Behind the scenes blog
April 2008
Here at Travel Convention Towers, our team of intrepid organisers (TIOS) have already been working hard to ensure we’ll get the best of everything in Gran Canaria.
The most important part of organising any event is to find the right venue. This isn’t as easy as it sounds, and involved an exhausting recce of the Maspalomas Conference Centre and the Meloneras area to ensure maximum satisfaction. Bizarrely, this began with an emotional ceremony in which men dressed in widow’s weeds buried a sardine… but that’s nothing to do with the Convention and is Probably best left unexplained!
The Conference Centre itself is amazing. It’s just been refurbished and has all the facilities we’ll need. I was very taken with the Talk Zone area, which is light and airy, with floor-to-ceiling windows. It’s going to be ideal not just for networking but also for the new features we’ll be introducing, such as a penalty shoot out area... but before you add ‘wall of glass’ and
‘kicking footballs’ together to make the obvious assumption, the penalty shoot out will actually take place on the lawns outside! What you can be assured of is a very splendid view!
For the first time since 2004, the majority of Hotels are within easy walking distance of the Conference Centre. Our TIOS put on their sensible shoes to double check this for themselves, and even the ones who’d normally hail a cab to go from their desk to the photocopier declared themselves satisfied. Two of the hotels will be slightly further out, so if you’re addicted to coach transfers—or would just prefer to be away from the crowds in the midsts of mountainous scenery and golf courses—you won’t be disappointed.
Social events are a key part of the Convention, and I was particularly impressed by the selfless way our TIOS volunteered to check out every bar and restaurant in the area to make sure every ‘do’ is held in the perfect venue. Meloneras is a great place to spend time anyway —the boulevard, which runs alongside the sea, is chock full of cafés, bars, restaurants and shops and is a wonderful place to chill out. If you can, do take a few days before or after the Convention to relax and enjoy yourself and consider bringing your partner for some pre winter rays. Back at TC towers the TIOS have been busy bees. The Convention website has been updated and is now up and running. Sponsorship Manager Tanya is busy sourcing the support we need from sponsors—vital funds that enable us to offer reduced registration fees to ABTA members. I’m delighted that Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines and Cosmos are back on board as headline sponsors, and that the Lopesan Hotel Group has also signed up. A lot of the properties we’ll be staying at are owned by Lopesan, so what better way is there to understand their product!
Now the accommodation’s sorted out, we’re concentrating on the Business Sessions.
Following last year’s 100% approval rate, Jeremy Vine couldn’t bear to stay away and will be moderating again this year and we’ve just had the first meeting with the Convention advisory panel, leading us in the onerous task of ensuring this year’s business programme surpasses the last!
If you want to be reminded of what last year’s sessions were all about — or if you didn’t go to the Convention and would like to find out what you missed — log on to the ‘about The event’ section of the Travel Convention website. Intraining (ntp)—formerly Carter & Carter Travel & Tourism—produced briefing notes of the business sessions and master classes which we’ve published online. You’ll also find the speakers’ Presentations and Podcasts of interviews with the speakers themselves. As you’ll see, It’s going to be a hard act to follow!”
