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ABTA appoints new head of public affairs
ABTA has reshuffled its public affairs team following confirmation that its head of public affairs Luke Pollard will stand as the Labour and Co-operative parliamentary candidate for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport at the next General Election.
From September 1, Stephen D’Alfonso will replace Pollard as head of public affairs, overseeing ABTA’s lobbying work and public affairs activities in Westminster and Whitehall.
He joined the public affairs team in 2010 and has been instrumental in developing ABTA’s policy positions and representing the travel association in parliament and with political and stakeholder groups on major issues affecting members, such as ATOL reform, APD and airport capacity.
Pollard will take up an interim role as head of European development, in which he will continue to represent ABTA in Brussels, ensuring continuity on ABTA’s work around the Package Travel Directive.
ABTA CEO Mark Tanzer said: "ABTA has made considerable progress in growing our political influence in the UK and in Brussels in recent years. Whether that is representing members in the ATOL reform debate, being a founder member of the A Fair Tax on Flying campaign or making our case on PTD and other matters in Brussels our profile and influence among policymakers has increased significantly.
"It is important that we continue to work on a cross-party basis advocating strong, clear and evidence-based arguments on behalf of our members. I am confident that with this new structure we will continue to have a first class team working on behalf of ABTA and our members in Whitehall, Westminster and Brussels."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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