Vilnius has been chosen to host the first joint AITO conference for both operators and agents this summer. The Lithuanian capital will be the venue for the conference from June 16-19 when more than 250 delegates are expected to attend.

AITO, the Association of Independent Tour Operators, is an organisation representing over 140 of Britain's best specialist tour operators. And it’s 35 anniversary conference will also be run simultaneously with the AITO Specialist Travel Agents Conference. Conference will take place in Contemporary Art Centre (CAC), Vilnius Town Hall

Lithuanian National Tourism Office in London, the member of AITO, was the initiator of participation in the contest and presented Vilnius as a destination for the conference. The city fought off competition from several other unnamed destinations for the event.

AITO chairman Derek Moore said: “Two thirds of AITOS’s 143 members now sell via Aito Specialist Travel Agents and it’s a natural step to run simultaneous conferences with some joint sessions. Networking and information sharing with like-minded companies is the number one reason why operators and agents undertake AITO membership according to the latest satisfaction surveys.”

Moore added that Vilnius was chosen because it was a “lesser-known” destination but still with a relatively short flying time of around two hours.

This will be the first time AITO and AITO Agents will combine their overseas conferences into one large event. Traditionally the agents conference has been held in June with the operators event in November