Left to right: Tammy Jones, Managing Director, Purple Mike Adams OBE, Chief Executive Officer, Purple Kathy Sorenson, Director of Human Resources, Premier Inn MENA Poonam Kalwani, Human Resources Manager, Premier Inn MENA

Premier Inn MENA is set to enhance its customer experience offering for people of determination as the UAE hospitality partner for Purple Tuesday 2022 (1 November).
The initiative – part of a global activation under which Premier Inn owner in the UK, Whitbread, is the UK hospitality sector sponsor – is a key element of Premier Inn’s Force for Good campaign, which supports local and global charitable causes and highlights the growing importance of diversity and inclusion in all aspects of its business.

Purple Tuesday, taking place in the UAE for the first time, is an international day to recognise and celebrate the importance of guests with disabilities, including less obvious conditions such as learning difficulties, mental health challenges and speech impairments. Under its partnership, Premier Inn MENA is committing to give people of determination an even better experience at its hotels in the UAE and Qatar.

An estimated 17 per cent of the world’s population have a disability of some kind. For Premier Inn MENA, that’s potentially 204,000 of the 1.2 million overnight guests welcomed each year.
Kathy Sorenson, Director of Human Resources,  Premier Inn MENA, said: “Purple Tuesday is a golden opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to being a Force for Good in everything we do. Over the next 12 months, we will educate team members at our 11 hotels in the region so that they recognise the needs of guests of determination and apply enhanced customer service skills to ensure they get the right support to make their stay easy, welcoming and one to remember.”
Premier Inn in the UAE and UK will kick off its Purple Tuesday support campaign by launching the Hidden Disability Sunflower Scheme to team members. The scheme, under which people with ‘invisible’ conditions carry a globally recognised ‘sunflower’ badge, will launch in the UAE soon.
“Not all disabilities are visible or immediately obvious,” said Sorenson. “Challenges such as autism, diabetes, restricted mobility, poor sight or hearing and even sleep disorders can bring barriers to daily lives. We want to change that by providing more support, empathy and understanding, starting by training all team members in the Hidden Disability Sunflower Scheme during 2022 and 2023, and continuing our Purple journey way beyond.”
Mike Adams OBE, CEO of Purple and creator of Purple Tuesday said:  “We are delighted to be welcoming Premier Inn MENA as one of our pioneer Purple Tuesday Partners in the UAE, working together to raise awareness across the hospitality industry about the importance of providing good quality, seamless customer experiences for people of determination and their families. If as part of the Purple Tuesday movement each hotel, restaurant or resort in the UAE made one improvement to accessibility and practice each year the impact will be significant for the disabled visitor. I look forward to building a long and sustainable partnership with Premier Inn MENA and their staff so that all people of determination guests have a top-quality customer experience.”