22 Sep
2014

ABTA in the news - July and August round-up

During July and August ABTA’s PR team covered a range of topics in the media to promote the interest of ABTA and our Members as many entered peak season, and as the focus of the consumer media turned to summer holidays.

As well as issuing releases on school and Bank holiday getaways, and the holiday habits of our MPs, the ABTA PR team also launched aSwim safe campaign in conjunction with the Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS). The campaign was well received by the press with coverage on Sky and Channel 5 and also led to good engagement on British consulate social media profiles. In addition to these proactive campaigns, ABTA handled a steady stream of issues reactively. July and August were busy months with our team covering issues such as delays to the passport processing, Gatwick baggage handling delays, increased security checks for passengers travelling through UK airports and the change in flight paths around the Ukraine and Russia. We also responded to reports on British behaviour abroad, and the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa.

In the past two months ABTA have been mentioned in 946 print articles and we have participated in 81 broadcast interviews including Good Morning Britain x5, BBC Breakfast, ITV Central, ITV Southwest x2, BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester x2, BBC Radio Kent x2, BBC Radio Tees, BBC radio Three Counties, Sky News x4, Channel 5 News, BBC1 Crimewatch, BBC Radio 5 Live, Absolute Radio, Kiss FM and Magic FM.  On 22 July ABTA was also featured on Crime Watch as part of a holiday booking fraud special report, which has allowed for further awareness around our campaign with police .