TUI reviews format of welcome meetings

TRADITIONAL resort welcome meetings could become entertainment-based or disappear completely for certain brands in a major service review by TUI.

It follows a service overhaul to improve the "end-to-end customer experience” with all shop, airline and resort staff trained on new service principles.

Encouraging staff to focus more on service has been linked to some of TUI’s best customer service questionnaire scores – in July the company overall scored 79%, up two percentage points year on year. The review is being extended to look at how welcome meetings could be altered following waning popularity among holidaymakers.

General manager of oversees development Louise Bates said welcome meetings could change for Superfamily programmes next summer, particularly as meetings do not always hold the attention of children.

"As a result reps struggle to communicate with families. We’re looking at more entertainment-based formats, designing meetings around a play or a quiz, for example,” said Bates.

She added: "The review is aimed at making service our key differentiator against rivals and new entrants in the market.”

For more well-travelled customers who don’t spend much on excursions – such as the A La Carte and Small and Friendly brands – the traditional welcome meeting could be ditched for 2005 and information given out in a different way.

TUI has trialled alternatives such as giving customers information during flights or through televisions in hotel bedrooms.

While it is unlikely these will be adopted, Bates said: "If traditional welcome meetings are not what people want we’ve got to stop them and make the format more modern and relevant.”

From May 1, when all Lunn Poly, Thomson Holidays and Britannia staff adopted the same uniform, TUI introduced its new service principles, including phrases such as "resolve, don’t blame”, on credit card-sized cards for all customer-facing staff. All resort staff have been given a guide on service.

Product from rival operators will be bookable online on TUI’s retail website lunnpoly.co.uk in the next six months. Currently only Thomson Holidays product can be booked on the site, but technology has been improved to boost sales through the channel.