Tui UK and Ireland’s boss hopes third-party agents will see the operator as “reinvigorated” following its rebrand from Thomson in the UK last week, after more than 50 years.

The official switchover on October 19 marked the culmination of a process launched in 2015 to bring all of Tui’s major European tour operator businesses under the same group brand.

And in the same week, Tui held a special event to reveal its new booking concept, dubbed Realeyes.

The Realeyes prototype, part of a new Destination U concept, enables holidaymakers to choose a trip that matches their emotional needs.

It uses facial coding and “emotion measurement” technology to “tap into the subconscious”. A unique algorithm computes a person’s subtle facial responses to different images of destinations and experiences, and then uses the data to come up with holiday options.

Speaking to TTG at the launch event for Destination U, Nick Longman, Tui UK and Ireland managing director said the technology could not practically be installed in every Tui store, but that the company would monitor how customers reacted to it. “Say we ended up with one per region, then we could create a programme of where it could go,” he said.

Asked about the official shift of Thomson to Tui, Longman said he hoped third-party agents would now see the brand as “refreshed”. “I think we have been quite honest in our relationship with third-party agents… but what we have always maintained is we will sell through them and we will offer reasonable commission.”