2026 Marketing & Merchandising Placement (12 months)

TUI Cruises GmbH; Luton; Hybrid; GBP 24,000 - 29,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading global tourism company is looking for a Digital Sales & Merchandising intern to support its UK operations in Luton. This 12-month placement offers real responsibility and exposure to projects in the travel industry. Candidates should be commercially aware, creative thinkers, and in their penultimate year of university. The role includes hybrid working and a starting salary of £24,600. Join us to gain valuable experience and support the team in driving eCommerce goals.

Benefits

Discounted holidays

25 days annual leave

Structured induction plan

Mentorship and support

Health and wellbeing support

Qualifications

• Must be in the penultimate year of university.
• Proactive self-starter and team player.
• Passion for sales, merchandising, marketing, or social media.

Responsibilities

• Make data-driven decisions to improve website trading performance.
• Develop and execute onsite merchandising campaigns.
• Collaborate with various teams to create engaging digital campaigns.

Skills

Commercial awareness

Creative thinking

Analytical skills

Communication skills

Attention to detail

Education

Minimum GCSE grade 4 or C in English and Maths

Tools

MS Office Suite

Job description

Overview

Want to get your career off to a flying start? The sky’s the limit with TUI. We’re the world\'s number one tourism business, operating in around 180 destinations worldwide, which means limitless global opportunities for you and your future.

As part of our placement programme, you’ll spend one invaluable year working right at the heart of our business – with real responsibilities, and the chance to work on real projects. You’ll gain a unique insight into our exciting and dynamic industry, with exposure to many other functional areas and senior colleagues. You’ll have lots of fun during your time with us, and we’ll ensure you get the support you need every step of the way.

Role and team

We have on offer a role based within our Marketing and Merchandising Teams. The Digital Sales & Merchandising role sits within our expanding Digital team. This is the team who manage all the websites across the TUI UK & Ireland business from Beach Holidays to Cruises to City Breaks and Tours. Our website, www.tui.co.uk, is responsible for driving over 65% of bookings, which you would support by making a range of on-site campaigns that balance customer needs with the broader business and eCommerce goals.

The role is based out of our modern and vibrant head office in Luton where the successful candidate would work 1-2 days a week, with flexible hybrid working available on the other days.

*This is a 12-month placement which is based in Luton; to be eligible to apply you must be in your penultimate year of university. ***

About our offer

• Starting salary for the role is £24,600 per annum with fantastic progression (pay review pending)

• Welcome days & introductions

• Structured induction plan

• Direct line manager support plus support from the placement scheme team

• 2 x placement projects throughout the year (1x charity, 1x business)

• Contact with business directors – through welcome meetings and project presentations

• Monthly team meetings

• Shadowing in other departments

• Hangar Tour

• Buddies – every new placement gets a buddy from around the business

• Mentors –we provide a mentor to all of our placements

• Investment in your development through workshops & the Tour Operator Development Programme

• Social events

• Support the next year’s placement intake

• Blog and options for content creation –there is the opportunity for you to be creative with content creation whilst on their year here

Benefits

• Fantastic holiday benefits including discounts, staff rates and late seats

• 25 days annual leave, plus bank holidays

• Experience working for a major global business in an award-winning placement scheme

• Employment opportunities post placement

• Travel opportunities

• Health and Wellbeing support in five key areas – Financial, Health, Social, Community and Career

• Community day – time to spend working at a local charity or community project

• Be Rewarded Platform – savings at high street shops, on days out and more

• Access to all the employee networks

About the jobs

Digital Sales & Merchandising:

Joining up with our large Digital Sales & Merchandising team, you will be working in a fast-paced commercial environment and be making data-driven decisions to improve website trading performance, whilst ensuring the user experience is inspirational, engaging and relevant.

The Digital Sales & Merchandising role is after a creative thinker who will be able to bring new and exciting ideas to the team. Analytical and naturally inquisitive, you will have the ability to interpret trading and test results data, identify trends and recommend actionable change. You will be able to work well under pressure and thrive on working under tight deadlines.

Working with the rest of the Digital Sales & Merchandising team, as well as with the commercial, trading and analytics teams, you will be responsible for developing and executing a range of onsite merchandising campaigns. These will all help ensure our key trading priorities are supported, as well as drive forward our onsite personalisation and A/B testing strategy across desktop and mobile.

You will also work closely with the Content, Digital Marketing, User Experience and Design teams to build engaging, digital and integrated campaigns that balance both customer and business needs, at the same time as keeping a close eye on travel websites and industry trends.

About you

for all roles, we are looking for:

• Commercially aware with a passion for sales, merchandising, marketing or social media
• A proactive self-starter and strong team player with ability to build lasting relationships both internally and externally.
• Creative thinker who is customer obsessed
• Well-developed communication and analytical skills
• Structured, focused and enthusiastic to learn
• Proactive, curious and conscientious
• Confident and able to work under pressure
• Ability to juggle priorities and stay focused under pressure, with strong attention to detail.
• Seeks to understand others’ perspectives
• Hunger for learning, with a minimum of GCSE grade 4 or C (or equivalent) in English and Maths, and a commitment to completing a placement year (starting in 2026) as part of your third year at university
• Proficient user of the MS office suite
• And finally, it helps if you love holidays as we are all passionate about the full experience gain through travel that creates memories that last a lifetime

From a workplace to a place to belong. At TUI we embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion, encouraging everyone to come as you are, because together, our potential is limitless.

We are committed to supporting candidates with disabilities and impairments so if you require any support, please do let us know.

We are part of the Disability Confident Scheme and welcome disabled applicants.As users of the Disability Confident Scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.

*** We have an under-representation of disabled and ethnic minority colleagues at TUI and therefore welcome applications from people who come from these communities.***

* Currently TUI is unable to provide visa sponsorship,you must have permanent right to live and work in the UK without sponsorship to be eligible to apply. This includes applicants in possession of a Tier 4 Student visa.

Closing date for applications: 12th December 2025

Availability required for face-to-face assessment centres: 9th December 2025, 28th January 2026, 4th February 2026 – these dates are subject to change.