Virtual event

Travel Marketing and PR Conference

    10 March 2021
    09:30-17:00
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Event details

In 2021, the Travel Marketing and PR Conference will be brought to you virtually in a one-day format. Content will be streamed live via a custom digital platform, alongside practical training workshops and online networking for marketing, communications and PR professionals.

Learn how to flex and adapt your marketing and PR plans to react to changing trends and circumstances in travel. Equip your teams with the practical skills and knowledge they need to react fast and adapt to changes in the travel market.

About the event

More than half of people say that, following the suspension of international travel, their holidays are either as important, or more important to them than before*. It is vital that you have the right marketing and communication strategies in place to proactively engage customers and convert bookings as travel restarts. 

2021 will still not be ‘business-as-usual’ for travel companies, agile marketing and PR strategies will be required. News of the vaccine, FCDO advice and Government restrictions continue to impact booking patterns and demand. Now, more than ever, you will need to be able to adjust, flex and adapt your marketing and PR plans and continue to keep your marketing communications relevant.

For some travellers, who are not yet ready to book, they are fact-finding and dreaming of future trips. Many customers are leaving it later to book, and others are actively searching to buy and book now. People spend more time on their phones, interact with brands online and rely on technology more than ever. Your marketing and PR strategies must appeal to all of these audiences. Learn how to harness this appetite and rebuild trust among consumers. Ensure you are taking into account more polarised audiences and changing media consumption.

*ABTA’s Holiday Habits Research 2020

Conference sessions

  • Insight into what travel will look like in 2021 
  • Changes in how people are consuming advertising media
  • Latest consumer sentiment – what is it telling you as marketing and PR professionals?
  • Agile, dynamic marketing and communication strategies
  • Ensuring your brand remains visible as the industry recovers 
  • Optimising online spend on reduced budgets 
  • Inspirational creative campaigns 
  • Social media’s role in recovery 
  • The future of the marketing team – in house vs agency

Workshops and training

  • Role of brand advocates and UGC in recovery and assurance building
  • Instagram – your social content 
  • PR and media strategies on a budget 
  • Preparing for a cookie-less future 
  • SEO and PPC optimisation during recovery 
  • Using data to build back better 
  • How marketing and PR can work more closely than before
  • Email strategies 

Speakers

  • Moderator: Graeme Buck, Director of Communications, ABTA
  • Toby Horry, Group Brand and Content Director, TUI
  • David Child, Head of Brand and PR, Thomas Cook
  • Dean Harvey, Marketing Director, Kuoni
  • Mikey Sadowski, General Manager, Global PR, Intrepid Travel
  • Andy Headington, CEO, Adido
  • Stuart Baker, Business Director, Travel, GWI
  • Susan Coghill, Chief Marketing Officer, Tourism Australia 
  • Cat Jordan, Senior Communications Manager, Travelzoo 
  • Alex Seigel, Director, The Dragon Trip
  • Erin Johnson, Marketing Director, Tailormade - Sovereign, Citalia 
  • Rich Smith, Commercial Strategist, Global, The Media & Entertainment Group
  • George Kipouros, Editor-in-Chief & CEO, Wanderlust
  • Trudi Beggs, Director, 8020 Communications
  • Amy Skelding, Senior Partner, FINN Partners Travel UK
  • Debbie Flynn, Managing Partner and Global Travel Lead, FINN Partners Travel UK 
  • Drusilla Bryan, Managing Director, Gosh PR 
  • Richard Baker, Chief Commercial Officer, Inspiretec
  • Jules Ugo, CEO, LOTUS
  • Tom Crewe, Head of SEO, Adido
  • David Berendt, Head of Paid Media, Adido
  • Jack Clay, Principal Solutions Consultant & Account Director, Pure360
  • Andy Mallinson, Managing Director, Stackla
  • Tom Dunn, Strategy Director, Wild Dog Design
  • Emma Brennan, Head of Media and PR, ABTA
  • Farhad Divecha, Managing Director, AccuraCast


Further speakers will be announced shortly and will include marketing and PR experts, research companies and industry representatives.

Who should attend?

  • Marketing professionals of all levels 
  • PR and communications professionals of all levels 
  • Customer insight teams
  • CRM and data teams
  • Senior managers and team leaders 
  • Digital marketing teams
  • Social media teams
  • Brand teams
  • Senior managers and directors

Event prices

ABTA Members & Partners 

Individual rate - £125 plus VAT *

Business rate – £399 plus VAT * 
This rate enables you to train your whole team digitally, in a cost-effective manner. The business rate includes five digital log-ins. Up to five people can attend at any one time, and on-demand content can be shared more widely amongst your team. 

