ATP has a new office and telephone number
ATP, along with ABTA, are moving offices. From Monday, 16 February we will be at 30 Park Street, London, SE1 9EQ.
The telephone number has also changed. From 16 February you can contact us on 020 3117 0549. We'll be on the old number - 0207 3071916 until midday on Friday 13 February.
Training for Travel support ATP
 Training For Travel are proud to support the ATP scheme across the UK Travel Industry.
Beverly Platt, Commercial Director for Training for Travel said, "We work with employees from many of the large Travel employers and we have always felt that they deserve industry-wide recognition for the effort they put into gaining new qualifications.
The ATP Scheme is the perfect mechanism for this, enabling travel staff to update their CPD annually whilst working on new industry relevant qualifications. This effort is then rewarded by the ATP grading scheme.
The recipients of this recognition have told our staff how proud they are of their 'badges' and how customers have asked them what it is for. As a result they can inform the public that they are being helped by highly qualified travel professionals!
Travel people are highly skilled, dedicated professionals and thanks to the ATP scheme, they can display their pride in their job and in their level of expertise."
Training For Travel have recently launched their new website trainingfortravel.com. It includes a complete new layout of the site, which is specifically designed for the user to gain all of the information they require as quickly and effectively as possible. This new format also includes a new option known as ACCESSIBILITY. This enables users with sight difficulties to use the website with minimal effort.
For more information about Training for Travel go to www.trainingfortravel.com.
Talk to Industry experts and academics about careers in the future at the Tourism Industry and Academics conferences on 18 March and 1 June.
The industry has two opportunities this year to meet tourism academics and influence course content and discuss what knowledge and skills graduates (from apprentices, FE and HE) need to enter the travel and tourism industry. ABTA, The Tourism Society and the ITT are co-hosting the Tourism Academics & Employers Conferences again in 2009 after two very successful conferences in 2008. This year's conferences will be held on 18 March at Leeds Metropolitan University and 1 June at the Strand Palace Hotel in London and have the theme: "Overcoming Employment Challenges in Tourism". Professor Rhodri Thomas,ITT Professor of Tourism and Events Policy UK Centre for Events Management Leeds Metropolitan University said: "These conferences provide an invaluable opportunity for a genuine exchange of knowledge between academics and the industry. The spirit of partnership is evident and very productive." Many tourism graduates work for local and regional travel organisations and as the Olympics in 2012 draw closer, keynote speaker Bernard Donoghue, Head of Government and Public Affairs at VisitBritain, will talk from a UK tourism perspective on the Future of Tourism: "Global recession and the credit crunch pose huge challenges for the British economy but also create opportunities for tourism too. I'm very pleased to be asked to contribute this important and timely conference." Jayne Webb Head of Human Resources at The Co-operative Travel Group, which won the Springboard 'Best Employer Award' in 2008, will be part of an industry panel said: "The Co-operative Group has a very highly regarded graduate placement programme and we have over 600 staff studying towards travel and tourism related NVQs. To date we have not specifically looked to recruit travel and tourism graduates and this session will give us the opportunity to discuss the skills we require and find out more about what is on offer from tourism academics in both further and higher education." The first conference will take place at Leeds Metropolitan University on 18 March and the second is on 1 June in London. To book your place go to: http://www.tourismsociety.org/Overcoming_Employment_Challenges_Booking_Form1.pdf
Enter Travel Uni's Blog of the month competition by the end of February and win a lovely bottle of Champagne.
 Francesca Woodbridge, Travel Sales Advisor for Thomas Cook is the winner of this month's Travel Uni Blog competition. Francesca wins a bottle of champange compliments of Travel Uni. Francesca sent us this blog :
My last FAM has been the best training I have had recently. The trip consisted of a 2 night stay in Paris visiting 15 hotels, enjoying the famous Moulin Rouge show and getting to grips with the Paris metro system. I have been to Paris on two other occasions before now but, both times have been as day visits and not really experiencing what it is like to stay there or to get around by foot or metro. I found the metro system to be a lot easier to use than I'd imagined it would be and very similar to that of the London underground. A metro map can be picked up at most line stops and as long as you follow these it is fairly easy to use and a very convenient way of getting around the city! The Moulin Rouge show was nothing like I imagined either – it was truly an amazing show and one I can now really recommend clients go and see. The show is longer than most people expect but, means you are really getting your money's worth. With dinner included it really is a whole evening out to enjoy. Lastly, seeing so many of the hotels really helped as sometimes it can be hard to recommend just one to a client because of how large our collection is. Now I have a better knowledge of some of our hotels which has helped me better recommend the right property for each customer. Do you fancy some champagne too?
A bottle could be heading your way very soon if you tell us about a training/personal development related story you've been involved lately. Have you been on a fam trip? A training course? A roadshow? Or perhaps something has helped spark some bright ideas about how you might improve your agency's business. All you have to do is tell us in under 250 words by the end of February and you will be entered into the Travel Uni/ATP Blog of the month competition. So, sit down in front of that keyboard, tell us about your learning experiences and send your 250 words (maximum) and your ATP membership number to Sally.Oakey@traveluni.com.
Use your discounts with People Value
 Don't forget to use your discounts with People Value. It gives you access to the The Employee Purchase Programme from Apple computers. This gives you great savings on Apple products. For example an Apple Ipod Shuffle is only £28.75. There are also some great discounts on Valentine's gifts such as 15% off Montezuma's chocolates, 10% off and a free box of chocolates with Bunches online florist and 10% off a wide range of products at Comet. To log in to see the benefits you need to login to the members area of the site. Click on Benefits and get your PeopleValue password and login details which you'll see when you click onto the "Access ATP Benefits" tab. You can also get vouchers for leading stores at discounted prices. For example 8% off at Waitrose, 5% off at ASDA, Sainsburys and Marks and Spencers. You can get 10% off vouchers for GAP, Debenhams and House of Fraser. It might mean planning ahead just a little, but the savings make it all worthwhile. What are you waiting for? If you have any problems figuring out how to use the benefits ring Vicki Wolf on 020 3117 0549.
Upcoming Events at ABTA
 ABTA will be at Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show in Birmingham from 27 February to 1 March on stand E16 in the Europe section. Visit the stand to find out about ABTA's new consumer marketing campaign, learn about the ABTA regional network, and see what www.abta.com can do for your business. Crisis Management: Defusing a crisis will be running on 25 February in London (and 23 June in Manchester), Dealing with Complaints is on 4 March in London. Understanding and Responding to the Media is on the 9th of March in London. Remember, ATP Members get a 10% at most ABTA Seminars and you can also collect ATP points for most of these events. For more information on these events go to www.abta.com/events.
Where is my badge?
Have you joined up recently?
If you've joined up recently you may not have received your welcome pack and badge. Apologies for the delay. We will get your badge to you as soon as possible.
Unfortunately we have experienced some challenges as a result of our move. We plan to have met all these challenges early next week but in the meantime things are moving a little slower than normal. You should receive your badge by the end of next week. Please contact Vicki Wolf on 020 3117 0549 (this number is valid from 16 February) or email administrator@travelprofessional.co.uk if you have any problems.
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