Monday Interview: TUI Travel chief Peter Long Thomas Cook in 2011 helped convince doomsayers that traditional package tour operators were on a boat trip to Hades, when it issued a string of profit warnings and sought a £200m emergency loan. The group secured a £1.4bn refinancing package in May but remained on the cruise ship from hell for most of 2012, posting what it described as an "unacceptable" £485m loss. Meanwhile, TUI appeared to be basking in the sunshine. The group, formed in 2007 from the merger of First Choice and the German parent of Thom­son Holidays, saw profits jump almost 40pc to £201m in the year to September 30. Despite their rather passé reputation and - perhaps unfair - association with concrete block hotels in Benidorm, Long believes package holidays experienced a "renaissance" in 2012. The resurgence would have been unthinkable before the financial crisis, when the Lonely Planet generation was in full swing and independent travel was considered the sophis­ticated, cheaper way to see the world. But Long, who has been in the travel industry for almost three decades, was sanguine that Britain would never fall entirely out of love with package breaks. The former chief executive of First Choice, who took the helm of the newly created TUI in 2007, has for years been ploughing investment into what the group calls "differentiated" products - in other words holidays involving hotels and activities that cannot be bought through any other operator. The travel veteran, who one minute comes across as a gruff headmaster and the next surprises with an outburst of good humour, bats off all of the old ­cliches around the package holiday industry - of naff hotels reps and slightly tacky hotels in Spain. "It has all evolved," he admonishes, before reeling off the kind of facilities offered by TUI brands such as its five-star Sensatori holidays. These are hotels that are specified by us and built by our partners. It's the completely opposite end of a canteen-type atmosphere, to choices of restaurants and real variety. Long's confidence appears to have been well-founded. According to a recent note from Morgan Stanley, package holidays grew by 5pc between 2010 and 2012, increasing their share of the overseas holiday market by three percentage points. Independent holidays declined 5pc. While most other consumer industries suffered during the double dip recession, Long says Britons have safeguarded their annual holiday abroad at all costs to escape the drudgery of long hours, falling real incomes, not to mention the pitiful weather back home. All inclusive packages have boomed in particular as households have stuck to rigid budgets. "We have seen huge growth in that area, over half of our holidays are now all-inclusive in terms of our mainstream business," says Long. It has probably gone from a third up to 50pc. Customers like the certainty, they know they can budget very clearly and they know if there are any issues ... we deal with it. With the statistics leaning in its favour, TUI has set out to expand at a compound annual growth rate of between 7pc and 10pc over the next five years even though it is not banking on a consumer recovery for another 36 months. Long, who trained as a chartered accountant before joining the now defunct International Leisure Group in 1984, believes TUI will hit that goal by continuing to lure holidaymakers away from rivals - including Thomas Cook - with its "unique" packages. "There is clear blue sky between us and any competitor because we are so uniquely positioned and no-one could quickly ­replicate what we have built over the last six years," he says, not immodestly. We are not assuming there is going to be an improvement in the overall economic environment. We believe we can grow in that environment and take market share on the basis that the strong get stronger. It's a pretty bold statement and is not the kind of rhetoric that will help Harriet Green, the new boss of Thomas Cook who left electronics group Premier Farnell in the summer to turn around the 172-year-old holiday company. Long, who banked nearly £6.5m for 2012 in pay and share sales, sportingly offers Ms Green the equivalent of a pre-match handshake, wishing her "all the best of luck" in her efforts to revive Thomas Cook. What Green has revealed of her strategy so far "all looks sensible," Long says, before adding: "It is a long, hard slog to rehabilitate that business in the UK." Some analysts believe a resurgent Thomas Cook, with the well-respected Green at the helm, could cause TUI some problems this year. Long has different ideas. If anything, he says, TUI will widen the gap over its competitor in 2013. It has used the last 12 months to try and lure desired hoteliers away from its rivals. "We are quite clear that the real benefit comes in 2013 as we have accelerated on our journey of exclusive holidays," Long says. We have been able to accelerate that journey because hoteliers have been very receptive to partnering with us. Partly because there is a weakened competitor. We have taken advantage of that. We have also taken the opportunity to eliminate the number of hotels we share. That translates into volumes being up and an increase in market share in 2013. That's where the win will come for us. Let them fight on the beaches.