Speaking to TTG, Tanzer said businesses were "desperate" to solve the problem of finding the key people and getting them into the industry, and then developing them.
His comments followed a rallying call at Abta’s 2023 Travel Convention in Bodrum for Abta and its members to "be more proactive in broadcasting travel’s employment potential".
Tanzer highlighted talent as an area where Abta needs to show more presence: “I’d like to see us, as Abta, step into this space around talent acquisition and the image of this industry, working with members to try and resolve their talent issues," he said.
"We’ve always had a role, working with educational partners, but I’d like to see us be more present – I think the members have got the appetite for that."
Tanzer said going beyond traditional recruitment channels would form part of the solution. “We’ve got to be on the channels people are watching,” he said, citing an example of an Abta member who posted a recruitment ad on TikTok after little response elsewhere, and saw a response rate in the thousands.
He said that while the industry was strong on its messaging about the skills it has in digital and marketing, and the relevance of these, it fell down on training interpersonal skills.
"We’ve got the best opportunity to do that because we’ve got so many touchpoints," he continued. "We’re not selling consumer goods for which we never see the customer, we’re selling holidays and experiences."
Not everyone ’in the clear’
Tanzer said Abta’s membership was continuing to grow, and insisted existing members could evidence – with data – how their clients are ranking Abta membership high on the list of reasons for booking with a specific business or brand.
"It’s still very high on consumer prioritisation,” he said. “We work hard to keep that consumer visibility but also that trust in place.”
He said Abta members’ recovery from Covid was collectively “mega-strong” and faster than they would have hoped, but stressed “not all were in the clear” owing to issues such as having taken on significant amounts of debt to keep their businesses going amid rising interest rates.
Acknowledging research presented by PwC at this year’s Travel Convention, which showed how people were prioritising spending in holidays, Tanzer added: “If you take this year’s issues – burnout, pressures with work, the environment around you – the holiday has become more important psychologically than when things are going well.
“In a way, it’s intuitive that the various pressures everyone is feeling means having the right price, the right value [for a holiday], is all part of your deal with life."
