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Comment: Bust touring myths with enticing selling points

Highlight advantages of escorted tours to sway first-time customers, says Giles Hawke, chief executive of Cosmos and chairman of Atas

More than 200 frontline agents are to be hosted at the inaugural Association of Touring & Adventure Suppliers (Atas) Conference in Birmingham on October 18.

The two-day event will take place at the city’s International Convention Centre, and will include an immersive and experiential trade show, advice on how to sell touring and adventure holidays, and a gala dinner and awards.

To celebrate the first year of the event, all agent delegates will be hosted free of charge by the association’s 24 supplier members.

Atas was set up in April by the leading operators in the touring and adventure sector. The association aims to incentivise agents to increase knowledge and sales within the sector, with a range of news, features, company profiles and links to training at touringandadventure.com.

Giles Hawke, chairman of Atas and chief executive of Cosmos, said: “The Atas Conference is set to be a fantastic showcase for the range of holidays offered by our members, and I am delighted that we will be hosting our travel agent partners for the inaugural event.”

Travel Weekly will be official trade media partner of the conference, and editor-in-chief and conference moderator Lucy Huxley said she believed the event would be essential for agents seeking to develop their businesses.

“The success of Clia’s annual conference has demonstrated how a concerted focus from suppliers within a particular sector can be incredibly effective in developing awareness and sales within the trade,” she said.

“With agents increasingly needing to demonstrate specialist knowledge to stand apart from the crowd, the Atas Conference will provide a fantastic opportunity for agents to develop their understanding of a sector with huge growth potential.”

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