Conference

Travel Finance Conference

    28 February 2024 - 29 February 2024
    09:30-16:30, followed by networking drinks on day one
  • Venue:
    KPMG, 15 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5GL
  • View agenda
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past event

Event details

ABTA’s annual two-day Travel Finance Conference returns in February 2024. The travel industry’s largest event for financial professionals will provide complete guidance on all the finance issues impacting the sector. 

About the event

This key industry event brings together travel representatives, financial experts, and industry regulators for two days of insightful updates and discussion.

Attend this conference to get an update on the current economic climate and financial trends in the travel industry, along with an essential regulatory update including the Package Travel Regulations review and ATOL reform. Learn how to better manage cash flow, financial risk, and inflation, and stay on top of changes in accounting and tax.

Through a mix of keynote presentations, engaging panel discussions and industry case studies, this conference will provide you with the insights and knowledge necessary to take on the latest challenges in Travel Finance.

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

Sessions

  • The current economic climate and the impact of global affairs on the travel industry
  • Negotiating the changing travel landscape including AI, climate change and workforce challenges
  • Accounting, financial reporting and audit update
  • The current M&A landscape, trends and what we can expect in the future
  • What is required in environmental, social and governance reporting
  • Training, recruitment and retention of finance talent
  • An essential regulation update for finance professionals including PTRs and ATOL reform
  • Advances in travel fintech, pricing and innovations in payments
  • Fraud risk management
  • Essential tax policy update
  • The future of travel VAT and TOMS
  • Currency outlook and managing volatility risk.

Speakers

Moderator: Felicity Jefferis-Boyd, Director of Finance, ABTA

Felicity joined ABTA in July 2023 as Director of Finance, looking after all the financial aspects of ABTA and ensuring compliance with statutory requirements. Felicity’s team provide all the in house finance services to the organisation and support other ABTA teams to provide excellent service to all stakeholders.
Felicity is a Chartered Accountant and was previously in finance leadership positions in not-for-profit organisations in the Education and Social Care sectors.

Moderator: Martin Alcock, Director, Travel Trade Consultancy 

Martin is one of TTC’s owners and manages the day-to-day running of the business.
He also helps operators, lenders, and investors in the travel sector to fix a range of financial regulatory and strategic problems, often related to ATOL, ABTA or IATA.
Prior to TTC, Martin qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers and worked in the ATOL department of the Civil Aviation Authority.
He is a prominent travel industry commentator, regularly sharing his opinions in The Telegraph, The Times, Wall Street Journal and on BBC television (though mainly the 5am slots that Simon Calder doesn’t fancy).
Having given up on his dream to play lead guitar for an international rock band, he now moonlights as an under-appreciated taxi driver for his two daughters. Thankfully, his years as a Sunderland supporter have taught him to cope well with disappointment.

Eugene Amo-Dadzie, Senior Management Accountant, Berkeley Group

Eugene Amo-Dadzie is a 100m sprinter for Great Britain, and one of the fast sprinters in the world today. His remarkable story within sport began in a unique way as he only started running in 2018 aged 26, as he is still a practicing full-time qualified chartered accountant. This summer he ran 9.93seconds in the 100m, becoming the 10th fastest European in history and the 4th fastest in UK history, alongside winning two national bronze medals. This was then followed by a 10th place at the World Athletics Championships, all whilst on annual leave from work!

Hear Eugene’s story and discover what is possible when you identify and work to develop your talent irrespective of barriers along the way.

Speakers include:

