Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed the Christmas holiday. This is always the time of the year to make predictions about what is in store for the next 12 months. The thing that I can predict with the most certainty is that it will be one of our most unpredictable years yet. 2017 has already begun with the horrific New Year’s Day attack in Istanbul and, regrettably, All Leisure Holidays Ltd going into administration. These incidents should by no means be seen a sign of what’s to come in 2017 – years don’t start and end neatly – rather they should be taken as a reminder of the important job we have to do in preparing for the unexpected and building confidence in the industry. It has never been more critical for us to build confidence in travel and we will be supporting this today with the launch of a new nationwide advertising campaign to support our “Travel with confidence” message. This year’s campaign focuses on the huge rise in fraudulent travel companies and will encourage consumers to book with a member of ABTA so that they know the company they are booking with is genuine and covered by the ABTA Code of Conduct. This is just one of the many ways we will be supporting you in 2017 to build a strong and confident industry that is prepared for whatever may happen.

Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive