Boosting its visibility and educating the industry about its mission are the top objectives for the Professional Association of Travel Hosts in 2010, according to its board of directors.
The organization, founded in 2006, addresses host agency issues and sets criteria for what it believes a legitimate host agency ought to be and do. It also aims to create a leveraged voice to suppliers regarding the needs of host agencies and serves as a resource for home-based independents who already work with a host or are in the process of choosing one.
Anita Pagliasso, a PATH board member and vice president of Ticket to Travel, was a charter member of the organization.
"I have enjoyed the camaraderie of working together with a cohesive group of like-minded professionals who share common challenges facing all host agencies," she said. "Whether it's on a quarterly conference call with a supplier or a gathering at an industry conference, PATH continues to provide various invaluable opportunities for all members to brainstorm with our peers as well as meet with other industry supporters."
PATH said it has enjoyed steady growth by seeking out qualified host agencies, and its membership committee said it will maintain that pattern throughout 2010. Each prospective host agency member must undergo a stringent membership application process to ensure that the organization's high standards are upheld, the board stressed.
Host agency members, it added, enjoy "heightened credibility" to potential independent contractors looking for a reputable host agency. Goals have been set to increase membership in 2010 by implementing various strategic marketing programs.
Host agencies that aspire to join PATH must meet several requirements. They cannot "market their service emphasis on travel agent discounts and benefits," for example, and they must have operated primarily as a host agency for a minimum of three years. Also, they must have a minimum of 25 independent contractor agents under written contract, and they are not allowed to market themselves as part of a consumer recruitment process with benefits resembling a multilevel marketing scheme.
That isn't surprising, considering that PATH's founder was Peter Stilphen, who routinely rails against MLMs and who is in the process of organizing another industry organization called Stars, which is meant to give professional travel retailers "a strong voice within the distribution system segment" of the industry.