14 Dec
2020

Travel professionals’ expertise celebrated in ABTA’s new Travel with Confidence campaign

ABTA ranked as the most trusted travel organisation

The expertise of travel professionals will be front and centre of ABTA’s Travel with Confidence national advertising campaign, which launches this month with radio adverts streaming across digital platforms from today (Monday 14 December).

Through the campaign ABTA is encouraging members of the public to look for the ABTA logo and book with confidence, knowing that they will have access to the support and expertise provided by ABTA Members.

There are several strands to the campaign including 30 second radio adverts across commercial radio stations Capital and Heart. The adverts will say ‘whether you are looking for the security that comes with a package holiday or the expertise that comes from a travel professional’s knowledge – know that you can book with confidence where you see the ABTA logo.’ Anyone tuning into Capital or Heart’s digitally will hear these adverts from today, and they will be broadcast across the stations more widely from 25 December.

The second part of the campaign will be a video featuring ABTA Members talking about the professional and personal service they provide to their customers which will be advertised across social media channels including Instagram and Facebook. Over 30 ABTA Members submitted videos for inclusion in the advert and ABTA is trying to include as many Members as possible (further details on who is featured will be released in the new year). Content from Members’ videos will also be shared across ABTA’s social media channels throughout 2021, meaning that content from all videos submitted will be used.

ABTA has also revealed that, despite the challenging year for the sector, consumer confidence in the ABTA brand has remained strong. A quarter of people rank ABTA as most the trusted travel organisation (higher than any other travel company or travel association) and 79% of people say they are aware of ABTA. When asked what comes to mind they think of ABTA people said protection, trusted, reliable and security*.

The research from ABTA also finds that, for an increasing number of people, the pandemic has cemented the importance of booking with a travel professional. People are 20% more likely to use a travel professional now than before the pandemic, with two in five citing the security of a package holiday (41%) and the travel professional’s up-to-date advice (40%) as the main reasons*.

Graeme Buck, Director of Communications at ABTA – The Travel Association said:
“2020 has been a year like no other for the travel industry. But after everything the industry has gone through, what is clear is the value placed upon travel professionals – their experience and expertise – which is what we’re celebrating in this year’s Travel with Confidence campaign.

“As more people start to think about planning and booking a holiday for next year, the Travel with Confidence campaign will remind people about the importance of looking for the ABTA logo and the extra benefits and value of booking with an ABTA Member.”
 

Notes to editors
*ABTA consumer sentiment research conducted by The Nursery Research and Planning (www.the-nursery.net/) in August and November 2020, with a nationally representative sample of 500 consumers.
 

About ABTA
ABTA has been a trusted travel brand for 70 years. Our purpose is to help our Members to grow their businesses successfully and sustainably, and to help their customers travel with confidence. 

The ABTA brand stands for support, protection and expertise. This means consumers have confidence in ABTA and a strong trust in ABTA Members. These qualities are core to us as they ensure that holidaymakers remain confident in the holiday products that they buy from our Members.

We help our Members and their customers navigate through today's changing travel landscape by raising standards in the industry; offering schemes of financial protection; providing an independent complaints resolution service should something go wrong; giving guidance on issues from sustainability to health and safety and by presenting a united voice to government to ensure the industry and the public get a fair deal.

ABTA has more than 4,300 travel brands in Membership, providing a wide range of leisure and business travel services, with a combined annual UK turnover of £39 billion. For more details about what we do, what being an ABTA Member means and how we help the British public travel with confidence visit www.abta.com.