responsible Tourism (Manchester Metropolitan University), the Dutch-born Mak combines practical experience with a theoretical foundation. TUI pursues a holistic approach with its group-wide sustainability strategy ‘People, Planet, Progress’. It brings together the ecological, social and economic aspects of sustainability and covers all business areas – from hotels and airlines to cruise companies. Ambitious targets have been set for each of these areas, which Melvin Mak will manage across the Group in close co-operation with the teams in the respective business areas. He will become a member of the company’s Sustainability Council, the central steering body for TUI’s sustainable transformation. In addition to TUI CEO Sebastian Ebel and the Chief Sustainability Officer of the TUI Group, Thomas Ellerbeck, the council includes the CEOs and managing directors of the group’s operating companies. The focus is on topics such as reducing emissions and meeting the Science Based Targets (SBTi), roadmaps for the increased use of sustainable fuels for cruise ships and aircraft, the expansion of renewable energy in the hotel portfolio, and the promotion of sustainable mobility concepts. The implementation of the e-mobility strategy in source markets and destinations is a central component of this. Melvin Mak’s work will focus in particular on innovations and new technologies in order to test their scalability for TUI, put them into practice and thus drive forward sustainable solutions. “Sustainability is a core element of TUI’s strategy and the ‚licence to operate‘ for the tourism industry,” said Thomas Ellerbeck, Member of the Group Executive Committee and Chief Sustainability Officer of TUI Group. “With his in-depth knowledge and proven leadership skills, Melvin Mak will play a central role in implementing our sustainability and ESG roadmap and strengthening TUI’s position as a pioneer in sustainable tourism.”
