The event will provide a comprehensive guide to industry trends, popular destinations, and consumer sentiment towards travel, including how the cost-of-living crisis is affecting their holiday habits, buying behaviours and online interaction with brands.
The full-day event will take place in London on 28 November, and will also cover marketing in travel, the future of digital in the industry and the state of play with booking patterns and new product trends.
Abta’s director of communications, Graeme Buck, will showcase the latest trends the association is seeing based on new data from the association. He said: “We will be looking at consumer sentiment and exploring different demographics and their varying approaches to travel, as well as what the economic climate means for travel and consumer spend.
“Throughout the day delegates will also hear from our expert speaker line-up of MDs, CEOs, chief marketing officers, and senior strategists. It’s the kind of line-up which you simply don’t see elsewhere.”
The conference, of which TTG is the media partner, will feature a host of panels with speakers including Carolyn Addison, head of product, Black Tomato who will be part of a discussion exploring market trends and what’s new for 2024 alongside Neil Swanson, chief marketing officer of Tui, Hotelplan’s marketing director Ann Williams and Exoticca managing director for the UK and Ireland Neil Sealy.
Addison said: “What we’ve uncovered, is that the feeling a trip ultimately evokes, greatly informs the destination booked. For groups of family and friends craving togetherness, joyful journeys which strengthen bonds and connection are prioritised. For others, honing in on passion points, which are singular and specific, is a powerful motivator. From focusing on a precise area of wellbeing, facing a personal frontier, retracing a past trip of a loved one, to embarking on a modern-day pilgrimage with a firm mission in mind – there is commonality of intention.”
Holiday Best chief marketing officer John Milburn will join Lotus chief executive Jules Ugo and Barrhead Travel head of PR and communications Karen Musgrave to discuss extending the summer season, in a panel moderated by TTG editorial director Pippa Jacks.
Milburn said: ““Throughout the pandemic, UK travel businesses struggled, with some exiting the market completely. Now that the industry is picking up, with lots of customers desperate to travel again and the resurgence of package holidays in general, it’s the perfect time to offer UK customers something new.”
Delving into updates on luxury, cruise and youth will be Christian Sutton, product leader at Topdeck Travel alongside Abercrombie and Kent senior PR and communications manager James Treacy.
Buck added: “I am really looking forward to delving deeper into latest ABTA’s research on the trends which will shape people’s travel in the coming 12 months.”