  • Simon Bunce, Director of Legal Affairs, ABTA
  • Yael Selfin, Chief Economist, KPMG 
  • Colman Candy, Director, Commercial Counsel, Royal Caribbean Group
  • Vicki Wolf, Head of Education and Career Development, ABTA
  • Ken Campling, Group Finance Director, Hays Travel
  • Michelle Heywood, Finance Director, easyJet Holidays
  • Colin Parselle, Chief Financial Officer, Hotelplan
  • Chad Lion-Cachet, Chairman, Clico Capital
  • Rachel Jordan, Director of Membership and Financial Protection, ABTA
  • Craig Belsham, Assistant Director, Partnerships & International Consumer Team, Department for Business & Trade
  • Susan Deer, Director of Industry Relations, ABTA
  • Danny Waine, Head of Membership, ABTA
  • Luke Davis, Chief Operating Officer, Diversifying Group
  • Will Bicknell, Founder, Felloh
  • Roshni Shah, Finance Director, Flight Centre Travel Group
  • Deborah Potts, Director, Summit Advisory 
  • Sami Doyle, CEO & Co-founder, TMU Management
  • Nicola Sartori, Partner, Corporate Finance, Grant Thornton
  • Eva Obersneider, Senior Business Development Manager, Equals Money
  • Alexander Simpson, Partner, Business Tax, Evelyn Partners
  • Alistair Nichol, Partner, Business Tax, Evelyn Partners
  • James Kearns, Commercial Manager, Kefron
  • Paul Thomas, Head of Business Development, Sagacity
  • Lisa Edwards-Webb, former Marketing Director, Saga Travel Group
  • Paul Stewart, Indirect Tax Director, KPMG
  • Mike McDonald, Managing Director, Consumer & Leisure M&A, Deal Advisory, KPMG
  • Mamoona Aslam, Director, M&A, KPMG
  • Rebecca Wilson, ESG & Corporate Reporting Director, KPMG
  • Simon Atkinson, Head of Travel, Barclays
  • Jamie Evans, Director of Travel, Barclays Payments
  • Luke Davis, Chief Operating Officer, Diversifying Group
  • Lisa Kingman, Senior Financial Protection Manager, ABTA
  • Richard Aston, Deal Advisory, KPMG
  • Ashleigh Ryninks, Director, Financial Accounting Advisory Services, Grant Thornton
  • Lisa Kingman, Senior Financial Protection Manager, ABTA

Benefits of attending

  • Gain in-depth insight on all the key travel finance issues facing companies today, including the latest accounting and tax issues
  • Get an update on the current economic climate, including the pace of economic recovery and consumer spending
  • Get an essential regulation update tailored for finance professionals
  • Hear first-hand experience from industry leaders and finance directors from large and small businesses
  • Gain insights into the future of financial protection
  • Hear the latest thinking and best practice in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting
  • Understand how you can better manage your foreign exchange risk to protect your bottom line
  • Hear an update on developments in fintech and payments 
  • Have the chance to bring your questions to ABTA, industry speakers and finance regulatory experts.

Who should attend?

The event is ideal for senior leaders and financial professionals from large and small companies within the travel industry, including the following:

  • CEOs and directors
  • Finance directors and managers
  • Finance, audit and commercial teams.

Event prices

ABTA Member/ABTA Partner rates*
Full two day rate – £439 plus VAT 
One day rate – £309 plus VAT 

Non-Member rates
Full two day rate – £699 plus VAT 
One day rate– £469 plus VAT 

This includes lunch and refreshments throughout the day, networking drinks on day one, all delegate materials, presentations and an attendee certificate.

You may attend one day and nominate a colleague to attend the other day. Please register your place for both days then email events@abta.co.uk with the name and job title of your colleague, and which day they would like to attend.

View our booking terms and conditions here.


Group bookings:
If you are interested in sending a group, please contact events@abta.co.uk for a bespoke cost.


*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.

Sponsorship

Host partner

KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership, operates from 21 offices across the UK with approximately 17,600 partners and staff.  KPMG is a global organization of independent professional services firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. It operates in 147 countries and territories and has more than 219,000 people working in member firms around the world. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. KPMG International Limited is a private English company limited by guarantee. KPMG International Limited and its related entities do not provide services to clients. The KPMG trademarks are the sole property of KPMG International Limited and its related entities and their use here does not imply auditing by or endorsement of KPMG International Limited, its related entities or any KPMG firms.

Event partners

The dedicated Travel team at Barclays supports your business with close relationships with peers, governmental, regulatory and industry bodies – plus deep experience in the domestic and cross-border operational banking and financing that the sector demands.

Equals Money combines an understanding of the travel industry with our portfolio of flexible product options, offering travel providers and their clients consolidated, end-to-end payment journeys. Accept global client payments via their preferred method using open banking. Collect funds across a range of currencies with a single multi-currency account. Make payments quickly with access to SWIFT, UK Faster Payments, and SEPA. Give your customers own-branded prepaid travel cards with our white label offering. Tried and trusted, we’ve helped our customers move over £10 billion around the world since 2005.

