17 Jun
2019

Shadow Minister for Education and Chief Executive of Eurostar to address ABTA’s Travel Matters event

Agenda released and last tickets available to purchase for Travel Matters conference

Gordon Marsden, Shadow Minister for Education, and Mike Cooper, Chief Executive of Eurostar, are among the speakers at ABTA’s tenth annual Travel Matters conference next week.

The event is taking place on Wednesday 26 June at One Great George Street in Westminster, London, and, with one week to go, there are a limited number of tickets available to purchase at abta.com/travelmatters. ABTA Members and Partners are also entitled to a discounted rate.

The UK finds itself at a pivotal moment in the political landscape, and this year’s conference theme, ‘A Vision for the Next Decade’, will provide a chance to look beyond Brexit, exploring what long-term investment in infrastructure and future workforce skills are needed for a global Britain and to ensure sustainable growth of the industry. 

With attendance expected from around 250 key travel industry figures, including: CEOs and executive directors, national and trade press representatives, Government officials and politicians, the event offers the travel industry a platform and a voice in current affairs.

LBC’s Tom Swarbrick, who was previously adviser to Prime Minister May at Downing Street, will be moderating and will be joined by the following confirmed speakers:

  • Gordon Marsden, Shadow Minister for Education
  • Mike Cooper, CEO, Eurostar International
  • Daniel Finkelstein, OBE, Associate Editor for The Times
  • Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive, ABTA
  • Luke Petherbridge, Head of Public Affairs, ABTA 
  • Nikki Humphrey, Chief People Officer, People, Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays
  • Anne McElvoy, Senior Editor, The Economist
  • Sir Simon Hughes, Chancellor, London South Bank University
  • Martin Alcock, Director, Travel Trade Consultancy
  • Sandra Kelly, Director UK Skills and Policy, People 1st International
  • Vicki Wolf, Education Manager, ABTA 

In the afternoon, following Travel Matters, ABTA is hosting two free-to-attend workshops.

The first workshop is exclusive to ABTA Members and Partners who will hear from Victoria Bacon, ABTA’s Director of Brand and Business Development, with insights from new national consumer research on people’s trust in the ABTA brand and how Members can use this to help optimise sales. Jo McCrostie, Creative Director of Global, the Media and Entertainment Group, will speak about brand confidence and the new ABTA sonic identity.

The second workshop is a Japan Destination Masterclass, hosted by the Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) and open to all. Attendees will hear the tips and tricks of selling Japan as a destination, as well as the key regions, accommodations, experiences and travel news that customers will be asking about in 2019 and beyond. 

A networking drinks reception will take place for all delegates to attend after these afternoon sessions at 15:30.

Mark Tanzer Chief Executive of ABTA – The Travel Association said: 

“We look forward to another exciting line-up of speakers, helping to guide us through the issues most important to travel businesses in the next ten years. 

“We also encourage our Members and Partners to attend the two workshops after the conference, which promise to provide valuable insights into the importance of consumer trust in brands and an overview of the Japan travel sector and community.”

This year’s headline sponsor is Travel Trade Consultancy, the co-sponsor is ANA – All Nippon Airways and the media partner is Global, the Media and Entertainment Group. 

For further information, contact:
020 3117 0596 or press@abta.co.uk
Tom Sommerfelt, Senior Media Relations Executive, tsommerfelt@abta.co.uk or 020 3117 0531

Out of Hours:  Contact the Duty Press Officer on 020 3693 0183.
Web: www.abta.com
Twitter: @ABTAtravel

Notes to editors

ABTA has been a trusted travel brand for over 65 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 around 1,200 Members, with a combined annual UK turnover of £38 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.