National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) is fast approaching and it seems fitting that ABTA’s Developing and Retaining Talent event takes place in the same week, on 6 February. Getting people to understand what’s so great about a career in the travel industry has been a huge focus of mine for more years than I’d like to admit. In my view, the challenging past few years have shone a light on the real knowledge and skill involved in our industry. Skilled professionals across all areas of the travel industry are to be nurtured, but we also have to attract new talent to our sector in a very challenging recruitment environment.

Apprenticeships are one way to achieve this, but there are also a number of other ways of attracting and retaining talent. Our event on 6 February will give you a chance to hear from experts from different areas. We’ll hear from experts on apprenticeships, but also from universities specialising in travel and tourism. I’m really looking forward to hearing about how diversity and inclusion can be improved and how addressing this will strengthen your workforce. Within inclusion and diversity, we will explore neurodiversity and how a better understanding of this area can improve the experience of colleagues and increase retention. It’s always important to invest in wellbeing, and we’ll be hearing more about what really works in this area.

The breaks during this particular event are always full of the buzz of conversation and I’m really excited about meeting all the delegates that will be coming along on the 6th and hearing from our great lineup of speakers. I always go away from this event feeling inspired and that’s just what we need at the beginning of the year – it’ll make up for the bleak weather (along with planning a holiday obviously)!

I hope to see many of you there. For details on how to book click here.

Vicki Wolf – Head of Education and Career Development, ABTA

ABTA’s Developing and Retaining Talent in Travel takes place on 6 February at ABTA’s central London offices. Join your colleagues for a series of thoughtful sessions, panel discussions and case studies. Hear from representatives from Women in Travel, easyJet Holidays, Hays Travel, Howden, C&M Recruitment, Damar Training, Leeds Beckett University, University of Surrey, Travlaw and more. Register here.