Sustainable Travel Conference

8% of global carbon emissions are from tourism, transport making up the largest portion of this. With transport likely to be a large part of your overall value chain the expectation to act will hit the whole sector (Deloitte).

As sustainability continues to dominate the discussion in the travel sector, ABTA’s Sustainable Travel Conference is your opportunity to make sure you are aware and prepared for the challenges and opportunities presented.

Recent high-profile greenwashing cases have led to consumers becoming increasingly sceptical about sustainable travel claims. Discover how to communicate your sustainability requirements throughout your supply chain and work together with all your stakeholders to ensure you are providing a transparent and credible message.

Overtourism is another example of a highly topical issue in travel, as seen by a sharp increase in press coverage  and drastic measures taken by destinations such as Venice introducing an access fee. Hear examples and take part in discussion on how extremely popular destinations can be managed responsibly so as to best seize the opportunities tourism can generate for communities around the world.

Learn about the steps that can be taken to reduce emissions, get closer to achieving net-zero targets, and move beyond a pure carbon focus to create a sector that is a force for good, supporting livelihoods at home and in destinations and promoting the preservation of culture and nature. 

Through keynote presentations, sharing of best practice and collaboration, this comprehensive conference will provide you with tips and tools to help you achieve your sustainability goals.

Meet with your peers to collaborate and benchmark on these important issues during the breaks and at the networking drinks reception.

More details about the event, speakers and the agenda will be released shortly.

• Industry challenges and opportunities shaping travel today 
• Understanding sustainability across your supply chain
• Policy and regulation update  – what can we expect from the new Government? 
• Overcoming social challenges and protecting human rights 
• Understanding what can be done to tackle the problem of overtourism whilst supporting growing destinations 
• Complying with regulation when communicating your sustainability initiatives without greenwashing or greenhushing 
• Working with local communities to manage social concerns in destination 
• Measuring climate risk and its impact on the short, medium and long term for tour operations 
• Managing your IT footprint and understanding the impact of IT usage throughout your supply chain. 

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.

• Matt Callaghan, Chief Operating Officer, easyJet holidays 
• Paul Conroy, Head of Partnerships, Byway
• Mireia Delgado, Business Director, Preverisk
• Hedda Felin, Chief Executive Officer, Hurtigruten
• Mato Franković, Mayor of Dubrovnik
• Tasha Hayes, European Operations Director and Sustainability Officer, Contiki 
• Anthony Levy, Founder & Chairman, Circularity First 
• Jessica Matthia, Senior Director of Sustainability, Sabre 
• Kasia Morgan, Group Head of Sustainability, Exodus Travels
• Tudor Morgan, VP Sustainability and Industry Relations, HX Hurtigruten Expeditions 
• Carol Rose, Head of Sustainability, ABTA 
• Lethabo-Thabo Royds, Head of Content and Programme, World Travel & Tourism Council 
• Eleni Skarveli, Director, Greek National Tourism Organisation
• Daniel Turner, Director, Animondial 
• Rochelle Turner, B-Corp Impact Manager, Responsible Business, Intrepid
• Yvan Valasse, Manager, Intertek Cristal 

• Hear examples of successful sustainable initiatives and developments
• Take away practical tips from sustainability experts that you can implement in your own organisation
• Discover what you can do to manage expectations and consumer perceptions surrounding travel and sustainability 
• Take part in break out discussion groups to look at topics relevant to you in more depth
• Network with others in the industry to discuss the common challenges and share ideas.

The event is ideal for large and small companies within the travel industry, including the following:

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

ABTA Member/ABTA Partner rates*

Early bird rate – £279 plus VAT
Full rate – £319 plus VAT

Non-Member rates

Early bird rate – £439 plus VAT
Full rate – £479 plus VAT 

Early bird prices have now expired. 

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.

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

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.

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.}

Event partners

AVIAREPS UK is a global leader in Tourism and Aviation representation, providing bespoke solutions in destination marketing, public relations, airline and hotel sales, and event management. With 30 years of expertise, our team seamlessly blends global knowledge with local insight to enhance market presence, drive sales, and elevate brand awareness. We specialise in crafting impactful campaigns and strategies that forge meaningful connections between your brand and the UK audience.

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.

Founded in 1997 in the UK, Intertek Cristal and Intertek Checkpoint are trusted partners to major hotels and tour operators around the world providing a unique range of assurance solutions to the industry. Through its Cristal StandardSolutions and Checkpoint branded audit and software solutions, Intertek enables hoteliers, restauranteurs and tour operators to meet the highest industry-specific health & safety and security standards.

With global network of more than 3,000 auditors, Intertek provides the right set of tools and inspections, to provide total quality assurance to all its customers through 18 internationally recognized standards of excellence.

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!

Sabre Corporation is a leading technology company that takes on the biggest opportunities and solves the most complex challenges in travel. Sabre harnesses speed, scale and insights to build tomorrow’s technology today – empowering airlines, hoteliers, agencies and other partners to retail, distribute and fulfill travel worldwide. Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, USA, with employees across the world, Sabre serves customers in more than 160 countries globally. For more information visit www.sabre.com.

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 on how to promote your company at this event, please contact events@abta.co.uk.