In the wake of the UK riots, there’s been a huge outpouring of altruism. Now a tour operator has announced it’ll waive rebooking fees for the police who had to return to the UK. Good publicity or a cynical move?
The riots on our streets this past week have left us all in need of a few more good turns. We’ve seen some amazing support from individuals in communities affected and now it’s heartening to see companies providing similar support.
A press release from the major tour operator TUI UK says police officers who had been forced to cancel their holidays, because they were needed on Britain’s streets, could re-book at Thomson or First Choice without any extra charges.
A similar good turn was recently offered by M&S Money when the travel company Holidays4U went bust. The foreign exchange service said it would provide a full refund to people who had bought currency for their cancelled trip.
Holidays are precious to us
These are just two companies that help people plan and take holidays. Between them, these acts show that they recognise the importance holidays have in our minds.
But sadly for them, research from the Future Foundation shows that less than half of Brits believe companies are fair to consumers. Plus, there’s also a general distrust of big institutions.
In these current uncertain times, we’re all looking out for companies that show us they understand the public mood and act in a socially responsible way. We need to find more companies that are listening, empathising and providing us with reasons to trust them.
I’m personally all for gestures like this and well done to these companies for giving people a helping hand. But I’m sure that others think these gestures are a bit cynical. After all, we know that companies do these things for good PR – does that make the act itself less valuable? I don’t think so – do you?
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