Is ASTA finally getting a mitt and getting in the game? Perhaps.
Last week's announcement by ASTA that it will begin running ads in
Modern Bride magazine could be an indication that the organization
is at long last getting ready to shed its anonymity and stake out a
claim in the national consciousness.
This hopefully will placate the restless rank-and-file who, if
opinions roundly expressed at the Strasbourg meeting are any
indication, think the executive committee's main claim to fame has
been an uncanny ability to hide its own light under a bushel.
The Modern Bride ad campaign, which also will be used as a
brochure by the French Government Tourist Office, targets the
honeymoon market. Smart move. If there's one trip people want to
get right, it's the one to Niagara Falls, or wherever it is that
the just-hitched go these days.
Agents can only hope that the honeymoon-venture turns into a
lasting relationship between ASTA and the American traveling
public. Whether they like to hear it or not (and believe me, they
don't), ASTA has yet to achieve brand-name status in this country.
It's not too late. But it's not exactly early, either.