ABTA Convention organisers have held talks with key industry
sectors as pressure grows to revamp the ailing event.
Bosses from event management firm CO Plus met separately with
operators and agents this week to find ways of rejuvenating the
convention.
It will hold further talks with industry partners today before
sitting down with sponsors on Monday. The findings and suggested
improvements will be presented to the ABTA board on February 2.
Meanwhile, Association of Independent Tour Operators Specialist
Travel Agents chairman Andrew Brownrigg claimed the success of its
recent Specialist Travel Agents domestic conference could provide
guidance for future ABTA conferences.
Of 170 delegates at AITO, 106 were agents – 62% –
compared with 20% at ABTA, which had 320 agents out of around 1,600
delegates.
An ABTA spokeswoman said the AITO conference is specifically for
agents, while ABTA is for the whole industry.