Event details ABTA’s popular one-day training day will provide you with the skills and knowledge to drive business growth and improve brand loyalty by providing consistently excellent customer service. This seminar is specifically tailored for the travel industry. It is suitable for small, medium and large organisations and will look at ways to optimise your customer service strategy, empower your workforce and improve communication across all your channels. About the event With competition between travel companies increasingly fierce, a reputation for excellent customer service can sway the customer’s decision in your favour.A positive experience, from booking through to after-sales, can generate personal recommendations to friends and family as well as positive reviews online. Whereas unhappy customers and negative reviews can become damaging to any travel company. And with social media providing customers an open platform to call out bad experiences, the stakes for travel businesses are higher than ever. For new customers, a great experience may be the reason they complete their booking with you rather than a competitor, and just one great experience can turn a customer into a lifelong advocate for your brand.Attend this essential training day to get practical guidance on how to consistently offer the best customer experience across all channels. Consumer expectations for excellent customer service are constantly evolving, preferred channels of communication are changing rapidly, and the impact of innovation and automation can’t be ignored any longer.Get an overview of what best-in-class customer service looks like today in travel companies, understand the typical customer journey, and learn how to empower your customer service team to deliver consistently excellent service.Gain an edge over your competitors and help drive business growth and improve brand loyalty through excellent customer service. Sessions Trends in customer service and learnings from the travel industryThe business case for investing in customer serviceHow automation and technology can improve the customer experienceTransforming pre-departure communicationHow to deliver great customer service when things changeCustomer service for all: accessibility and inclusionHow a commitment to improving ESG can help to deliver customer service excellenceUsing customer service feedback to inform wider strategyThe impact of on-holiday and post-holiday customer service. Speakers Moderator: Charles Fachiri, Senior Customer Information Manager, ABTA Charles started his career in travel in 1987 when he worked for Sunmed Holidays, in the overseas operations office in Turkey and upon his return to the UK within the reservations and customer relations departments. He later moved on to work for Cosmos within the same field of customer relations, where he inspected hotels and followed up on complaints in destination. Charles then moved into the cruise sector where he worked for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. In 1997 Charles joined ABTA and now is the Senior Customer Information Manager. Richard Baker, CCO, InspiretecKim Daplyn, Global Head of Guest Relations, Swan HellenicMeera Tharmarajah, Solicitor, ABTARacquel Hardie, Sales Manager - UK/EU, Intrepid TravelAndrew Everett, Flight Manager (UK & Europe), Intrepid TravelCraig Taylor, Senior Executive - Customer Services, KuoniRaymond Veal, CEO, Tourism for AllJimmy McLean, Customer Service Manager, Wendy Wu ToursProfessor Neeru Malhotra, Professor of Marketing, School of Management and Marketing, University of GreenwichNicki Blackford, Guest Relations Manager, Ambassador Cruise Line Benefits of attending Hear real-life industry examples from experienced travel industry customer relation professionalsGet guidance on using different channels of communication seamlesslyDevelop an understanding of your customer and their booking journeyReview your workforce development – do your team have the confidence to provide great customer service?Understand the business case for investing in customer service and how it can generate future businessNetwork with industry peers and share ideas and best practice Who should attend? This training has been designed for those in the travel industry with responsibility for customer service and sales including:Managing DirectorsSenior ManagersCustomer operations teamsCustomer experience teamsSales teams and consultants Event prices ABTA member/Partners:Standard member rate - £279Non-members:Standard non-member rate - £419This includes lunch and refreshments throughout the day, all delegate materials, presentations and an attendee certificate. Make payment by credit or debit card. View our booking terms and conditions here.DiscountsBook three places and get 50% off the third place.(This discount will be automatically applied when you book online.)If you are looking to book for a larger group please contact events@abta.co.uk for a bespoke discount.*To qualify for the ABTA Member/Partner discount you must have a current ABTA Member/Partner number or your application must be in progress when the event takes place.Non-Members are welcome to attend. For information about becoming a Member click here. Sponsorship Inspired Solutions Deliver Great ResultsInspiretec unlocks the power of technology to solve the challenges facing the travel and leisure industry and help your business grow.Our end-to-end customer experience management solution allows you to deliver flawless travel experiences for your customers, from enquiry through to booking and aftercare.With products that work together or individually, including the only CRM built for the travel and leisure businesses and an end-to-end reservation system purpose-built for tour operators and travel agents, our products offer a seamless experience across all customer touchpoints. We’re proud to be proven allies to some of the most recognised and well-known brands in the global travel sector, including Travelopia and Gold Medal (now part of dnata Travel).These and many other respected travel businesses trust our extensive industry expertise and technology systems to drive their growth and profitability.www.inspiretec.comFor information on how to promote your company at this event, please contact events@abta.co.uk.
Testimonials "Brilliantly organised, entertaining, educational. I feel I can apply a lot of what was learnt to improve my customer excellence with clients and staff." Jessica Sawbridge RSD Travel "The speakers were knowledgeable and made it fun and engaging. I have taken a lot back from this. It was wonderful." Gayle Allsopp Villa Plus "Enjoyed listening to other delegates experiences and best practices. Thank you." Emma Jane Browning James Villas "Informative and engaging speakers, well prepared presentations, good timings, well paced." Jim Connor IBT Travel Group
"Brilliantly organised, entertaining, educational. I feel I can apply a lot of what was learnt to improve my customer excellence with clients and staff." Jessica Sawbridge RSD Travel
"The speakers were knowledgeable and made it fun and engaging. I have taken a lot back from this. It was wonderful." Gayle Allsopp Villa Plus
"Enjoyed listening to other delegates experiences and best practices. Thank you." Emma Jane Browning James Villas
"Informative and engaging speakers, well prepared presentations, good timings, well paced." Jim Connor IBT Travel Group