ATAS awareness “critical”

AN OVERWHELMING majority of consumers will look for an ATAS accredited agency when booking travel, according to new research released this morning by AFTA.

The study was conducted by global agency FiftyFive5, with a whopping 82% of overseas travellers actively looking to book with an ATAS accredited agent.

“Consumers clearly told us that they want to know when a business is accredited,” said AFTA ceo Jayson Westbury.

He said 60% of all respondents said ATAS was relevant to their travel plans, with more than half of all travellers worried when a business failed to articulate whether they were accredited.

Westbury also noted 34% of overseas travellers spoke to an agent but did not book via that consultant for various reasons.

“The research says travel agents are missing out on business by not telling the consumer they are accredited,” he said.

The study also found just 4% of AFTA’s membership base were actively discussing their ATAS accreditation with their clients.

As a result of the findings, AFTA will undertake an industry- wide education campaign to help agents realise the full value of accreditation, and boost awareness amongst consultants who “need to talk about the ATAS scheme with their clients more often,” Westbury said.

AFTA has produced a new video summarising the findings, now live at traveldaily.com.au/videos.