Ljubljana successfully hosted ABTA Travel Convention

From 21 to 23 September, Ljubljana hosted the annual conference of ABTA, the UK`s largest travel association and the second largest in the world, operating since 1950 and comprising over 1,200 companies with around 5,000 travel agency branch offices and some 900 travel agents.

The Travel Convention is ABTA`s central event and one of the largest events of the British Travel Industry, which emphasizes education and business networking. Simultaneously, the conference is an excellent opportunity for the host country to promote its comprehensive range of tourist products and services to potential business partners. The conference was organized in collaboration with local partners, namely SPIRIT Slovenia, the Slovenian Tourist Board and Ljubljana Tourism.

The conference was this year’s largest tourist marketing project in Slovenia. It aimed to increase the arrival of visitors travelling to Slovenia through British agencies or individually in the coming years. Around 450 participants attended the conference, including 25 journalists of the leading British professional and general media from the field of tourism, who were brought by the event`s media partner, The Telegraph.

British guests started their visit on Sunday and, by Tuesday, numerous meetings and study tours across Slovenia had already been held. The common thread of this year`s convention was the role of human resources in tourism and in the period of changes taking place in British and global society and, as a result, in the travel industry.

At the conference, an all-year-route between London and Ljubljana was discussed. Slovenia`s green nature would be an excellent travel destination for the British, and with this connection Slovenia could experience a higher level of organized trips by British travellers, who make up the second largest travel market in the world. In addition, Koper passenger terminal represents an extraordinary potential for the UK cruise industry. There was also a debate over the topical issue of the importance of social media in tourism, while Noel Josephides, Chairman of ABTA Board of Directors, together with SPIRIT Public Agency offered help in making links with independent travel agencies, which do not have Slovenia in their catalogues yet.

Slovenia is a wonderful country and realizing this conference was an excellent opportunity to increase the number of visitors from Great Britain and strengthen ties with the travel industry of this island country. The fact that such a large international conference was held in Slovenia is a clear sign that the British Travel Industry would like to get to know our country in more detail.

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