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(09 December 2004)
ABTA chief executive Ian Reynolds has admitted aspects of the ABTA Convention were "disappointing" and suffered from "pathetic" attendance.
The association is now analysing delegate feedback of the Orlando event in the hope of improving the appeal of business sessions. It has also ruled out long-haul venues for the immediate future in order to attract more delegates put off by the time and financial demands.
Reynolds said he was at a loss as to why sessions were so badly attended, with some attracting just 200 out of 1,600 delegates. "The business sessions were disappointing and attendance was pathetic," he admitted.
He suggested future sessions could be more general to appeal to the interests of the wide range of delegates. More break-out sessions could be tailored to specific groups of agents, suppliers or operators.
"Overall, there are lessons to be learnt about meeting delegates’ needs," he said.
Reynolds said the convention and sessions had been prepared in conjunction with the board and members, but they had failed to appeal in practice. "In the event, it didn’t pull people in," he said.
"We tried to get it right but it didn’t work on the day."
Analysis of a questionnaire returned by 300 delegates is now being collated and results will be considered at the next board meeting on February 2.
The association has said the convention will break even, but will host the event at short-haul destinations for the forseeable future to avoid the commercial demands of long-haul events.
Next year’s convention in Marrakesh will be followed by either Athens, Barcelona or Crete in 2006 and Tenerife is booked for 2007.
Initial feedback from ABTA’s post-convention questionnaire showed that 68% of delegates supported Marrakesh as the next venue, with 31% voting maybe and 2% voting no.
Other feedback has shown that 29% of delegates had found the conference "fully" met their needs, 55% said "partly", 11% said "not much" and 4% voted "no".
For networking opportunities, around 78% had voted positively that it had met their needs.
