ABTA appoints new director of public affairs
ABTA has announced the appointment of Alan Wardle as director of public affairs.
Wardle will join the association in December from the NSPCC, where he has held the role of head of policy and public affairs for the past five years.
He has considerable experience of public affairs, policy, government relations and political campaigning and a key part of his job will be to represent the interests of the travel industry in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations.
Previous roles include director of public affairs at Stonewall, and programme director, public affairs at the Local Government Association.
Prior to that, Wardle was in the civil service where he held various policy, finance and private office roles in the Department for Work and Pensions.
Wardle will lead ABTA’s public affairs team as the association continues to work with Westminster and Brussels legislators on travel legislation.
ABTA chief executive Mark Tanzer said: "The work of our public affairs team in building and maintaining strong ties with Government and other political opinion formers is essential for our members and our industry, and Alan’s experience in this area will be a welcome addition.
"In the wake of the recent Brexit referendum, this is especially important and we look forward to working with Alan to ensure that the travel agenda is at the heart of future negotiations."
Wardle said: "I am looking forward to ensuring ABTA’s voice and its members’ concerns are heard as part of the upcoming Brexit negotiations."
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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