SPAA dinner postponed until April
The 88th annual dinner of the Scottish Passenger Agents’ Association (SPAA), due to take place on Friday, has been postponed due to the extreme weather.
Organisers had originally been defiant about the weather, insisting the Glasgow event would still take place.
But as Storm Emma took hold, they decided to postpone it.
A new date has been set for Tuesday April 24, at the same venue – the Crowne Plaza Hotel – and with the same speakers – David Speakman and Jo Caulfield.
More than 300 travel trade professionals were due to attend the dinner, which is one of the key events on the travel industry social calendar.
"Cancelling the SPAA dinner for the first time in its 88 year history because of bad weather was not a ‘first’ I was looking for, especially in my debut year as president," said SPAA president Ken McLeod.
"However, the safety and wellbeing of all our guests was paramount, and although we delayed the decision until the last possible moment, we had little choice but to postpone.
"We would like to offer our sincere apologies to all those who were trying to attend. We are very aware of the time, trouble, and obviously cost that many friends and colleagues would have incurred. I would also particularly like to thank Dominic McVey, the general manager for the Crowne Plaza Hotel, for his patience, support and understanding in what has been a very difficult 24 hours."
He also praised the ‘sterling work’ of SPAA secretary Janice Hogarth and the Dinner Committee.
"We have had to take into account availability of the hotel venue and other logistics, but we very much hope that as many of our original guests as possible, plus those that could not attend this week, will be able to join us on the new, revised and ‘improved’ date’," he said.
"Well, it’s scheduled for late April, so we hope for more favourable weather and less transport difficulties."
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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