Aviation and maritime minister Robert Courts, and Tui’s UK managing director Andrew Flintham are among the headline speakers confirmed by abta for this year’s Travel Matters conference.
Sir Stephen Hillier, chair of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Isabel Hardman, assistant editor of The Spectator and Abta’s own chief executive Mark Tanzer will also speak at the event, which will be moderated by LBC’s Tom Swarbrick.
The virtual June 22 event will be the 11th Travel Matters conference, and the first since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Themed ‘Politics and Policies: An Agenda for Recovery’, the conference aims to explore the policies shaping the travel landscape, what the industry can learn from the upheaval of the past year, and what’s needed from government to rebuild travel in the medium term.
The event is attended by chief executives and senior directors from the travel and tourism industry, political figures, government stakeholders and national and travel trade media.
Abta members have been invited to this year’s event free of charge. Partners are charged £99 plus VAT and non-members £150 plus VAT.
The event will be streamed via a customised digital platform from a studio in central London.
Mark Tanzer said: “This year’s Travel Matters conference comes at one of the most crucial times in the history of the travel industry, as we take the first steps on the road to recovery from the deepest crisis that our industry has ever faced.
“We’re offering free places for our members for this year’s event so we hope they will be able to join us as we discuss how to rebuild travel effectively, restore consumer confidence in travel and build a strong foundation for future challenges.”
Andrew Flintham, managing director of Tui, northern region, will be giving the keynote speech at this year’s event.
He said: “After an incredibly difficult period for our industry, and with the first very small steps to recovery underway, the Travel Matters conference is the perfect time to look at how we collectively work through the challenges of another uncertain summer season – and how we will all come back stronger and rebuild consumer confidence in travel.”
Abta said pre-registration is “essential” as places are limited. For more information and to register, click here.