Virgin Holidays is the very first holiday company to achieve the CORGI Quality Accreditation for Tour Operators, leading the way as they champion safety standards throughout the travel industry. The two businesses worked together to pioneer the new standard, which is specific to the holiday sector and aims to provide customers with extra assurance when booking their overseas trips.
The importance of gas safety regulation is widely known in the UK, however in some overseas countries this is not always the case. Virgin Holidays provides travel experiences across the globe and managing gas safety requirements from country to country can be a particularly complex task. Regulations differ significantly between destinations and in some cases, no formal laws exist, meaning ensuring consistent worldwide standards can be difficult.
Aware of CORGI’s work in the housing sector, Virgin Holidays approached them to determine if something similar could be achieved within the travel industry. Working with CORGI, Virgin Holidays undertook a rigorous, year-long review of its existing compliance checks, along with an analysis of current industry guidelines. As a result, additional policies covering fuel safety, quality and risk assessments and increased training programmes were implemented.
Pauline Wilson, Vice President of Operations at Virgin Holidays commented;
“We’ve always been committed to providing the highest possible safety standards for our customers and our new CORGI Accreditation further emphasises this position. To achieve this, it was imperative we partnered with an expert in the field of gas safety. Having seen the proven success of the CORGI Quality Accreditation scheme within the social housing sector, we knew that we needed to develop an equivalent standard for our own, highly complex area. We are proud to be the first tour operator to achieve the CORGI Quality Accreditation and provide our customers with that added assurance when they book their holidays”.
Claire Heyes, CEO at CORGI Technical Services said,
“I have been very impressed with Virgin’s drive and determination to achieve the CORGI quality accreditation, leading the way for gas safety in the holiday sector and understanding the concept of continuous improvement as a requirement of the accreditation process”.