BUSINESS NEWS and AI dominated discussion at forum in London. Ian Taylor reports


Travlaw attendees urged to tread carefully with AI


Travel businesses should embrace generative AI, G Adventures managing director for the UK and Europe Brian Young told a Travlaw event in London. But Travlaw partner and


head of employment Ami Naru warned companies to be careful because AI tools “can bite you”. Young said: “We have to


embrace it. A lot of administration can be taken over by ChatGPT. It can free phones for customers to come through to book a holiday – it’s scalable and it works 24/7.” He suggested generative AI


“could really help in the ‘dream’ phase” of planning a holiday “and then hand the customer to a person” to take the booking. Young added: “As much as AI is


in its infancy, the speed it’s changing at is the thing. AI is here to stay.” Kuoni UK managing director


Mark Duguid expressed more caution. He said: “I’ve looked at AI in a more moderate way, at ways to support our back office, loading content, tagging images. Every presentation I’ve seen said ‘don’t put this out to the public’.” However, he noted Kuoni is


part of Dertour whose German parent Rewe Group “is about to push out a huge AI initiative in every part of the operation”. Naru warned: “These are


very powerful tools and can bite you if you’re not careful.”


‘Loyalty is wafer-thin’ as clients ‘pivot for a lower price’ holiday


Customer loyalty is “wafer-thin” in travel despite companies valuing repeat customers highly. Kuoni UK managing director


Mark Duguid reported engaging “a fantastic brand agency” to work on the Kuoni brand refresh, launched for the January peak booking season, to broaden the company’s appeal to the family market. Duguid noted: “We deliberately


picked a brand agency that had never worked in travel, and it said it was staggered at the lack of loyalty – people pivot to another company for a lower price.” He said the agency described


Brian Young


loyalty in travel “as wafer thin”. G Adventures managing director


for the UK and Europe Brian Young agreed, saying: “You have to work hard for loyalty. We get 32% repeat business, which we think is high. Customers don’t repeat [a booking] if you don’t earn it.”


‘Get house in order for new laws’


Government changes to employment law will be “pretty fundamental” and travel businesses should “get their house in order” in advance, according to Travlaw partner and head of employment Ami Naru. The government published a


draft Employment Rights Bill in October with 28 reforms to the current law, ranging from ending zero-hours contracts and fire-and- rehire practices to establishing day-one rights for paternity, parental and bereavement leave. It would also strengthen statutory sick pay, make flexible working the default “where practical” and strengthen protections against dismissal for pregnant women and new mothers. Speaking at the Travlaw Big


Tent Event in London in January, Naru said: “We knew there would be changes to employment law with a change of government, but the headline changes are pretty


travelweekly.co.uk


fundamental.” She noted one change to the law had already kicked in, saying: “Since October there is a duty on all employers to address sexual harassment in the workplace, and believe me it does happen in the travel industry.” However, Naru argued: “The


big change is the introduction of day-one unfair dismissal rights. These proposals have to go out to consultation, so the soonest there will be a change is autumn 2026.” She suggested: “There are


companies for which this is not going to change much, but it’s going to have an effect on small companies. There are still so many companies that ask people near the end of their probation, ‘How is it going?’ “If you have good managers


managing people during their probation, you will manage.” But she said: “Get your house in order now.” Naru suggested small employers were “turning more to independent


Ami Naru


contractors” to deal with the changes to employment rights, noting: “The travel industry was always well set up to deal with independent contractors.” Kuoni UK managing director


Mark Duguid said: “I can’t think of a time when our HR manager has said any legislation would give us cause for concern, even day-one rights.


We don’t take anyone on if we don’t want them.” Brian Young, G Adventures


managing director for the UK and Europe, agreed saying: “We have a workplace code and training in place throughout the organisation. You have to be clear in recruitment and during probation and conduct things properly.”


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PICTURE: David Robertson


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