Q. What do you see as ABTA’s function in five years’ time?
Q. What do you see as ABTA’s function in five years’ time? A. I see ABTA being a strong and powerful voice in the travel industry, leading the way with regulations, protection, lobbying and making sure its members – large and small – are well represented and looked after.
I see ABTA’s future as strong, because the secretariat and the board are always looking into ways to make improvements and – who knows – maybe in the near future we may not even have bonding for established operators and agents, introducing instead a £1 scheme like ATOL.
The role of the ABTA travel agents will remain the same as it is now: providing protection, expert advice to clients, and booking all their travel needs. It makes me smile when I hear people say there will be hardly any travel agents left on the high street, as they really do not know what they are on about.
Q. Would you be in favour or against rises in ABTA subscriptions?
A. I would not be in favour of an increase. I fought long and hard against the change to subscriptions last time, and feel I helped in some way to reduce the proposed increase.
Q. Should ABTA change its name to reflect its membership effectively?
A. No. Never change the name. It has taken more than 50 years to gain public recognition and respect for that name. At the same time, I want to ensure we maintain this trust, making our public protection clear. In today’s market, this could so easily be lost overnight.
Q. Following ABTA’s merger with the Federation of Tour Operators (FTO), do you believe further mergers with other organisations such as the Association of Independent Tour Operators should be pursued?
A. No. I do not believe that we should have any further mergers with other organisations. I think the FTO merger was needed to safeguard our association. With the one voice, we are a stronger organisation.
AITO is a great association for independent tour operators, but it is very much a marketing organisation, which I do not believe ABTA needs to be involved with. We need to stay focused on the true cause.
Q. Given Andy Cooper’s departure, what can be done to make ABTA more effective at lobbying?
A. Plans are already being drawn up to ensure ABTA can be just as effective in lobbying. One idea is to replace Andy, but this needs to be thought through properly, to make sure we get it right.
Once all the avenues have been explored, a proposal will be presented to the board, and a decision will be made for the good of the members.
- For more information on the ABTA chairmanship race go to www.travelweekly.co.uk/abtarace