29 Sep 2009 - Sunwing Travel Group and First Choice Canada to create strategic venture

Sunwing Travel Group and First Choice Canada to create strategic venture Sunwing Travel Group and TUI Travel PLC have agreed to a proposed strategic venture with their respective Canadian tour operations and retail divisions. The venture will see an amalgamation of tour operator Sunwing Vacations, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Sunwing Travel Group and First Choice Canada's tour operator Signature Vacations along with retail division SellOffVacations.

Over the last five years, the Sunwing Travel Group, owned and operated by the Hunter Family of Toronto, has seen revenues increase from C$30million to C$660million and maintain underlining profitability throughout while First Choice Canada has seen their losses grow over the years to over C$20 million in the first half of the current financial year.

"The proposed amalgamation of tour operators will create a stronger company better able to compete against Canada’s leading tour operators while offering a broader range of travel destinations to the travelling public. The proposed company will be in a position to improve its product range and offer competitive prices with increased efficiencies resulting from the transaction." said Colin Hunter, Chairman and majority shareholder of the Sunwing Travel Group.

Under the terms of the deal,TUI Travel PLC will contribute its Canadian operations plus $101 million and Sunwing Travel Group will contribute Sunwing Vacations. In consideration, TUI Travel PLC will receive a 25% voting interest and an overall 49% interest in the Sunwing Travel Group.

Stephen Hunter, currently Chief Operating Officer of Sunwing, will take over as President and CEO of the Sunwing Travel Group while Colin Hunter will remain as Chairman of the Board.

Commenting, Stephen Hunter said, "As one of Canada's fastest growing companies with combined revenues of C$900 million along with the improved operational efficiencies, complementary product mix and a growing retail distribution, our business will be well positioned to continue the growth and profitability curve we have achieved over the years". The deal is subject to customary regulatory approvals. Scotia Capital acted as exclusive financial advisor to Sunwing on this transaction.

About Sunwing Travel Group

The Sunwing Vacation Group comprises Sunwing Vacations, a highly successful package holiday operator featuring departures from 30 Canadian cities to 31 sun destinations, and Sunwing Airlines, which this winter will operate a fleet of state-of-the-art 14 Boeing 737-800s. Headquartered in Toronto, the company also has sales offices in Vancouver and Montreal and employs almost 1,000 personnel in Canada and abroad. The company is privately-owned and headed by father and son team Colin and Stephen Hunter who were awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for 2008. The Sunwing Vacation Group has been named by Profit Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies for four of the last five years

About TUI Travel PLC

TUI Travel PLC is a leading international leisure travel group which operates in approximately 180 countries worldwide and serves more than 30 million customers in over 25 source markets. Headquartered in Crawley, near Gatwick airport in the UK, the Group employs approximately 50,000 people and operates a pan-European airline consisting of over 150 aircraft. The company mainly serves the leisure travel customer and is organised and managed through four business Sectors: Mainstream, Specialist & Emerging Markets, Activity and Accommodation & Destinations. In the financial year ended 30 September 2008 TUI Travel had revenues of £13.9bn and an underlying profit before tax of £320m.

For more information visit www.tuitravelplc.com