TWO NEW ABTA BOARD MEMBERS
Date published: 22 July 2008ABTA is pleased to announce that two new Board members have been appointed with immediate effect - Stewart Baird, Sales & Operations Director of Virgin Holidays, and Tim Williamson, Marketing and Product Director of TUI Travel UK.
Stewart Baird joined Virgin Holidays in 2002, and has long been an advocate of the travel sector speaking as one voice. He was part of the FTO team which handled the ABTA/FTO merger, and sat on the FTO board between 2004 and 2008.
Baird said: “I am delighted to accept the position on behalf of FTO members and feel the new ABTA organisation can drive significant change through the industry and provide real value for its Members,” he continued, “I was excited by the prospect of bringing the FTO and ABTA together, and although this change will see challenges, I am committed with the rest of the Board to driving integration and delivering the benefits to all Members and to the sector as a whole.”
Tim Williamson, Marketing and Product Director TUI Travel UK, has 12 years experience within the travel industry, joining First Choice in 1996 as a ski representative. He progressed to General Manger and was appointed Product Director in 2002. In 2006 he became Marketing Director and following the merger of First Choice and Thomson last year he has become Marketing and Product Director of TUI Travel UK. He has served on the FTO Board.
Williamson said: "The merger of ABTA and FTO holds some great challenges and massive opportunities for us all. The combined body will be far better placed to represent the needs of its industry-wide Members and will be in a much stronger position to be taken even more seriously by Government. That can only be a good thing, allowing us to ensure that those making legislative decisions about the future of our industry understand more about the market in which we operate. I'm looking forward to working with the rest of the ABTA Board in ensuring we create a strong and effective trade association that the whole industry is proud of."
Mark Tanzer, ABTA Chief Executive said: “As we move forward with a greater focus on Member services and Government lobbying, we are delighted that Stewart and Tim have agreed to join the ABTA Board. The travel industry is evolving very rapidly and our Members face many challenges as they adapt their businesses. Both Stewart and Tim have been at the forefront of these changes and their expertise will be invaluable to ABTA.”
For further information
Sean Tipton, Communications Officer, tel: 020 7307 1902/1900Frances Tuke, Public Relations Manager, tel: 020 7307 1903/1900
David Marshall, Head of Policy and Communications, tel: 020 7307 1912. Mobile: 07894 073010
Out of Hours: Contact the Duty Press Officer via pager: 07659 190987
E-mail: press@abta.co.uk
Web: www.abta.com
Notes to editors
ABTA was founded in 1950 and currently has over 1,500 Members with 6,000 outlets. Members include travel agents, tour operators and support services right across the spectrum from small family-owned businesses to the largest tour operators.
ABTA is the largest travel association in the UK and its members provide 90% of the foreign package holidays in the UK as well as selling millions of independent travel arrangements.
As part of its comprehensive package of services to Members, ABTA, as a non-party political organisation, also provides an effective voice to represent the interests of its Members to government and key opinion formers at the highest levels. In the UK, these include, government ministers, constituency MPs, Select Committee members, senior civil servants and members of the political opposition parties in both Westminster and the devolved administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
In Europe, ABTA is forming close ties with members of the European Parliament, the European Commission and staff within the Director Generals’ Secretariats. ABTA works in partnership with ECTAA (the European grouping of travel agents and tour operators’ associations) to lobby on interests relevant to its Members.
