NEW ABTA chief executive Mark Tanzer has revealed plans to expand the size of the association’s membership to incorporate online players and lure lost members back.
The move follows a fall in ABTA members year on year from 1,812 last year with 6,815 outlets, to 1,707 this year with 6,566 outlets. Among those to have quit ABTA this summer are homeworking network Travel Counsellors and Freedom Flights.
Other large players which are currently not ABTA members include Opodo, Lastminute and Expedia, although the last two both own subsidiaries which are members.
Tanzer said it was a priority to ensure ABTA membership does not fall further.
“I want to stop members leaving because that’s not helping what ABTA is doing. I want to understand what we can do to stop it and open channels to new members.”
The financial criteria to join ABTA has stopped certain members from joining in the past, he admitted, but changes had to be made without alienating existing members.
To join, members must have £50,000 capital. Agents must have a minimum bond of £37,000, dependant on turnover. Operators must have a non-licensable bond of 15% of turnover, set at a minimum £20,000.
Attracting new players, such as the online giants, is important, he added. “In the online space, there are a lot of people selling travel, and having the ABTA badge will be very important. Far from ABTA being irrelevant, it will be more relevant when you don’t have bricks-and-mortar agents.”
ABTA is currently compiling a strategy for its future, Tanzer said. “The expectation is that ABTA is going to change because everything around it is changing. What attracted me was to drive that process through. We are looking at every aspect of ABTA and what it does,” he added.