Continued development of the Travel Retailer Identification Program, an agency accreditation and identification system created by ARTA, has been set back several months because suppliers are preoccupied with their businesses in this economic downturn, TRIP said in a press release.

TRIP, incorporated earlier this year and led by Bruce Bishins as president, was to stage an orientation meeting on Aug. 19 in Atlanta. Instead, it said, that meeting is postponed until early 2009.

In the statement, TRIP said suppliers have advised their key marketing and sales personnel have to focus on revenue and yields. "The industry has been clear that a new identification program is sorely needed, but with the current oil crisis, its direct impact on routes and lift changes to destinations, and a significant downturn in business travel, suppliers from all sectors of the industry have indicated that they must let these issues overshadow others at this time," TRIP reported.

It added that the ARTA board and the TRIP steering committee will meet on Aug. 19 to, among other things, develop a revised timetable for the TRIP project. Bishins said the orientation meeting will be rescheduled after a September conference call with a number of suppliers.

The TRIP agency accreditation and identification system, as envisioned, would roll out first in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.