Three questions for... Natasha Haggart, group marketing manager – aviation portfolio, UBM EMEA

Edward Robertson September 25, 2016

In our regular Routes News series we take a look at the people that attend Routes events and find out more about them, their jobs and the current industry issues impacting them. In this issue we speak to Natasha Haggart, group marketing manager – aviation portfolio, UBM EMEA.

Q) What are your immediate priorities?
A) In my role as group marketing manager for the aviation portfolio at UBM EMEA, I am responsible for marketing strategy and planning for the Routes events, Routesonline, our ASM consultancy, data and training business and the ATC Conference & Exhibition. My immediate priority is World Routes 2016 and my team and I are responsible for raising awareness globally among the route development community to ensure maximum attendance at the event. We also want to make sure that our delegates and host, Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, have a fantastic experience and use it to facilitate the growth of Chengdu’s route network. The marketing team provide all the essential information for World Routes through Routesonline, email communications, the delegate directory and event app to help delegates make the most of their time while meeting business objectives. One of our key areas of focus this year is to increase the attendance of tourism authorities at World Routes. Airlines are telling us that they find it extremely beneficial for tourism organisations to be part of the route development process because the data they provide can support business cases for new air services. My aim is for every event to be both productive and enjoyable. Happy delegates become loyal members of the Routes community who act as ambassadors for our events. There will be many familiar faces at World Routes in Chengdu.

Q) How will you judge World Routes’ success?
I will judge World Routes’ success by the feedback from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport and our delegates. It is important for our hosts to be pleased with the organisation of the event and for them to get the route development results that they want from their meetings and overall experience. We are particularly happy this year with the high number of quality airlines and senior network planners who will attend World Routes. Having key decision-makers at the event is vital – they are the people that our delegates want to meet. It is very likely that some exciting new routes will be announced following the event. Route announcements are of course popular with the media. It is a key performance indicator of ours to ensure global coverage so we do everything we can to facilitate these announcements, both at the event and after. Delegates are always interested to hear from the industry leaders who speak at the Strategy Summit and Tourism Summit, and we pride ourselves on the high quality content produced for these conferences. One of the ways we measure the success of an event is by the number of delegates who return the following year. I will hope to see them again at World Routes 2017 in Barcelona and at our regional events.

Q) Best and worst part of the job?
I have worked for Routes for 14 years and I have enjoyed meeting people from around the world. Everyone at Routes has formed lasting friendships with our delegates and it is great to catch up with them at the events. I have experienced many different cultures and seen some amazing places. I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to travel so extensively. Some of my personal highlights have included our 2008 World Routes held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which was the first time I got to travel long-haul, and our Las Vegas event in 2013 with its awesome after-party that looked down on the Strip. It can be disappointing that the events are over so quickly. They are planned for years in advance (the bidding process can start up to three years before they take place) but they are over in a flash! I feel privileged to have discovered, and be part of the route development community, who are such a special group of people who make a real difference to tourism and trade through the work they do.