Non-Members 

Individual rate - £199 plus VAT 

Business rate – £599 plus VAT 
This rate enables you to train your whole team digitally, in a cost-effective manner. The business rate includes five digital log-ins. Five people can attend at any one time, and on-demand content can be shared more widely amongst your team. 


View our booking terms and conditions 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 format

This is a virtual conference with online training, brought to you in a one-day format, via a custom virtual event platform. 

  • The sessions will be streamed stream and broadcast via the platform.
  • Interactive breakout training for smaller groups.
  • Submit your questions in advance or during the conference.
  • Network with attendees via 1:1 chat, arrange 1:1 video meetings, visit sponsor hubs for exclusive content, guidance and resources.
  • Watch recorded content on-demand after the event.
  • Online support and tutorials available.  

Sponsorship

Headline sponsor
 


At Adido we deliver strategic and performance driven digital marketing campaigns based on insights, knowledge and experience. In a saturated market, there are many challenges for businesses within the travel sector, from smoothing your booking curve, attracting loyal customers to fill your shoulder months, increasing direct bookings, engaging your valuable travel agent partners, or decreasing the frustration of high abandon rates. We pride ourselves on always being at the forefront of our specialism by constantly developing our digital knowledge within all areas of digital marketing, so our clients benefit by staying ahead of the competition. 
Get in touch with our team on: hello@adi.do | +44 (0) 1202 586 300


Sponsors

At 8020 Communications, we’re in the inspiration game. As a leading travel PR agency, we know how to put travel destinations, products and services on the map. Through creative media relations, vivid digital media campaigns, valued marketing content and reputation management, we connect the right travellers to businesses and generate the excitement that builds bookings and sales. 8020’s team is passionate about travel and combines that spark with deep industry insight, creativity and brilliant execution to ensure outstanding, measurable PR results. Our team’s experience includes leading tour operators, destinations, airlines, airports, private aviation services, accommodation providers, TMCs and travel technology companies.

FINN Partners works across every segment of the travel and tourism sector. From inbound to outbound tourism, aviation to hospitality, car rental and trade associations, to ferry and cruise lines and from travel technology to travel insurance there is no area that Brighter hasn't undertaken a successful PR, digital and marketing campaign for a client. Made up of a team of dynamic experts, Brighter Group has been awarded Best PR Agency three years in a row and Best Representation Agency in 2019 & 2020 at the Travel Marketing Awards as well as Best PR Company & Best Representation Company in TTG’s Awards and Best Digital Influencer Campaign and Best Tourism Marketing Agency at the ITTAs not to mention Best Digital Campaign at the Corp Comms awards. Brighter’s ethos is to work dynamically and inclusively as an extension of a client’s team to create compelling campaigns, win awards, generate inspiring coverage to ultimately gain market share and impact the bottom line.

Global is one of the world’s leading Media & Entertainment groups. Europe’s largest radio company, Global is home to respected, national market leading media brands broadcasting across the UK on DAB & FM and around the world on Global Player, including Capital, Heart, Classic FM, LBC, LBC News, Global’s Newsroom, Smooth, Radio X, Capital XTRA and Gold.  Global Player allows listeners to enjoy all of Global’s radio brands, award-winning podcasts, and expertly curated playlists, in one place in app, on web and on smart speakers. Global is also one of the leading Outdoor companies in both the UK & Europe, with over 235,000 sites reaching 95% of the UK population. Global’s extensive and diverse outdoor portfolio encompasses Transport for London’s Underground network, almost all major UK airports including Gatwick, the UK’s largest portfolio of roadside posters and premium digital screens in prime locations, as well as the UK’s largest network of buses including all major cities. On-air, on Global Player and with our outdoor platforms combined, Global reaches 51 million individuals across the UK every week, including 25 million on the radio alone. Global created and operates DAX (Digital Ad Exchange), the market leader in digital audio advertising and a pioneering platform in programmatic outdoor advertising. The company headquarters is in London’s iconic Leicester Square. Ashley Tabor-King OBE is Founder & Executive President, Stephen Miron is Group CEO, Lord Allen is Chairman and James Rea is Director of Broadcasting. Ashley Tabor-King created Global in 2007.
 

Founded in 2009, GlobalWebIndex's goal is to provide consumer insights at the deepest level, in the most accessible way. We are a market research firm, with technology at our core. The quality of our data can’t be matched and our world-leading panel gives you the clearest possible understanding of consumer lifestyles, mindsets and habits. Our teams of analysts, researchers and industry experts keep up with worldwide and local trends and find out what it takes to make insight like ours work for your business.
 

