Noel Josephides on ABTA knocking, rolling eyes and package travel

I am asked daily why I decided to put myself forward for the Chairman’s role – usually with a rolling of the eyes as if to say ‘why on earth would you want to be the Chairman of ABTA?’. 

Well, we have a good team at Sunvil and the company has been running very well without my day-to-day involvement for quite some time.  I find the travel industry fascinating – how everyone interacts, why some operators do well, why some destinations fall by the wayside, and so on. 

Over the next year, key issues like the revision of the Package Travel Directive, the future of the Air Travel Trust Fund, airport capacity in the south east and the ever-rising APD will need serious attention to protect the industry’s interests.

I have done my share of ABTA knocking in the past but the Association now is very different from what it was five years ago.  I feel we have one of the best trade associations in Europe and it is disappointing that those that very often criticise are those that make no effort to understand the complexities involved.

ABTA has the unenviable task of somehow representing all the different factions within the membership yet, at the same time, of making sure that the consumer is protected.  It is not easy and it is simply impossible to please all of the people all of the time.

My aim, should I be appointed to the chair, is to make ABTA the association that all travel companies want to be part of – a listening association that interacts well with members of all types, agent and operator alike.  Slowly, we are working towards making the symbol a guarantee of total financial protection and sustainable trading.  There is still some way to go but we are getting there. It’s very easy for individual companies to throw stones; I would urge everyone, if they feel they can do better, to come forward with suggestions and to participate.

Somehow I must help to better communicate what the association is doing for the membership, especially at grass roots level, and that is a difficult task.  I know very well that few read the information that comes out of ABTA.  If they did stop to read it, then they would, I think, have a very different impression. You should see the complicated legislation that ABTA makes readable!

 Perhaps more ABTA staff should visit member offices to see how much our small members have to juggle and perhaps our more vociferous critics should spend a day at ABTA HQ in Park Street to be convinced that everyone there is, indeed, human.

ABTA provides security to its members and masses of support and I hope that, if I am elected, I will be able to continue the good work.