Retail bosses at Travel Convention call on more agents to attend in future

Retail bosses at this year’s Abta Travel Convention have called on more frontline staff to attend next year’s conference, in response to a comment from an audience member on the “dearth” of agents at this year’s event.

During a Q&A session at the end of a panel discussion titled ‘Reasons to be cheerful – the agents’ perspective’, Your Holiday Booking agent Neil Smith said: “There are probably less than 20 agents attending this year – it seems there is a dearth of actual people on the ground selling holidays attending such a wonderful event.”

Speaking to Travel Weekly afterwards, he said: “The content we’ve heard over the last few days is very interesting and incredibly useful. We’re in an industry where the more you known and can learn, the better you’ll be at your job; it makes you feel more part of the industry. It just seems bizarre to have so few agents here.”

Of the 370 delegates at the Meliá Calvià Beach, there were 20 agents hosted by suppliers, in addition to “more agents and [head office] staff from large agencies”, according to an Abta spokesperson, but they did not have an exact figure.

Smith said that when he last attended the Abta Convention in 2000, there were “about 200 agents” at the event.

Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer told Travel Weekly he would “love to have more agents at next year’s convention”.

The panellists who formed the discussion agreed frontline representation this year was “lower than it should be” and that the content of the convention would be beneficial to more agents.

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Judith Alderson, commercial director at Newcastle-based agency Dawson & Sanderson, said she was “quite surprised at how low the travel agent community is represented”.

“It possibly comes down to cost,” she added. “A lot of travel agencies now are single branch, so for them to take themselves out of their business for such a long time is difficult. You’ve got to pick and choose which conferences you can go to.

“I think more tour operators and suppliers should recognise the value in their agency partners and get behind the sponsored places a bit more; I also think agents need to accept those places more. It’s a two-way street.”