AITO Week is to be reviewed after the number of participating agencies slumped in only its second year.
Speaking at the Association of Independent Tour Operators Specialist Travel Agents (AITO STA) conference in Warwick this weekend, chairman Barry Moxley said the promotional week held in October had originally been designed to encourage AITO operators and agents to work closer together with marketing and promotional activities.
However, he admitted that while more than 10 agencies had taken part in the promotional week in 2008, this number fell to a single digit in 2009.
Moxley said: “I don’t know why it has become less popular, from my point of view we have been involved both years and it has benefitted our business but we’re obviously not getting that message across enough to the membership.”
The AITO STA committee is to review whether or not October was the right time to hold the promotional week, or if it should be moved to earlier in the year in time for summer season sales.
Moxley said some agents had complained after the first AITO Week that the 20 operators which had been involved were not enough.
He said this had been rectified by the second year when about 40 operators signed up, only to find the agents had deserted the initiative.