With almost 200 years’ experience in helping people and businesses flourish, at Evelyn Partners our mission is ‘to place the power of good advice into more hands’. We are the UK’s leading integrated wealth management and professional services group, looking after our client’s combined wealth and tax needs and providing specialist accountancy, assurance, tax and advisory services for businesses. Our clients range from online investors to charities to entrepreneurs and corporate businesses. All our advice is delivered by people who care and go further to understand your needs and help you make those big decisions with ease and confidence. 

Felloh - real-time Payment Operations.
Accurately monitor the flow of cash through your travel business. Connect payment and booking data to deliver real-time reconciliation, booking level ledgers, integrated approvals and supplier payments, all compatible with the PTR’s. Talk to us now to find out how we are already saving over 200 travel business time and money, hello@felloh.com, www.felloh.com

Grant Thornton's dedicated Travel, Tourism and Leisure (TTL) team have a strong track record of working with successful and dynamic organisations throughout the sector both in the UK and internationally, delivering commercial and pragmatic solutions from a multi-disciplinary, international team, to ensure that all angles are covered. Our global footprint, industry specialists, track record, range of services and network of industry associates and experts places us in a unique position of being able to deliver a fully integrated service offering and allows clients the comfort that they will receive a dedicated and bespoke service from a single source provider.


 Kefron provides a range of information management solutions including accounts payable automation. Our Accounts Payable Automation solution, Kefron AP, is an accurate, adaptable and easy to use AI invoice automation solution that simplifies the most complex AP processes effortlessly with next-gen touch-free processing.
Only Kefron AP provides extraction optimisation as standard, at no extra charge. Our proprietary AI technology does the heavy-lifting, and our team of skilled Extraction Experts refine and optimise so you don’t have to…. So everything just flows.

Sagacity works with some of the country’s leading brands to support them in making informed decisions powered by the intelligent use of data. Founded in 2005, Sagacity is a customer-centric business with a World Class +82 Net Promoter Score. While it is sector agnostic, it primarily works with clients across the utilities, telecoms, financial services, charity and retail sectors to improve customer prospecting and marketing, customer management, billing, collections and retention over the lifetime of the customer.
 

 

 

Modernised Financial Failure Insurance, Supplier Failure Insurance and Schedule Airline Failure Insurance solutions for a long term post-covid world.

Trust Payments is a leader in fintech and has decades of experience in the travel sector. Our full end-to-end payments solution ensures secure, speedy collection of guest payments such as booking fees, flight tickets and accommodation deposits.
We treat operators and agents as unique customers - offering bespoke payment solutions to help handle transactions in fast and secure ways with competitive fees, flexible settlement and tailored support backed by an expert team are on hand 24/7. Our solutions help travel operators reduce costs, be more efficient and have higher approval rates with in-built fraud screening, chargeback representation and management. 
www.trustpayments.com/travel

Networking partner

Acetravelbonding is a trading name of Wentworth Surety Limited. 
Formed July, 2000, to meet the pressing need for a specialist bonding insurance broker.
Our team specialises in providing unique and effective solutions to help alleviate the pain of bonding. We understand that everyone's situation is different, and we work closely with our clients to create personalised plans that meet their specific needs. 
From the trials of the pandemic, we've emerged stronger, having guided our agents and tour operators through the labyrinth of challenges. Our unwavering commitment to excellence has shown that the surge in business is not merely a consequence of pent-up demand. 
You can trust us, just as many of our clients have, to navigate the tides of uncertainty. With over 25 years of experience, we are adept at meeting your bonding requirements and can offer you the same expertise and peace of mind. Join us on this journey toward prosperity.

For information on how to promote your company at this event, please contact Sara Dolan on 07766 517 611 or email sdolan@abta.co.uk.

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Testimonials

"The event was well organised with a diverse range of speakers who had good knowledge of their topics."
Kevin Bunney
The Travel Corporation
"I thoroughly enjoyed the event. The speakers were informative and the day ran smoothly."
Alison Harris
Alan Rogers Travel Group
"Well organised and relevant topics. The finance conference has improved each year and is now a must attend for all travel finance professionals. Very informative and useful."
Travel Finance Conference
2019