Tui’s exclusive holiday products are performing “incredibly well”, especially during the current peaks selling season, according to the group’s new product chief.
Phill Iveson, Tui Group director of product and purchasing, also hailed the role of travel agents in helping to improve and promote the differentiated products – such as Sensatori (pictured), Holiday Village and Tui Blue.
“[The products] are performing incredibly well, particularly in turn-of-year,” he told a Travel Weekly webcast.
Tui recently launched its TuiTradeHub platform to boost agents’ knowledge about the operator’s products, concepts and brands to help with the sales process.
“We’ve got this differentiated product and we really need to get back to shouting about that,” said Iveson.
He said Sensatori luxury hotels have been designed for the UK market, with a focus on entertainment that appeals to British holidaymakers.
Tui is also introducing a 24-hour all-inclusive offering for Sensatori, he added, saying: “This is maybe for a family where the baby wakes up at four o’clock in the morning and they want to be able to get coffee or have some breakfast. Customer feedback for that has been really positive.”
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He continued: “The Holiday Village concept is more activity-based. There is lots going on for families.”
Holiday Villages feature academies for activities such as swimming, football and theatre as well as more unusual hobbies such as drone assault courses.
“It has modernised significantly from when I was a kid,” he said.
He told the webcast that Tui is the only major UK operator to operates its own kids’ clubs.
“There are more than 100 of those. They’re run to international to UK standards,” he explained.
“There is lots of work that they are doing, particularly in terms of neurodiversity.
“Throughout our kids’ clubs, there are sensory areas where children can be quiet.
“And parents can submit information in advance about the needs of their child, so that we can make sure that is accommodated.”
He pointed to the work done by Tui accessibility manager Marina Snellenberg, who won the Unsung Hero Award at the recent 2025 Globe Travel Awards in London.
“She had a mission to do this following the experience that she had with Alex, her late husband, and pushed this throughout the organisation,” he commented, adding how the operator has an accessibility team of 80 in its call centre to help clients with special assistance needs.
Iveson also highlighted the importance of listening to feedback from agents to improve the products.
“When you’re speaking to retail agents, you are listening to the things that they see day in and day out, and they are not afraid to tell us what they want,” he said.
“We now have a market-leading 25-kilogram luggage allowance.
“We added free kids to Florida, which is an industry first and a Tui first, last year. It has been really, really successful.
“[And] not only do they want more long-haul, but they want long-haul from local airports. We have added some routes from certain areas.”
Asked about introducing new concepts or enhancing current ones, he commented: “It is a bit of both, really.
“Some of it is ‘how do we let customers know’ and shout more about the great things that our product offers.
“Do we want to hugely expand differentiated product? We do, but equally, we won’t compromise on the specifications.
“It will be about growing our existing concepts and looking for new ideas.
“We are constantly reviewing, through research, where we think that there’s an opportunity from markets where we’re underrepresented.
“There are a few things that we are working on at the moment.”