It has been great to be back with events since September 2021 and this year in May we organised a week long roadshow of four live events as the ANTOR Secretariat. A total of sixteen tourist boards travelled around the UK and Ireland with us to update agents and tour operators on their destinations to help update their product knowledge. A new event format replaced the traditional ANTOR free flow meetings format, with a sit-down dinner. Destination representatives moved around the tables to meet all of the guests in between courses. Each destination gave a short informative presentation, followed by a quiz and prizes at the end of the event. The new format was met with enthusiasm by ANTOR members, “I enjoyed moving around between tables, as I felt I had engaged with most of the agents”.
Our first stop in Dublin was a great success with a full turn-out of travel agents and tour operators. The Woollen Mills was a fantastic venue, and guests were served amazing cocktails and delicious food interspersed with dynamic and informative presentations by Austria, Finland, Miami, Samoa and The Seychelles. There were lots of prizes to be won, and one lucky agent left the evening with 2 Egyptair tickets from Dublin to Sharm el Sheikh. Irish Travel Trade News (ITTN) were the event invitation sponsor, which they described as “a warm and generous event”.
This was followed by a full-house of Edinburgh agents and tour operators at The Dunstane Houses hosted by Austria, Barbados, Finland, Miami, Nassau, and Samoa. Their engaging presentations were enjoyed by the travel trade between courses. “The venue was perfect and suppliers' presentations were very informative indeed" commented one of the guests, while another said , "I thought it was really excellent - great choice of venue - excellent meal and hospitality - first class presentations - it was well worth attending". Event invitation sponsor, Travel Matters, Director Gary Reavely commented, “Thanks and congratulations to ANTOR - you were really great to work with Travel Matters look forward to working with you again”.
Next day, ANTOR arrived in Birmingham for the third leg of their roadshow at St Paul’s House. Austria, Barbados, Catalonia, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, Grenada, Korea, Miami, Nassau and Samoa delivered great presentations to a room-full of agents and operators. One guest praised, “It was a great event where I learned a lot and created useful connections”. Travel Bulletin were the Birmingham event invitation sponsor.
The roadshow culminated in London where over 50 agents and tour operators enjoyed updates from Andorra, Barbados, Czech Republic, Egypt, Finland, Flanders, Gibraltar, Grenada, Israel, Korea, Miami, Samoa, Seychelles and Taiwan. Dinner was enjoyed at the Little Ship Club, as well as a quiz on the participating destinations. “Amazing roadshow. Have never before attended ANTOR but will most certainly return again if invited” said one agent. “I have found lots of useful information, which I didn’t know before. Well done! Amazing presentations” said another. Equator Learning sponsored the drinks and invitations for this event. Kristian Brumby, Relationships Director, said “It was a wonderful, fun and informative evening and I learnt so much about so many incredible destinations and clients. A big thank you to ANTOR and the team for putting on such a wonderful event yet again. You guys really are the best and you are doing some wonderful work for our industry.”
For agents who could not attend in-person, there were online presentations in the ANTOR virtual office, powered by ezy Virtual Events on the last day of the week by Samoa, Finland and Miami so that agents could learn about these ANTOR member destinations, no matter their location.
Due to the great feedback from this event and its new format, Representation Plus are looking forward to planning future roadshows and visiting these cities again, and adding more to the list.