ABTA – the Travel Association is launching a winter sports marketing campaign to tap into the growing winter sports market and encourage consumers to book their skiing or snowboarding holiday with an ABTA Member. The campaign will include events, PR and social media activities.

The activities will centre on the Ski and Snowboard show running from the 31st October to 4th November at Earl’s Court. ABTA will be exhibiting at the show, which attracts over 35,000 visitors, and running a number of activities from its stand as well as displaying Member logos and signposting to ABTA Members also exhibiting at the show. The activities will include a Wii ski jump competition to win a seven night snow-sure ski holiday, courtesy of ABTA Member Inghams; a prize draw to win either a seven night break courtesy of ABTA Members Travel Club Elite and Club Med or a weekend for two to Hemsedal, Norway courtesy of ABTA Member skiNorway; and fitness advice on the stand. ABTA staff will be on hand to give travel advice and there will also be tips and information for consumers about winter sports holidays.

As part of the activities ABTA will also be working with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on a joint consumer health and safety initiative to encourage consumers to properly prepare for their ski holidays. ABTA and the FCO have produced a joint Winter Sports Checklist and ABTA has created a guide on “How to have a safe and healthy holiday in the snow”, both are available on abta.com/getfitforski. ABTA will be promoting the materials via the media with a press release revealing ski specific findings from the ABTA Consumer Trends Survey 2012 and also through its social media channels.

Victoria Bacon, Head of Communications ABTA said: “For many of our Members the winter sports market is an important part of their business and these activities will help educate consumers about the advantages of booking with an ABTA Member in an inspiring and fun way. We also want to make sure those going away are fully prepared to enjoy their ski trip as that helps our Members ensure their customers have a safe and happy holiday.”

The activities form part of ABTA’s broader push to raise awareness of ABTA amongst 18-34 year olds. This summer ABTA ran a pilot roadshow targeting British universities which had a strong social media element to it as students posed for their photos and then tagged themselves on ABTA’s Facebook page. The activities resulted in over 100,000 photo views on ABTA’s Facebook page. The latest findings from ABTA’s Consumer Trends research also shows that awareness of ABTA has risen from last year amongst younger travellers. Nearly one in four (38%) of those aged 15-24 are aware of ABTA, which represents a slight increase from 2011 when awareness was 36% and a 7% increase from 2010.

More information about ABTA’s activities at the show can be found here.