IFWTO Convention 2006
Athens, 28 March-2 April

This was the 37th IFWTO Convention, but only the 12th held in the Atlantic Region.

The theme chosen "Athens - the Wonder of Revival" became very clear to us all during our days together in Athens. The Greek Women's Tourist Organisation had organised a wonderful Convention held at the St George Lycabettus Hotel. Coordinator of the Convention was Irene Antonopoulos and she and her colleagues did a wonderful job!

Approximately 100 delegates and guests from 20 Clubs participated. AWTE UK was represented by nine members and one guest. The Clubs with the greatest number of delegates were AWTE - Nigeria (African Women Travel Executives) and Travelbags Johannesburg.

The Executive Committee was newly elected:

• Chairman - Faye Alexander, ATTP Inc., Australia
• Vice Chairman - Sheila Hair, Travelbags Johannesburg
• Secretary/Treasurer - Linda Smith, AWTE UK Ltd.
• Atlantic Governor - Liz Dane, Washington Executive Women in Travel, USA, with alternate Governor Irene Antonopolous, Athens.

On arrival to Athens we were greeted at the hotel with a splendid dinner, co-hosted by the famous Greek singer Nana Mouskouri.

During the Business Sessions and all other meetings 'The Future of the Federation' was the most important item to be discussed. Membership has declined for various reasons and just close to 1,100 is the sad total. The reasons seem to be Clubs folding and many actively working members made redundant. Disagreement between the Clubs about the shape of our future has also played a major role in the decline.

During the last Business Session we were presented with three "survival options" and after lengthy discussions a strategic alliance with Skål International until December 31, 2007, was voted for. IFWTO will become a member organization within Skål and will continue to operate independently as a Federation. It will form three Clubs - IFWTO Atlantic, IFWTO Mid-Americas and IFWTO Pacific. It also means that all members of IFWTO will have all the rights and privileges of Skål members from 1 May 2006. We will receive further information on the new Alliance soon.

The Convention was officially opened in the City Hall in the presence of the Mayor of Athens. During the Atlantic regional meeting AWTE was presented with the award as "Club of the Year" - one of the reasons for this was our support of the Mid-South Women in Tourism (USA) after the 'Katrina' catastrophe. Our contribution made it possible for the Club to organise a Christmas Lunch for members and their families. Another proud moment for AWTE - the Executive Committee took the decision to update the IFWTO website and this task was given to our Monika Warburton.

For the IFWTO 38th Annual Convention 2007 bids were presented from Bahrain, Turin and New Orleans. The Business Session voted overwhelmingly to hold the Convention in late May 2007 in New Orleans to demonstrate support for our sister Club, so badly affected by 'Katrina' last summer.

Serious business sessions were mixed with a City Tour of Athens, a Dinner at the Yachting Club and a visit to Plaka. The highlight of our leisure time undoubtedly was the visit to Delphi.

A Gala Dinner was held at the Grande Bretagne Hotel on the 1st of April to close our 37th Convention. The members of the Greek Women's Tourist Organisation were thanked for their hard work to create such a successful Convention during this difficult time and the evening really was a "Grand finale".

As so much is happening within IFWTO I hope you will continue to look out for all the information we will continue to receive regularly!