TUI has introduced a series of initiatives to make it easier for customers with accessibility needs to search, book and enjoy their holidays, including neuro-friendly areas in its shops, sign language interpretation services and access guides for its most popular hotels.
Why is TUI introducing accessibility initiatives?
We have one simple aim when it comes to accessibility: we want to make it easy for anyone to search for, find, book, and go on the holiday that’s right for them, whatever their needs. This is not only of course the right thing to do, but it also makes commercial sense. The number of disabled people in the UK and across the world is growing, the population is ageing and the requirements of our customers change and evolve. We want to make sure we can carry on taking customers on holiday, even if their needs change in the future.
Are you seeing that more of your customers have accessibility issues?
We have seen TUI Accessible Holidays booking grow 125% since 2019 and 13% since 2023. The percentage of customers who have access needs as part of the total has grown 2% in 2024 alone.
What about customers with unseen accessibility needs?
Accessibility at TUI includes all access needs, visible and non-visible disabilities, and neurodiversity. This year we’ve had huge focus on neurodiversity. The Neurodiversity Colleague Network has driven a project to look at transforming TUI into a neuro -inclusive holiday provider. Our TUI stores now have neuro-friendly shopping, so customers can pre-book their appointments and we’ll ensure the environment suits their requirements, for example spaces with no music and at quieter times.
We have trained and exposed over 5,000 colleagues in disability awareness, neurodiversity and general understanding of the ways customers with access needs want to travel with us. We have also rolled out SignLive, an instant British Sign Language interpretation services, across our contact centre and 230 TUI stores.
What are the challenges for you as a mass market travel giant to ensure accessibility?
Accessibility at TUI is all about information: providing as much accurate and validated information to customers at the point of booking, so they can be reassured that the holiday they’re booking will meet their needs. Gathering this content for our extensive hotel portfolio is no easy task. We have partnered with AccessAble and it is creating hundreds of detailed access guides for our most popular hotels.
We publish these on our website and customers can filter their search to show hotels that have this information. We also have adapted rooms bookable online and customers can get instant confirmation of their booking. All of our Marella ships also have detailed access guides. We don’t have control over all aspects of the journey, for example some things in the airport and airport assistance experience, and so that can sometimes impact the overall experience.
Is accessibility more of a focus for the destinations you operate in? Which destinations are doing it well, in your opinion, and why?
Spain has shown commitment to improving accessibility with its Spain For All campaign, starting with a taskforce and advisory panel and publishing Spain’s first ever Accessibility Findings Report. TUI is proud to have been involved in this endeavour, fully participating from the start and into the future. Over 40% of customers with access needs travel to Spain, including the Balearics and Canaries. Greece has also launched initiatives to welcome more visitors with access needs. A good example is its SEATRAC project (automated beach wheelchairs) which we advertise on our TUI Accessible Holidays Page.
What are the challenges for destinations?
The UK has a long tradition and very high standards for accessibility, that is not always replicated across other countries. The rapid growth of this market can catch out the destinations unprepared and also understanding and awareness towards disability varies across destinations.
