The 18th Randstad Employer Brand Research revealed an exciting newcomer. The listed tourism company TUI has capitalised on its position as market leader with third place in the most appealing employers survey.
'Our company is crazy about digitalisation. Our travel agencies, for example, are capitalising on online experiences so that customers can 'test' holiday destinations in the office' - Ivan Smeets, HR Director TUI Aviation and Western Region
Ivan Smeets, HR Director TUI Aviation & Western Region, sees various reasons for this result. 'We are a healthy and expanding company. This financial security appeals to people. We offer a positive product, which draws on the imagination. Our brand name is also gradually taking hold in Belgium. We evolved, two years ago, from a local brand (Jetair) into the international name TUI. The extensive international career opportunities also give our employer brand extra impetus.'
blockchain
Because the tourist sector is digitalising rapidly, TUI is not only appealing to the traditional tourism profile.
'We are increasingly recruiting marketing experts, digital specialists and people with a business background', adds Ivan Smeets. 'Our company is crazy about digitalisation. Our travel agencies, for example, are capitalising on online experiences so that customers can 'test' holiday destinations in the office.'
TUI is also developing digital CRM applications, which can be used to get to know the customer better. And there are partnerships with colleges for researching future tourism models. 'We also work with blockchain technology in order to distribute hotel rooms between our various markets and this is set to continue. For our personnel, we provide training and workshops so that we can work together to capitalise on the rapidly evolving tourism market', explains Ivan Smeets.
belgian employer
TUI employs 2,380 people in our country. The airline TUI fly has 1,150 employees in Belgium and is the largest employer within the group. 72% of Belgium TUI employees are female. The Randstad study also showed that TUI was most popular among women. Female respondents gave the travel organisation their third highest score. They only gave higher scores to Janssen Pharmaceutica and Mediahuis.
Ivan Smeets: 'We have more jobs that appeal to women rather than men. Our on-board personnel are primarily women, we have more female employees in our travel agencies and that also applies to customer service. Within these profiles, women are most significantly represented in the labour market. But men are always more than welcome to join our company. In that respect too, we don't want to be an ordinary tourism company.'