TRAVEL companies that do not either own the customer or the product are an endangered species according to one of ABTA’s harshest critics.
The future of the industry and ABTA’s role will be debated on the opening day of this year’s ABTA Travel Convention along with results from research the association has commissioned from MORI and TripVision into consumer, the city and analyst views of the industry.
Association president Justin Fleming and chief executive Mark Tanzer will go head-to-head with Lowcosttravelgroup chief executive and Travel Weekly columnist Paul Evans and Travel Counsellors chairman David Speakman, an outspoken critic of ABTA.
“You either own the product or you own the consumer – there is no other way.
“To own the customer you have to create an emotional attachment, if you are just taking a booking you do not really own them,” Speakman said.
Evans will call on ABTA to become more relevant to the modern travel trade.
“It has to appeal in the widest sense. I’d like to see it become an umbrella organisation over a fractured industry. It has the potential to do that.”
By the time the convention starts, the result of the judicial review brought by ABTA against the Civil Aviation Authority should be known and CAA group director for consumer protection Richard Jackson will join the debate.
Conference organiser and ABTA head of corporate affairs Keith Betton said:
“We will have the big judicial review court case decision that will dramatically change the way we do things in the future. We will be looking at the research and changes in the past couple of years.”
ABTA remains confident the original decision by Justice Goldring, that agents do not need an ATOL to sell dynamically packaged holidays, will be upheld at the appeal hearing brought by the CAA.
However, if ABTA loses, most agents will be forced to get mini-ATOLs.