The "lateral entrants initiative" will seek to attract more people from non-travel backgrounds and make career opportunities and progression within Tui more open to a wider range of candidates.

It follows the publication of a new joint policy paper drafted by Tui and its group works council – in effect, guidelines that will be available to other entities throughout the wider Tui group.

Tui currently has 1,100 vacancies worldwide, and expects by 2030 a quarter of all advertised positions across the group to be filled by lateral entrants, with an initial focus on finance and technology roles.

"The lateral entrants initiative aims to counteract the shortage of skilled workers in tourism before it hits the different entities of Tui Group," said Tui.

"In particular, more lateral entrants are to work in customer-oriented areas such as travel agencies or call centres in future. But also, for job profiles in Tui’s European head offices, more applicants will be recruited than before who do not have a classical education in tourism."

Tui has pledged to support new entrants and those seeking to change their careers with "targeted qualification offers" and new "intensive" partnerships with educational institutions. It will also strengthen its existing mentoring programmes.

Another focus will be on migrant professionals, and Tui has also vowed to increase its focus on employing people with accessibility needs "to a greater extent than in the past".

"With the lateral entry initiative, we are opening up Tui to applicants who share our enthusiasm for tourism, bring new skills with them and provide fresh perspectives to our company," said Frank Jacobi, chair of Tui’s group works council.

"At the same time, we actively support those employees who want to pursue new career paths at Tui."

Chief people officer Sybille Reiss added: "The initiative will make Tui an interesting employer for applicants who have hardly considered us for their professional career so far. For us, skills, motivation and a willingness to learn are more important than a degree that someone obtained many years ago.

"In this way, we are making ourselves fit for a future of the labour market in which personalised qualification and technological support perfectly complement the successful combination of tourism training and experiential knowledge."