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Florida offers free fam trips
VisitFlorida is hoping to persuade agents at this year’s ABTA Convention to stay on by offering them free and discounted trips.
The packages offered before and after the convention include trips across Florida, and many are free except for a £25 handling fee. For example, agents can explore Florida’s ‘space coast’ over three days, including the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and Indian River Lagoon for free.
Other trips offer the chance to visit Naples, Marco Island and the Everglades from $160 for three nights, or go to Miami after the conference for around $200 for three nights. Further offers are available on the website, www.abtaconvention.com.
According to VisitFlorida, the trips are unassisted and will allow agents to visit Florida without having to stick to a “heavy itinerary”.
The Convention is being held in Orlando on 25-29 November. ABTA head of corporate affairs Keith Betton told TravelMole that he hopes to get 1,800 delegates to the event.
Business travel agency ATP International is handling bookings for the event, which is on 25-29 November. The website for bookings is also www.abtaconvention.com.
Flight prices start at £347 with Virgin Atlantic and £387 with British Airways from Gatwick, and £462 from Birmingham and £500 from Edinburgh with Continental Airlines. Accommodation at six convention hotels starts at £53 a night.
Mr Betton condemned reports in the trade press that suggested agents from Scotland would end up paying £1,000 to attend the Convention. He told TravelMole: “It costs about £777 for accommodation and flights for a delegate from Manchester, so anyone from Scotland could either drive to Manchester to take a flight or catch a return flight for about £60.
“Accommodation this year is the same or less than last year, the delegate registration has gone up marginally and the flights cost more because we’re going longhaul rather than shorthaul. That’s the price of taking the Convention further afield.”
Report by Ginny McGrath
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