Delivering Sustainable Travel Conference

With 59% of people now saying that the sustainability credentials of their holiday provider are important to them when planning a trip* travel companies cannot ignore the commerciality of incorporating sustainability across their business, products and services. 

In line with ABTA’s continued Tourism for Good initiative this major conference will take a very practical look at how we can use tourism as a force for good to deliver growth within environmental limits and what practical steps you can take internally, with your suppliers and with your customers.

Climate change is among the top traveller concerns and covers a number of areas, including biodiversity which is gaining increasing focus in destinations**. Attendees will examine how to ensure their continued business growth and recovery is sustainable and positively contributes to communities, natural ecosystems, and cultural heritage across the globe. Hear from destinations and tour operators alike who will share examples of taking a collective approach to ensure benefits of tourism are felt by all. 

Explore how to tackle sustainability internally and get buy in from stakeholders and senior leadership. Gain insight into how future investors view travel businesses who can demonstrate sustainable values. Discuss how to set roles and responsibilities internally and what skillsets are needed to tackle responsible travel goals.

Attend to also receive practical guidance on how to communicate effectively with your customers and staff on sustainability through your marketing, product and customer service strategies. 

Hear from sustainability experts and industry representatives on how they are approaching sustainability across their businesses. 

*ABTA consumer sentiment research, October 2022
**ABTA Holiday Habits report 2022

• Keynote: the climate footprint of the global travel & tourism sector
• Reflections from the past year on travel and tourism’s impact - climate change, nature and biodiversity, destination management and human rights 
• How should we measure progress?
• Embedding sustainability into your business DNA and tackling sustainability strategy across your organisation
• Role of technology in sustainable solutions
• Industry case studies including impact of climate change on ski operations
• Interactive discussion groups; plastics, setting science based targets, communicating with customers, supporting local communities  
• The value of nature in travel and tourism – nature positivity targets 

Moderator: Susan Deer, Director of Industry Relations, ABTA

Susan joined ABTA in 2016 as Senior Solicitor, providing legal advice to ABTA Member businesses, as well as services to support ABTA’s public affairs and trade relations activity.  She has extensive experience in the travel industry, having worked in hotel reservations, tour operating and business travel before beginning her legal career. Since October 2019, as Director of Industry Relations, Susan is responsible for managing relationships with UK travel industry stakeholders, FCO and destination government liaison and overseeing sustainability, operations, crisis management and health & safety in destinations.

Carol Rose, Head of Sustainability, ABTA

Under ABTA’s ‘Tourism for Good’ framework, Carol’s role is to deliver ABTA’s strategy for sustainable travel and tourism, across the areas of environment and climate change, destination management and local impact, human rights, and animal welfare. Carol comes from the Fashion and Textile industry  and has travelled extensively around the globe, working strategically with diverse supply chains to refine design and production techniques. Carol was the Technical Advisor to Defra’s Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP) at WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), delivering on the objectives for the fashion industry to reduce the carbon, water, and waste footprint of clothing on the environment. Carol has also worked as a Principal Net Zero Consultant guiding businesses to develop and implement their sustainability/net-zero strategies. Carol brings a multisectoral approach to the travel and tourism sector, where she believes the lessons learned on her journey will help to supporting ABTA  Members to bring positive change to the industry. 

Julia Simpson, President and CEO, WTTC

Julia Simpson President and CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council.  She spent 14 years in the aviation sector on the Board of British Airways and Iberia and as Chief of Staff at International Airlines Group. Before joining British Airways, Julia was senior adviser to the UK Prime Minister. She held a number of key positions in the UK government and public sector, including Director at the Home Office and Department for Education and Employment; Assistant Chief Executive at the London Borough of Camden; and head of communications at the Communication Workers Union. Julia is on the Board of the London Chamber of Commerce
 

• Matt Callaghan, Director of Customer & Operations, easyJet holidays
• Kasia Morgan, Group Head of Sustainability, Travelopia
• John Mansell, COO, Hotelplan
• Andrew Murphy, Head of Sustainability, Eurostar
• Karen Musgrave, Head of PR & Communications, Barrhead Travel Group
• Amirah Khan, Senior Consultant, Deloitte
• Ian Corbett, Sustainable Business Manager, TUI UK
• Joanna Reeve, Head of Business Development, Intrepid Travel
• Bethany Hawkings, Senior Manager, Deloitte
• Chris Thompson, Senior Independent Sustainability Auditor
• Helen Coop, Managing Director, Travel, Four Communications 
• Eleni Skarveli, Director, Greek National Tourism Organisation
• Tom Armitt, Global Manager, Planeterra
• Mireia Delgado, Business Director, Preverisk
• Toby Roxburgh, Sustainability & Climate Change Senior Manager, Deloitte
• Pippa Jacks, Editorial Director, TTG

• Hear how to develop a consistent sustainable policy across your business operations, products and suppliers 
• Hear industry case studies from peers
• Understand where to look for help and practical guidance as you develop and implement your strategy
• Learn how to improve customer and stakeholder communications and appeal to a broader consumer base by promoting your organisation as an ethical business
• Understand the tools and support available from ABTA to help you develop a sustainable business approach
• Network with and discuss commons challenges with industry peers and sustainability experts.

