IN response to your comment and analysis about the ABTA Convention in Cairns, I want to pay tribute to Larry Monk and his team at Tourism Queensland for keeping everything going, and I believe that both Queensland and Australia will benefit.
It would be nice to think that the event was the catalyst for a new airline in Australia!
I met many delegates in my post-convention travels across Australia and they were soon drying out (externally only) in 30C heat and having a good Aussie experience.
With regards to the format, the crowning glory in my mind was the introduction of the ‘red army’ of independent travel agents .
They came out, had fun, learned a lot about Australia and brought reality back to some of the speakers with their views about the future of independent travel agents.
Robert Hardless
Northern Territory Tourist Commission/South Australian Tourism Commission