Lisa Leggate, chair of Association of British Travel Organisers to Italy (Abtoi), told TTG Abtoi was keen to get to know the travel agent better community after several members expressed their intention to work more closely with the trade.
Founded in 2001 to bring together Italy specialists from all corners of the UK, the organisation currently has 63 members, including the likes of Cox & Kings, Citalia, Inntravel and Kirker Holidays, as well as a number of smaller brands that may not yet be on agents’ radar.
Leggate claimed that Abtoi and its members share a strong sustainable travel ethos, with the association giving members the option to offset their customers’ carbon emissions through a partnership with Trees4Travel.
“If our members are keen to do something, we – as an association – will try to make that happen for them,” she said.
“For the most part, our members are small, niche companies that have real in-depth knowledge about the area they specialise in – they know everything there is to know about it and they can really help travel advisors sell [Italy].”
Leggate said the interest from members in stronger ties with the trade stemmed from increased demand from travellers for a tailor-made, expert-led approach to booking holidays.
"With the expansion of portals such as Airbnb and Booking.com, a lot of travel companies want to use travel advisors because they’re the experts and they give customers what they want – more individual attention,” she said.
Leggate, who runs villa specialist To Tuscany with her brother Sean Caulfield, said the best way for agents to get closer to Abtoi members was through networking events such as the World Travel Market (WTM), where Abtoi will this year be sharing a table with Enit, the Italian tourist board.
“There [at WTM], we’ll find out where else we can be and that’s really what we’ll try to do,” she added.
Leggate said Abtoi’s membership was diverse, and would likely have some natural pairings for certain agents.
"We have one ski company that just takes children on school trips to Italy, while we have members who focus solely on southern regions such as Sicily and Puglia," she continued. "Other companies take customers on cultural and food and wine tours of Tuscany, so their demographics are all different."
