NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW 4


Tui completes rebrand of 600 Thomson shops


Ben Ireland ben.ireland@travelweekly.co.uk


Thomson’s 600-plus stores have officially rebranded as Tui and the operator has launched a “monumental” advertising campaign about its name change.


Thirty stores a night have had


their signs updated in the last four weeks, agents will get new uniforms and content on Thomson’s website will move over to Tui.co.uk. Tui’s 4,000 retail staff started updating customers this week as the company finally says goodbye


An image from Tui’s 60-second TV advert


to the Thomson name after more than 50 years. Amanda Lakin, business lead on the rebrand, said: “It’s been a monumental task.” Nick Longman, managing


director of Tui UK and Ireland, said: “As Thomson we modernised the package holiday and as Tui we’ll push the boundaries even further.” Tui’s “all-singing, all-dancing” multimillion-pound campaign is led by a 60-second TV advert from today (October 19) in which a woman becomes “the star of an epic holiday finale” with Tui staff helping her with an “entirely personalised” customer journey.


Tui will take top slot on


YouTube’s homepage, run a 30-second radio ad and advertise on national newspaper covers. More than 6,000 hoardings in major UK cities will go up at bus stops, railway stations, on buses and at major UK and Irish airports. The travel giant has been slowly


introducing the Tui name change with its slogan ‘We cross the T’s, dot the I’s and put U in the middle’ over the past six months. Thomson Holidays was founded


in 1965 as part of Thomson Travel Group following the acquisition of Skytours, Riviera, Luxitours, Gaytours and Britannia Airways by businessman Roy Thomson. The Tui Group claims it is now


the world’s largest travel company based on passenger numbers. It made a profit of €1 billion on a turnover of €17.2 billion in the 2015-16 financial year. The Tui Group includes


Tui UK and Ireland, First Choice, Tui Airways and Marella Cruises.


5 STORIES HOT


5 ‘Demand a cut in Atol bonding costs’ Lee Hayhurst


Broadway Travel Group Conference, Rhodes


Travel firms should demand reductions in Atol bonding and the £2.50 Atol Protection Contribution next year as new EU rules prevent charges for credit card bookings.


Chris Photi, senior partner at accountancy firm White Hart Associates, told attendees at the Broadway Travel Group Conference in Rhodes to expect a


significant rise in credit card use. He said one unnamed client


which ditched card payment charges in September had seen the proportion of bookings paid by credit card rise from 14% to 50%. Photi said the EU Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2), which comes into force on January 13, will mean more customers will be financially protected under the UK’s Consumer Credit Act. In the event of a failure, as seen


most recently with Monarch, the CAA and Abta advises consumers with potential claims to approach


6 travelweekly.co.uk 19 October 2017


“You should be shouting this from the rooftops to trade bodies and regulators”


their credit card issuer as their first port of call.


Photi said under current


arrangements, holidaymakers are often double or even triple protected, so if card liability goes up, other areas of protection should be reduced.


“This change is massive,” Photi said. “I’m not hearing that bonding is going to be reduced or the APC is going to be reduced in January. You should be asking why not. “You should be shouting


this from the rooftops as far as regulators and trade associations are concerned.” Photi said the only way to


comply with PSD2 was to add a service charge or to increase prices to cover the costs of card


issuers’ merchant services. › Broadway Travel Group Conference, page 20


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84