Comment: Abta peers into the future at convention

Customising your offering, curating content and product for individual customers: delegates listened to a range of advocates describing how they were trying to use technology and data to attract loyal followings.

It was in danger of becoming a digital personalisation love-in until a few speakers put their heads above the parapet.

Gold Medal’s Steve Barrass pointed out personalisation was done best by people rather than algorithms; Hoseasons’ Simon Altham said agents needed to act swiftly to remind customers considering the peer-to-peer model of their worth; and Abta’s Noel Josephides described the sharing model as a ‘black economy’ that must not be allowed to continue unregulated.

Travel is great at embracing fresh ideas – and there may well be some opportunities and crossover. But it would be prudent for agents to also exercise a sense of caution about new entrants that could turn out to be Trojan horses that undermine their models and potentially threaten their existence.

Caribbean flavour

Turning from eastern Europe to the far side of the Atlantic, I am delighted that Travel Weekly is once again showing its support for the Caribbean with our annual special edition, supported again by British Airways.

It’s not been the easiest few years for the region, but the reports and features on the pages ahead suggest there’s a real sense of optimism returning.