Three experts at Abta have been named in the Women in Trade Associations Powerlist 2024.
The powerlist, unveiled on International Women’s Day (March 8) and in its second year, celebrates inspirational women working in trade associations who champion their sector, support colleagues and always deliver for their members.
Among this year’s inclusions are Angie Hills, Abta’s head of destinations; Vicki Wolf, Abta’s head of education and career development; and Emma Brennan, Abta’s head of media and communications.
More: G Adventures and Abta LifeLine call for charity trek donations
Hills oversees the key support and advice given to members during a crisis and also provides leadership and advice on non-competitive matters, including health, safety, security and operations in destinations.
During last year’s wildfires in Rhodes and Corfu, Hills and her team provided a forum to help Abta members and support information exchange among Abta travel businesses, Greek and UK authorities and other government departments.
She said: “Being named on the powerlist is a wonderful endorsement of our work at Abta to support our members not just during a crisis but with other important aspects of their business.
“I’m delighted to lead such a strong team of female professionals to help our members when they need us most.”
Wolf, a leading expert on education and careers in the sector, brought together a working group after the government said it wanted to de-fund post-16 education options for those wishing to pursue a travel and tourism qualification.
Experts on the working group identified a solution which is now subject to regulatory approval.
Wolf said: “I’m passionate about giving youngsters the necessary training to develop skills so they can enjoy a rewarding career in the travel industry.
“Backed by a dedicated team here at Abta, I’m delighted that appearing on the powerlist will showcase the progress we have made for post-16 education options in travel to continue.”
Brennan, a high-profile trade association spokesperson, has frequently featured on national TV and radio to speak about issues affecting Abta members.
Last summer, she led Abta’s media response to two major tourism crises during peak season – the wildfires in Greece and the air traffic control outage over the August bank holiday weekend.
During the initial three-day ‘breaking news’ period following the wildfires, Brennan gave more than 20 broadcast interviews. These served to dampen speculation and communicated facts on behalf of Abta members.
Photo (from left): Angie Hills, Vicki Wolf and Emma Brennan