The Inspiretec offering is perfected from almost three decades of experience specifically within the travel industry. Our product and service stack presents end-to-end solutions for travel agents, tour operators, loyalty brands, hotels, conference destinations, OTAs and tourism organisations. Our mission is to help travel providers, tourism organisations and tour operators grow, by helping them leverage customer-first technology and end-to end digital solutions – solutions comprising our enterprise class Reservations platform, our best-of-breed travel specific CRM and our award winning in-house digital web agency. Our customers trust us to drive their growth and profitability, by investing in our industry expertise and technology systems. We serve our clients from our head office in the UK and our office in North America.

We’re an independent, specialist PR and communications agency for travel and tourism brands. Our clients benefit from our expertise on public relations, travel representation, social media management, content creation, influencer relations & influencer marketing. Since our launch in 2005, we’ve evolved from a specialist travel and tourism public relations agency into a marketing communications company for brands and destinations, both large and small. We’ve been early adopters and innovators as the world and media landscape has altered – all in service of our clients. After all, we understand that it’s not easy to put yourself on the map, that’s why we’re here.

Founded by an all-female board in 2007, LOTUS is a formidable agency with a business-focused approach. Rooted in insight, LOTUS launches, positions and defines travel, tourism and food brands and raises client revenue through integrated communications, MICE and trade representation. Representing the leading names in the sector LOTUS has a portfolio of clients ranging from national and regional tourist boards, theme parks, transport providers and flagship brands. Working with specialist partners globally, offering in-market knowledge and delivering cross-market campaigns the agency can deliver local, regional and global solutions for the post-COVID travel sector. LOTUS is part of the award-winning W Communications family, providing seamless access to creative consumer marketing expertise and big-brand and celebrity partnerships. 

Stackla is the world’s smartest visual content platform for travel and hospitality brands, helping marketers discover, manage and publish the best authentic consumer content across all their marketing touchpoints. With an AI-powered user-generated content (UGC) platform, asset manager and organic influencer tool, Stackla sits at the core of the marketing stack, enabling brands to build a rich library of visual content by actively discovering, recommending and rights managing content from across the social web to fuel personalised content experiences at scale. Stackla is trusted by 450+ brands around the world, including, Radisson Hotel Group, Wyndham Resorts, Oceania Cruises, Contiki and Visit Scotland.
 

At Wanderlust, we inspire our readers to explore the planet. Established in 1993, Wanderlust is the UK’s longest running travel magazine. Throughout our 28-year history, our travel-mad storytellers have brought the world’s hidden corners to life. We always take the path less travelled, sharing the most authentic travel inspiration, expert advice, and daring photography. Our much-loved and multi-award-winning brand is trusted by readers worldwide to inform and inspire their travel choices with sustainability at the heart of everything we do. In 2021, we welcomed new owners to revamp our digital offering and rapidly expand our international footprint. So travel well, and travel further with us!
 

Wild Dog has been working for the specialist travel industry for more than 20 years, creating brands, brochures, websites and digital products for some of the UK’s most prestigious and respected Tour Operators. Based in Brighton, Wild Dog has always strived to offer a careful balance of creativity and technology, with considered and beautiful designs combined with state-of-the-art tech. Meanwhile, strategy is the bedrock of our work; and we base our approach for clients on solid consumer insight and evidence, making sure our designs work for our clients and their customers equally. This is supported by proprietary research into consumer behaviour and the role of digital across the purchase journey. 

Workshop sponsor

AccuraCast is an International Digital Marketing Agency. We help travel businesses grow globally by winning more leads and sales via online channels. We do this through data-led search, display, and social media marketing. We have an outstanding reputation for innovation, creativity and professionalism, and are proud of our record of delivering proven and exceptional results for our clients. Our services include social media marketing, programmatic display and search advertising, search engine optimisation, and mobile marketing in all major languages for businesses worldwide.
 

We provide the Travel industry with an all-in-one AI marketing platform and a Customer Success Team whose sole mission is to get you better results. We help our clients understand their audiences better, so they can increase sales, decrease churn and delight the consumer at every step in the life-cycle. Our unique combination of best of breed technology and our email maturity model allows us to work with travel marketers to take them on a journey of improving results through implementing cutting edge strategic automated campaigns. We work with over 1000 brands including Kuoni, Thomas Cook, Park Holidays, Woburn Safari Hotel and Visit Blackpool.

Exhibitor
 

Destination Film offers fast-turnaround, affordable video production for the travel industry. Established in 2009 by BBC cameraman Andrew McClenaghan, we’ve filmed 75 countries for leading tour operators. Our videos are authentic, cinematic and, above all, effective. Take a look at our work and be inspired!

For details on how to promote your company at this event, contact Matt Turton on mturton@abta.co.uk. 

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