Association to hold its first conference in October for agents and suppliers. Robin Searle reports
Agents from around the country will head to Birmingham on October 18 as the 24 supplier members of the Association of Touring & Adventure Suppliers join forces with Travel Weekly for the inaugural Atas Conference.
The overnight event will take place at the city’s International Convention Centre, and will include an immersive trade show, advice on how to sell touring and adventure holidays, and a gala dinner and awards.
Giles Hawke, chief executive of Cosmos and chairman of Atas, said the conference would be a landmark event as the association showcased the breadth of the sector to key agent partners.
“There is huge scope for agents to grasp the opportunities that this evolving sector offers, but relatively few have touring and adventure holidays as a central part of their offering,” he said.
“The role of Atas is to help agents understand the size of the market opportunity, the range and quality of what is on offer and how best to talk about and sell this type of holiday.
“The inaugural Atas Conference gives us a great opportunity to do that in person.”
Atas was launched earlier this year, and has 24 supplier members covering the escorted touring and adventure travel sector.
The association’s activities are promoted online, with details of each member including product overviews, contact details and links to online training available at touringandadventure.com.
Atas is also supported with a news channel on travelweekly.co.uk devoted to news and features about the sector, and a fortnightly email newsletter packed with the latest stories, advice columns and incentives from Atas members.
A database of Atas agent members is currently being developed, with plans for those who engage with members’ trade activity including training, competitions and incentives to receive additional accreditation and titles, plus collateral to showcase their expertise in the sector to customers.
Analysis of the sector will also be published based on booking data from the association’s members.
Atas Conference: How to register
The Atas Conference will take place in Birmingham on Wednesday, October 18, with accommodation provided for agent delegates following the gala dinner.
The event will begin at 10.30am, with business sessions and lunch followed by an ‘experiential’ trade show featuring the Atas members and event sponsors.
The event will conclude with a gala dinner, including awards for agents who have championed the touring and adventure sector.
On Thursday, October 19, a number of Atas members will offer taster experiences to further showcase their product.
The 24 members of Atas will each invite agents. There will also be a limited number of places available to agents on a first‑come, first-served basis.
If you are an agent and would like to register your interest in attending the Atas Conference, please email your name, job title and company to
events@travelweekly.co.uk with the subject ‘Atas Conference’ by July 14.
The conference is free to attend and includes shared overnight accommodation. Successful applicants will be contacted by the end of August.
More on Atas at touringandadventure.com
