It was just a regular day in the Tui Lincoln store for retail travel advisor Andrew Kyte, when an email arrived out of the blue that caused him to drop everything and scream.
“I was on the shop floor when the email came through, towards the end of the day. I gave my colleagues quite a scare. I literally jumped out of my seat and squealed!
“They were like, ‘Andrew, what’s happened? Is there something urgent in our shop emails?’
“I couldn’t get my words out so I just pointed to the screen and stuttered ‘read it!’”
Far from being bad news, Andrew's colleagues rushed to hug and congratulate him once they saw the email revealed that he had been shortlisted in the 2026 British Diversity Awards, in the Changemaker of the Year category.
“I was absolutely shocked but so excited too,” he says. “I could not believe that I was nominated alongside people who are directors in their industry – that feels huge.”
Andrew started working at Tui in January 2022, and has made a big impact in the travel company in the four years since. He had previously been employed in other industries where he found it hard to be his authentic self, as a black gay man.
“I've worked in places where I did not feel seen, valued or heard,” he says. “I've had so many experiences where I've dealt with racism, micro aggression, and homophobia in other workplaces.”
A study placement and career break that took Andrew to Australia for 18 months fired up his passion for travel, and once he had completed a degree in international tourism management at the University of Lincoln, his career aspirations were fixed on travel.
Describing himself as a people-person, the opportunity to become a dream-maker by booking other people’s holidays made it a no-brainer for him to apply when he spotted a retail job advertised by Tui.
And within the travel company, he finally found a supportive network, and a workplace where he could be true to himself.
Andrew’s retail manager, Jenna Betts, and regional sales manager, Emma Guerriero first spotted his passion for diversity, equity and inclusion and they suggested he put himself forward as a Regional DEI Ambassador Lead for Tui.
Delivering change
Since he took on the ambassador role in October 2024, he’s delivered training to hundreds of colleagues across 25 regional stores, as well as training assistant managers, shop managers and regional sales managers within Tui.
He’s created accessibility guides for deaf and hard-of-hearing retail colleagues, which led to the rollout of noise-cancelling headsets on a national level within Tui.
And he’s gathered feedback from neurodiverse colleagues to improve customer processes, such as simplifying overly-complicated sales scripts.
“I really want to be that voice for our retail colleagues, to make sure they can be who they are at work, because when you can be your authentic self at work, then you show up as your best self.”
The most rewarding part of the ambassador role for Andrew is the feedback receives, especially after he’s given a presentation to colleagues: “I get so many lovely messages to say thank you for coming in, for the training, and making us aware of all these resources and the employee networks.”
He even inspired one colleague to take on the DEI ambassador role for their own region.
Andrew won Regional, Divisional and Company Inspirational Hero of the Year at the Tui Retail Awards 2025
Andrew has also taken on the role of Employee Network Lead for Tui’s Caribbean & African Network, one of 13 employee networks that Tui has created to advance diversity and inclusion.
The group supports and connects colleagues with African and Caribbean backgrounds, while also engaging allies. Celebrating and sharing food, music and other cultural references is just one part of the network.
Video star
To mark Black History Month, the group produced a training video, which was rolled out within Tui Group, and aimed to debunk common misconceptions attached to black people.
“We tried to make it funny and informative, so it didn’t really feel like a training video,” he says. “We addressed the misconceptions in a humorous, light-hearted way, things like, ‘you’re black, so you must eat spicy food’ and ‘you’re black, so you don’t tan and so on.”
“My message is, it’s ok to be curious, just be carefully curious with your approach. Let’s celebrate our differences in a respectful way.”
Even before his national recognition in the British Diversity Awards, Andrew was already gaining internal recognition. At Tui’s annual Retail Conference in November, which took place in Antalya, he was announced as Regional, Divisional and Company Inspirational Hero of the Year at the Tui Retail Awards.
No mean feat when you consider he was chosen out of 3,500 colleagues, across 230 stores.
“The atmosphere at conference was like nothing else,” he says. “People I didn’t even know were coming up to me and congratulating me, but they’d seen my videos, and so they knew me.
“Jenna, my manager couldn’t believe it, she was like, everyone’s asking you for photos, Andrew, you’re a celebrity!”
“I said, ‘I know, I feel like Beyonce!’”
While the recognition, especially being in a category with other “amazing trailblazers” means “everything”, it only bolsters Andrew’s original sense of purpose. Back in October 2024, he agreed to become an ambassador, to drive forward diversity, equity and inclusion on the frontline of travel retail, not just for the employee’s benefit but the customer’s benefit too, and Andrew’s passion backed by the enabling power of a corporate like Tui feels like a potent mix.
“I want to continue being that voice for the retail frontline,” he says. “This feels deeply personal to me. Nobody should be made to hide parts of themselves while at work. And my main goal is driving home that you can make a difference, no matter your role or title within the business.”
- The British Diversity Awards will take place on Wednesday 25 March, 2026. Tui has also been nominated in two further categories: Miranda Simms, wellbeing and inclusion lead for Tui UK & Ireland, is nominated for the Head of Diversity, Belonging and Inclusion category and Tui UK & Ireland is nominated for the Diversity Team of the Year category.
