NEWS 1
Abta chairman Noel Josephides
YOU NEED TO KNOW
at a glance
l Abta moved from having a president to a chairman in 2009, when the requirement for board members to nominate and second candidates was introduced.
l Current chairman Noel Josephides won a contested election in July 2013 and can serve a maximum of three two-year terms.
l The proposal would mean future Abta boards would have at most four elected and 10 appointed members.
Abta defends its plan for board to appoint chairman
Ian Taylor
ian.taylor@travelweekly.co.uk
Abta chairman Noel Josephides has defended plans for the association’s board to appoint future chairmen rather than have members elect them.
The Abta board will propose to a
general meeting on November 10 that the chairman “be appointed by the board from among its [board] members”. The move would cut the maximum number of elected members on the 14-strong board from five to four. More important, it would put
ultimate control of Abta in the hands of appointees rather than elected representatives – since the chairman leads the board and is responsible for appointing and,
if necessary, removing the chief executive. The association noted: “This is a model commonly used in organisations to ensure efficient running of the board, and reflects the increasingly technical demands of the role.” Commenting on the Travel
Weekly story that broke the news, one Abta member argued: “A worrying move. It’s essential the chairperson is elected so he or she can hold the bureaucracy to account.” Another questioned why more time had not been taken to discuss the matter.
But Josephides said the board
was “unanimous” in its support and said: “If I felt uncomfortable about this, I would say so. I’m aware there is a feeling that Abta is in the pocket of the large companies and
4
travelweekly.co.uk 29 October 2015
“I don’t believe for a moment that whether the chair is elected makes any difference”
that the board is insensitive to the concerns of smaller agents. [But] it is not. If I thought there was any risk of the secretariat being biased, I’d say we shouldn’t do this. “The complexity of what Abta
has to deal with is probably incomprehensible to most people outside the organisation. People imagine the chairman to be like the old Abta president, but it’s a very different role. The chairman runs the board. We have elected representatives of small agents and large, of small operators and
l Chief executive Mark Tanzer said: “The most important role of the chair is to manage the board meetings and debates.”
l The articles of association state Abta should be “fully representative of travel agents and tour operators”.
large, and they wouldn’t dare have someone in the chair who didn’t look after the organisation as a whole. “There are also top-notch people on the board other than those elected. I don’t believe for a moment that whether the chair is elected makes any difference, so long as we have elected members representing the grassroots.” Chief executive Mark Tanzer
insisted: “Abta members will continue to elect a number of the board positions.” However, Alan Bowen, legal
adviser to the Association of Atol Companies and a former head of legal services at Abta, described the move as “dangerous”. He said: “A lot of people are not satisfied with Abta. The danger is people
become even more disillusioned.” ❯ Talk Back, page 17
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80