INDUSTRY WARMS TO ATAS

I AM writing this month’s AFTA view on board a Trafalgar Coach headed north along highway 101 from Santa Barbara to Monterey, California with a pit stop planned at Hearst Castle – and as someone who has never been on a coach tour before, I have to say this is a great experience. Taking a coach tour would not perhaps have been my number one thing to do, but having experienced all there is to offer in this type of travel, I am a convert. Trafalgar have this down to a fine art and, I should say, I am their guest on this trip. The other first for me is to be experiencing a familiarisation trip with a group of helloworld travel agents (they will all remain anonymous), and for someone that has been doing this job for seven years, it’s a surprising and pleasant adventure. As the industry embraces the change to deregulation and ATAS starts to have the desired impact with consumers, it is very pleasing to hear positive feedback about the “Pack Some Peace of Mind” campaign that continues to be rolled out by the state consumer affairs agencies. The radio campaign will reach some 9.5 million listeners over two months and this will set us on the right path as governments explain the move from licensed to accredited travel agents. The message that has been developed by government agencies does include a reference to using a credit card as a protection method for consumers. That is a simple fact that everyone has rights to access, and this is why the government agencies make this point. As the industry changes, so too will be the way travel agents need to consider their own protections via the various commercial solutions that have been deployed into the industry. These include insurance, trust accounts, e-payment methods and other consumer policies. The whole idea of a deregulated environment is to allow companies to find solutions that best meet their needs. Following on from the “Pack Some Peace of Mind” campaign, starting in November will be the ATAS campaign that will build on the work already done. It will further bring to life the message to consumers that accredited travel agents are there best choice when booking travel. We will also be running print advertisements in a range of outlets, but most importantly we will be using very sophisticated penetration methods to infiltrate the consumers’ mind on the internet when they are researching travel. ATAS is a supporting brand for every participant and what is most important is that we do this across the industry. By the way, we are now looking at some 2500 locations and this continues to grow every day. I am also very pleased to report that the satisfaction rating ATAS is receiving as travel agents go through the process is at 98%. So it does seem that ATAS is on track and the industry has embraced the change.

The radio campaign will reach some 9.6 million listeners over months’ two