This conference is for travel agents, tour operators and the wider travel industry including:

• Directors and senior managers from travel companies of all sizes 
• Sustainability and CSR Teams
• Marketing and communications teams
• Product and sales teams

• ABTA Member/Partner rate*: £255+ VAT
• Non Member rate:  £375 + VAT

This includes lunch and refreshments throughout the day, post-event networking drinks reception, a certificate of attendance, and access to presentation slides after the event.

Discounts
•    Book 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.

Travel agents
ABTA is hosting a limited about of free places for Members who are solely travel agencies. Please email events@abta.co.uk to enquire and find out more. 

View our booking terms and conditions here.
Non-Members are welcome to attend. For information about becoming a Member click here.

^{*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.}

Venue partner

Four Agency Worldwide is a leading international independent agency with 350+ staff across offices in London, Sheffield, Wales, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh. We have fully integrated capabilities across PR, representation, social media, media planning & buying, creative, content and design.  Four’s dedicated travel team has experience across every aspect of media relations and sales and marketing, from building destination ambassadors to creating digital content campaigns, to training travel agents. We are also globally renowned as a safe pair of hands in a crisis. 

Headline sponsor

Preverisk is the leading provider of Health & Safety solutions to the travel and tourism sector.  Our expert consultancy teams support tour operators, OTAs, bed banks and DMCs across the world, carrying out thousands of physical and remote audits each year. We have offices in 4 continents, audit in 9 different languages, and are adept with the assessment of all supplier types (accommodations, transfers and excursions). Preverisk is championing the digital transformation of the Health & Safety sector, supported by industry leading technology across our suite of services – audit, analytics, e-learning, and more. But Preverisk are not just the Health & Safety experts – we are also industry leaders in the areas of Sustainability, Customer Experience, Quality Management, Animal Welfare and many more. We are carrying out our vision of building a better world based on safe, sustainable and positive tourism.

Since the emergence of the current COVID-19 pandemic, Preverisk has partnered with various industry bodies to develop innovative preventative programmes that encourage the recovery of the travel sector. We have collaborated in many projects of reference, from the development of the ABTA 'Post Pandemic Recovery' guide, to accommodation protocols for RIU hotels and many other hotel groups. We were even responsible for Health & Safety for the entire tourism circuit in Cape Verde for the Ministry of Tourism, in addition to auditing projects for the Egyptian Hotel Association and many other challenging initiatives. Get to know us, and see how we can help you!

Co-sponsor

Today’s challenges mean businesses must re-think their strategies; constantly innovate and provide new products and services, harness new technologies to deliver better value, and connect with their guests. 
As the largest professional services firm in the world and a leading provider to the travel, hospitality and leisure industry, Deloitte acts for owners, operators, developers, lenders and investors. Deloitte’s services include audit and assurance, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax, legal and related services. During its 175-year history, the organisation has grown tremendously in both scale and capabilities. Deloitte has approximately 345,000 people in more than 150 countries and territories. Yet, our shared culture and mission—to make an impact that matters—remains unchanged. This is evident not only in Deloitte’s work for clients, but also in our WorldClass ambition through which we will support 50 million people by 2030 develop job skills, improve educational outcomes, and access opportunities to succeed in this new economy, our WorldClimate sustainability programme, and our ALL IN diversity and inclusion strategy.
Deloitte is at the forefront of providing solutions that maximise value for our clients and ensure competitive advantage in what is an increasingly fast-changing and often volatile market.

The Greek National Tourism Organisation UK & Ireland Office is responsible for the promotion of tourism in Greece. Its main mission is to develop and promote the Greek tourism product through the implementation of marketing and PR campaigns in the UK and Ireland. By participating in trade shows, exhibitions, webinars and workshops, spanning across the country, alongside organizing press and fam trips, GNTO’s goal is to increase awareness and visibility of the country's diverse tourism portfolio. Every year, the GNTO office is running joint marketing campaigns with trade partners and educating initiatives in order to keep all our partners up to date with all the relevant developments in Greece. Finally, with sustainability being a central pillar of our strategy, the GNTO UK & Ireland Office will introduce the Sustainable Greece online platform in order to give our trade partners the opportunity to learn and engage with all the Greek projects and initiatives that target the "green" traveller.

Media partner

TTG was established as Travel Trade Gazette in 1953, as the world’s first weekly travel trade newspaper. Today, TTG Media exists to promote a smarter, better, fairer travel industry through delivering authoritative news and educational features, a news-led website, training events, annual awards ceremonies and creative marketing campaigns. Register for free at ttgmedia.com and sign up for daily news bulletins and event updates.

For information about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Sara Dolan on 07766 517 611 or email sdolan@abta.co.uk.