BUSINESS NEWS


Leadership consultant Eleanor Winton will give a keynote speech at next month’s Travel Convention in Madeira


‘Leaders need strategy to manage uncertainty’


‘Things thought unthinkable now normal’, convention speaker tells Ian Taylor


There is no hiding from the turmoil in the world, whether it’s the Gulf war, the climate crisis or the challenge of AI, and thinking ‘We’ve managed uncertainty before’ won’t help business leaders. That is according to leadership


consultant Eleanor Winton who will deliver the opening keynote at Abta’s Travel Convention in Madeira next month on the event’s theme of ‘Managing uncertainty with confidence’. Winton points out: “Every


industry is addressing uncertainty, and there are processes you can put in place in the way you think about it


64 3 SEPTEMBER 2026


and the range of potential outcomes to consider.” But she argues “accepting you’re


in a different situation” to the one you grew up in “is barrier number one” to doing that – and for travel, she says “it feels urgent”. Winton suggests: “A lot of


leadership teams have not accepted that. There is a feeling that ‘this will pass’ or ‘we’ve managed uncertainty before and we’ll manage it again’. “[But] the more you prepare how


to make strategic decisions, the more prepared you’ll be.” Fundamentally, she says: “There is


a breakdown of the order we grew up in – an erosion of key institutions, of systems and structures we relied on, and we can only see the future through a narrow lens of what we’ve seen before.” The factors contributing to


uncertainty are familiar – a stalling economy, geopolitics, AI disruption, climate risks – but Winton argues: “Be specific. Talk of geopolitics is general. Is it trade? Is it conflict? The same with climate change – is it warming? Is it flooding? Is it biodiversity loss?


Continued on page 62 travelweekly.co.uk


BUSINESSNEWS


PICTURE: Foresightfully


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