09 October 2008

ABTA TRAVEL CONVENTION BLOG: Prince Charles and stunning birds

Day two of the convention suddenly takes a dramatic turn for the better when Prince Charles starts talking about, and I quote, Ã~´the most stunning birds on the planetÃ~´.

Extraordinary stuff. I know the monarchy has modernised but has HRH really been undercover in the nightclubs in Marbella? But no, it turns out he really has been talking about the most stunning birds on the planet and the fact that the worldÃ~´s wetlands, which are home to countless species, have been damaged.

Or something like that. But it wasnÃ~´t quite what I had in mind.

Before IÃ~´m carted off to the Tower of London, I must point out that our future King is a passionate environmentalist and had some excellent things to say about sustainability in a video link recorded prior to the debate on Tourism 2023.

He does care. But others donÃ~´t. Co-operative TravelÃ~´s Mike Greenacre revealed that holidaymakers are not interested in carbon offsetting. YouÃ~´re not kidding.

But even heathens like me concede that we must be careful with our resources and help sustain the planet for future generations. What can we do? Tourism 2023 will decide Ã¢â¬' all weÃ~´ve got to do is wait until December 4^th when theyÃ~´ll reveal all because they havenÃ~´t worked it out yet.

Mind you, British Airways has done some thinking. Manager of environmental affairs Trudy Drake said they had pillars Ã¢â¬' or was it pillows Ã¢â¬' everywhere. Four of them to be precise and chuck in some high level goals for good measure. ThereÃ~´s a lot of talking going on at BA and rest assured that the planet is safe with them.

Meanwhile, CarnivalÃ~´s Peter Shanks admitted that their main concern is driving down costs, but this has actually had the knock on benefit of helping the environment. TheyÃ~´ve apparently slowed down the ships to burn less fuel and switched down the air conditioning.

So now itÃ~´s 100 degrees on board and takes 14 days to get from Miami to Jamaica, but a few trees have been spared in the process. Only kidding guys. Yes, I know it has made no discernible difference to passengers and quality has not suffered one iota, Mr Carnival lawyer, it was just a joke.

Born-again environmentalist Dermot Blastland was disappointingly restrained on stage but youÃ~´ve got to hand it to TUI (or First Choice to be more precise), as they have been encouraging everyone to help save the planet Ã¢â¬' and been putting their money where their mouth is Ã¢â¬' since the days when it was purely the domain of a few stoned tree huggers.

Earlier in the day, Hoseasons chief executive Richard Carrick had got the day off to a flying start by discussing sex at breakfast, while plugging his Ã~´sex and the cityÃ~´ programme of city centre apartments, so-called because couples can rediscover each other, apparently.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœWhen you stay in a hotel with your family, marital relations go out of the window,Ã¢â¬~ he said. Ã¢â¬ÅâœBut with an apartment, you can put the kids to bed, then have a relaxing meal and youÃ~´ve got your own bedroomÃ¢â¬~¦Ã¢â¬~ Yes, yes, Richard, we get the picture.

But from then until the 2023 debate and beyond it was, well, not all that. So, by yesterdayÃ~´s scoring system, IÃ~´d say the day ended with ABTA notching one point and moaning hacks who like to complain about everything also scoring a point. So overall, ABTA wins 2-1 for a pretty good convention. IÃ~´m such a nice guy.

In between, and after, the two days weÃ~´ve of course had the networking Ã¢â¬' basically everyone getting caned, flirting and occasionally talking shop.

And recession or no recession, thatÃ~´s one area where the travel industry will never be beaten.

By Jeremy Skidmore