ANY chance of an ABTA and Federation of Tour Operators merger has been shelved – but talks could resume in the near future.
ABTA president Justin Fleming told the Institute of Travel and Tourism conference that although he believed there should be consolidation among the many industry bodies, the time is not right for an ABTA/FTO merger.
The two organisations will continue to work closely but Fleming said the future for industry organisations such as ABTA will be to attract new members by cutting the cost of membership.
“We have seen our membership start to fall and it’s very difficult to recruit new members. We have to look at the cost of membership of industry organsations,” he said.
Advantage managing director John McEwan spoke out in favour of a merger saying the industry needs to bring all interested groups together sooner rather than later to speak with one voice.
Fleming said ABTA and the FTO have been discussing a merger for 18 months. “We could not find enough common ground at this time to proceed with a merger. We decided to stop the talks because we see no value in continuing.
“But we have made it clear we see an opportunity to reopen negotiations in the long run.”
ABTA and the FTO announced they would not be merging last year but new ABTA chief executive Mark Tanzer, who joined shortly after the announcement, is known to be in favour of a merger.
Fleming said, over the past decade, ABTA membership has dwindled from 3,000 to 1,700 while running costs have risen by as much as 18%.