ABTA has kicked off a two week University road show to educate students about the ABTA brand and the benefits of booking with an ABTA Member. 

ABTA hopes to meet over 17,000 students over the course of the two week road show, which sees ABTA visit seven campus universities (Edinburgh, Newcastle, Manchester, Sheffield, Warwick, Hertfordshire and Southampton) as well as reaching thousands more through social media and PR activity.

The road show consists of a mobile set that ABTA will take to each university. At the centre of the set is a fun and engaging ‘tiki-bar’ where students will be able to find out more about ABTA, enter competitions and meet ABTA and ABTA Member representatives to learn more about the brands. They will also receive a sweet giveaway from the Turkish Tourist Board. ABTA Members involved in the roadshow include Tucan Travel, STA Travel, eufest and The Travel Bureau and 2wentys.

The road show forms part of ABTA’s broader “Look for the Logo” campaign, which aims to educate consumers about the benefits of booking with an ABTA Member and remind them to look for the logo when they book. Materials from ABTA’s “Look for the Logo” campaign will be available to view on the stand, including a video and leaflet called “Why book with an ABTA Member”. 

The road show also builds on ABTA’s activities to raise brand awareness amongst younger audiences. Last summer ABTA organised a university summer tour which reached over 100,000 students on and offline via events at Portsmouth, Nottingham and Warwick universities.

Victoria Bacon, Head of Communications ABTA said: “The Look for the Logo campaign is all about broadening people’s understanding of ABTA and the benefits we offer consumers, such as expert travel advice and the Code of Conduct . The roadshows are a great opportunity for both ABTA and our Members to meet students face-to-face and speak to them about who we are and what we have to offer. We know from our university events last year that there was strong appetite from the students to engage with us and we’re looking forward to building on that this year.”