Abta’s trade relations manager Susan Parsons has been voted on to the European equivalent of the association, the ECTAA, as vice president.
The post was said to have been “hotly contested” but Parsons, who has been involved with ECTAA for 10 years, won the election held at a meeting Prague last week.
Abta is the largest of ECTAA’s 29 members and it is hoped Parsons will be able to exert more influence in Europe on issues like commission directives.
Abta is also unusual among ECTAA’s other members in that it has a large tour operator membership.
“It allows us to have a critical input into a lot of the issues and those issues important to the UK,” Parsons said.
She added many of the issues the UK industry faces stem from Europe including the Package Travel Directive and issues relating to Iata.