NEWS CONFERENCE REPORT


Mark Tanzer, Abta: ‘We don’t have the force of a regulator’


Sir Trevor: Being able to travel has been vital to job


Sir Trevor McDonald told delegates he had to take pills to calm himself down before meeting Saddam Hussein. The former news anchor


(pictured) recalled how he was surrounded by a group of the dictator’s men ahead of his interview, having been taken on four “false runs” to see the former Iraqi president. McDonald, who was


Tanzer defends Abta over ‘lack of support’ criticism


The chief executive of Abta was forced to defend the association’s role in how it promotes the benefits of booking with travel agents.


Asked what Abta does to help


drive consumers into agencies and why it has not run adverts during prime-time television, Mark Tanzer said the association was “always out there” getting the message across through PR, local radio and print adverts. During a Q&A after a panel


debate at the conference, a member of the audience accused Abta of not doing enough to support agents. Tanzer said: “TV is expensive.


But we are always out there throughout the year saying ‘look for the logo’. It’s very much part of our consumer remit to do that. We’ve launched another campaign in January that says ‘look for the brand, look for the logo’. Most members have seen it and we run ads in newspapers and on radio. “It’s not just in advertising, it’s also in all the PR we do. We have


“If we had a £10m budget we’d do TV advertising, but we don’t; we use PR”


a 24-hour newsdesk that does hundreds of media interviews. When we run the campaigns in local areas you can see the results. “If we had a £10 million budget


we’d do TV advertising, but we don’t, so we have to use PR, which we have a lot of.” Asked why operators could not


be forced to use the Abta logo as well as Atol’s, Tanzer said they were not required to by law. “We [Abta] don’t have the force


of the regulator,” he said. “We are an association of members. You have to get the right balance between coercing members in the interests of everybody and letting people make their own decisions. “We do encourage people to use the Abta brand. We haven’t yet, and I’m not sure we ever would, say ‘you have to have this on your advertising’. Advertising is expensive. It also takes the message away from their brand.”


Nottingham to host 2017 conference


Freedom and CPTA will hold its 2017 conference in Nottingham at the East Midlands Conference Centre on December 3-5. The consortium and homeworking group alternates its annual


conference between the UK and overseas. Delegates will have exclusive use of the De Vere Orchard Hotel


for the event.


guest speaker at this year’s conference, spoke about his experiences meeting world leaders including Muammar Gaddafi and Nelson Mandela. Gaddafi, he said, was all about “theatre”. Keen to show relations with Tunisia were improving, he invited Sir Trevor to the Tunisian border and got into a JCB to try to demolish the customs post, which he failed to do because he could not operate the machine. Sir Trevor, who was the first journalist to interview Nelson Mandela after his release from prison, recalled how the South African leader had insisted that “everything was possible” even when two sides hold completely opposing views. “[Mandela] said ‘if you are serious about succeeding and want to negotiate, everything is possible. You must be prepared to compromise’.” Sir Trevor concluded that


everything he had learnt came from being able to travel and being on the scene. “Nothing can replicate being there and observing the corridors of power at first hand,” he said.


16 travelweekly.co.uk 15 December 2016


PICTURES: SIMON HARVEY PHOTOGRAPHY


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