It's Almost Time to Renew Your Membership
One year ago, I commented on my journey as ACTA’s new President where I travelled across the country and spoke with Travel Agency Members to understand your priorities and align them with ACTA’s Strategic Plan. After a lot of listening, an action plan was created to focus on what mattered most to our members: Advocacy and Education.
Effectively advocating to government requires strong relationships and resources to be successful. ACTA’s advocacy highlights in 2017 included our ongoing contribution to the review of Bill C- 49 (Passenger Bill of Rights) and a private meeting with Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport. ACTA’s efforts are also focused regionally where along with leaders from the travel agency community ACTA continues to lobby the Alberta Insurance Council to decrease unnecessary red tape in the sale of travel insurance, and in Ontario where we are working closely with our members to lobby the government for a more effective and modernized Travel Industry Act. Government is not the only area ACTA is well positioned to lobby, this past year ACTA was able to negotiate an extension with IATA for our members to have more time to understand and prepare for PCI compliance, and an Agency Debit Memo working group saved our members time and money by documenting a process to reconcile ADM disputes more efficiently.
The uptake from ACTA’s enhanced commitment to Travel Agency education has also been a bright spot that has exceeded our expectations. More than 400 travel industry participants joined us for our National Travel MarketPlace Conference in Toronto in 2017, and due to the overwhelming demand, there will be two conferences in 2018 – Toronto and Vancouver! Our monthly webinars were a huge success, hosting capacity audiences covering topics including PCI Compliance, Fraud prevention, and Independent Contractors. Additionally, information toolkits on these topics were added to our ACTA Learning Campus and are available to you on demand.
The past year also marked ACTA’s 40th anniversary and we celebrated with our members and partners at ACTA networking events across the country. This milestone anniversary is a testament to your inspiring commitment to the business of travel! After 40 years, what continues to resonate and remain constant is the passion and dedication that ACTA members invest in the industry. ACTA is proud to represent your interests and promote the amazing work you do, never more evident than during the aftermath of the hurricanes in the U.S. and Caribbean.
As the time to renew your membership approaches, we urge you to take a moment and review our 2017 Action Report. You will learn more about our major government and consumer initiatives, along with strides in professional certification and education. 2018 will be an exciting year as it represents the birth of new strategic initiatives!
As a member of ACTA, you are part of the organization that has been representing your interests since 1977, and with your support, we will continue to work on your behalf as the longstanding, credible voice for travel professionals.
- Wendy Paradis