Leading travel and leisure company, TUI, has joined forces with SignLive to be the first UK tour operator to give customers the option to have their conversations with the travel firm interpreted into British Sign Language (BSL).

Deaf customers can sign up for free to SignLive (signlive.co.uk) and call via the online directory to have their telephone conversations with TUI Accessibility teams interpreted in real time.

Sue Bradley, TUI Director of Customer Experience, said: “At TUI we want to make travelling with us as easy as possible for everyone. SignLive has come to us with an amazing solution for our customers who use British Sign Language (BSL). This service means that these customers can have conversations with our team to ensure they book the perfect holiday for them and get any additional support they might need.

“Customers can speak to our contact centre team about new or existing bookings all by signing up to SignLive for free for support with hotel information, navigating airports or booking accessible transfers in resort.”

Fiona Mackay, COO of SignLive said: “We’re delighted to be working with TUI to make travel more accessible for Deaf people. This partnership makes communication smoother and the overall experience of going on holiday much easier for British Sign Language users. Customers can travel with confidence knowing they can communicate via an interpreter throughout their journey.”

The service went live last week, and a video has been produced to explain all about the partnership and the service available via SignLive. Link here.