ABTA has confirmed that its Tokyo conference, taking place from the 7 to 9 October, will go ahead as planned, despite the collapse of one of its main members Thomas Cook.

ABTA chief executive Mark Tanzer said: “Next week the annual ABTA Travel Convention will be taking place. This has for many years been the place where the industry comes together to discuss the current business climate and issues.

“The impact of last week’s failure of Thomas Cook has been very harsh and continues to be strongly felt by customers, by former employees and by the many suppliers to the company, from hotels in destination to other ABTA members.

“But the greatest pain will be felt by Thomas Cook staff who suddenly find themselves without employment. It is at times like this that the industry really should, and can, pull together to minimise pain caused by a company failure.”

Following the news of Thomas Cook’s collapse, which left 150,000 holidaymakers stranded abroad and 20,000 staff out of work (including 9,000 in the UK), ABTA and the rest of the travel and cruise industries have been working tirelessly to help all those affected.

Tanzer continued: “ABTA’s Lifeline charity is already in touch with ex-Thomas Cook staff to help provide short-term support for those in need, and I know that other travel companies are looking to pick up Thomas Cook staff, with their undoubted skills and experience.”

He concluded: “No issue is more pressing than last week’s failure, and I know that delegates at the convention will be very mindful of the anxiety and difficulties being experienced at home.”

While ABTA is going ahead with its conference, other travel companies have been forced to cancel or postpone certain events, including Hays Travel independence Group, which has had to cancel its autumn conference in light of Thomas Cook.

In the wake of the news, the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) launched the biggest ever peacetime repatriation programme to help customers overseas and bring them back to the UK. More than two-thirds of the 150,000 people abroad when Thomas Cook failed have now been returned to the UK.

Now, the CAA has begun work on its most comprehensive ATOL refund programme to reimburse those ATOL-protected holidays that were cancelled.

For more information on ABTA and for Thomas Cook advice, please visit abta.com.