The ABTA Board of Directors elected Alistair Rowland, Chief Retail Officer of Mid-Counties Co-operative Ltd, as the Association’s new Chairman following today’s ABTA Annual General Meeting. Mr Rowland takes up his position with immediate effect. He succeeds Noel Josephides, Chairman of Sunvil Holidays, who stands down after six years, completing his term in office.
Mr Rowland has served on the ABTA Board of Directors for the last seven years representing retail members with a turnover of over £20 million.
Mark Tanzer, ABTA Chief Executive said:
“On behalf of the Board, I am delighted to welcome Alistair Rowland to his new position as Chairman of ABTA. Alistair has served with distinction on our Board of Directors and his expertise, professionalism and enthusiasm will be invaluable in our ongoing work to support our Members and their customers as well as helping to deliver ABTA’s business plan.
“I would also like to extend our warmest thanks to outgoing chairman Noel Josephides for the exceptional contribution he has made to the Association throughout his six years in office.”
Alistair Rowland, ABTA Chairman said:
“I look forward immensely to taking on my new role as Chairman of the UK’s leading travel Association. Now, more than ever, it is vital that we have an Association that represents the voice of the industry, supports the needs of its Members and helps their customers to feel confident in travelling. The Association has made strong progress under Chief Executive Mark Tanzer and the Chairmanship of my predecessor Noel Josephides and I’m keen to further build on that good work.”
Daniele Broccoli of Britaly Travel and Jamie Gardiner of Diverse World Ltd were both re-elected to the Board, who would also like to extend thanks to Richard Downs, CEO of Iglu.com, who steps down from the Board having completed his term of office.
Delegates at the AGM also passed following two resolutions.
Resolution 1 – Re-appointed the Auditors, BDO LLP.
Resolution 2 – Amended the Articles of Association to require Members to apply to ABTA for permission to engage any person, firm or corporation as a representative operating outside of its own corporate structure to allow ABTA to carry out any necessary due diligence checks.
About ABTA
ABTA has been a trusted travel brand for over 65 years. Our purpose is to help our Members to grow their businesses successfully and sustainably, and to help their customers travel with confidence.
The ABTA brand stands for support, protection and expertise. This means consumers have confidence in ABTA and a strong trust in ABTA Members. These qualities are core to us as they ensure that holidaymakers remain confident in the holiday products that they buy from our Members.
We help our Members and their customers navigate through today’s changing travel landscape by raising standards in the industry; offering schemes of financial protection; providing an independent complaints resolution service should something go wrong; giving guidance on issues from sustainability to health and safety and by presenting a united voice to government to ensure the industry and the public get a fair deal.
ABTA has around 1,200 Members, with a combined annual UK turnover of £38 billion. For more details about what we do, what being an ABTA Member means and how we help the British public travel with confidence visit www.abta.com.
