How to run your business in an environmentally friendly way, marketing and recent technology changes will be among the sessions at this year’s TTA Worldchoice conference.
Breakout sessions will be run on the second day of this year’s event – the consortium’s first joint conference – at the Sheraton Skyline Hotel near Heathrow on November 21-22.
Conference organiser and moderator Keith Betton, who previously ran ABTA’s Travel Convention for 12 years, revealed Responsibletravel.com founder Justin Francis will run a session on how companies can be ‘green’ and maintain their profits.
Capela Travel Training founding director Gary Grieve will look at how small businesses can market themselves, and staff from TTA Worldchoice will hold a session on technology developments of the past 12 months.
Other breakout sessions include an update on cruise, mainly aimed at TTA Worldchoice’s Cruise Club members, and a session geared for business travel agencies.
A separate closed forum will be run for tour operator members of TTA Worldchoice. This is likely to include discussions on the ATOL Protection Contribution (APC) as well as new developments for members and a question and answer session.
At the same time as the breakout sessions there will be a showcase for agents to hold meetings with suppliers. This will be held around the indoor swimming pool.
Headline speakers already announced for the first day of the conference include jewellery tycoon Gerald Ratner and motivational speaker of the year Steve McDermott. Body language expert Richard Newman is also speaking.
Registration for the two-day event costs £86.25 for TTA Worldchoice members and £343.85 for suppliers. Accommodation at the Sheraton Skyline Hotel costs £74.75 per night.
The conference starts at 10.30am on Saturday to allow members to get to the event from different parts of the country. A gala dinner to include the TTA Worldchoice awards will be held on the Saturday night.
Betton, who has just been appointed communications consultant to Worldchoice and already advises the Travel Trust Association, expects 300 agents and 100 suppliers to attend the conference.