New cruise focus for ABTA Convention
ABTA’s Travel Convention in Barcelona will include a dedicated Cruise Forum for cruise specialists for the first time.
Delegates who opt for the Cruise Forum will follow a separate agenda with specialist cruise business sessions, dedicated cruise networking, and ship visits.
They will also be able to attend all the official social activities and plenary sessions, including a face-to-face interview with Micky Arison, chairman and CEO of Carnival.
ABTA chief executive Mark Tanzer said: “The cruise sector is very important to our industry, and we are pleased that we can adapt the Travel Convention to exploit the opportunities that Barcelona has to offer and make the event work as hard as possible for our members and delegates.
“The Cruise Forum is a very exciting development and we are also delighted that Fred Olsen Cruise Lines will, for the fifth year running be a headline sponsor of the Travel Convention.”
While the convention takes place between 6-9 October, nine ships will dock at Barcelona’s port.
Registration for the Travel Convention opens at the end of April and the Cruise Forum is open to travel agents and cruise lines.
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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