Ann van Leeuwen, who is about to celebrate her second anniversary as president of the National Association of Career Travel Agents (Nacta), talked with retail editor Kate Rice about what has changed at the organization and where it is going.
Q: What attracted you to Nacta?
A: The independent agent sector was rapidly growing. Suppliers were thinking about it. Traditional agents with employed agents were thinking, "How do I ride this wave?" Agents who were very tenured were going home, and suppliers were not able to find them. What grabbed me was the opportunity. I wanted to represent this group of career travel agents. I felt I could advocate for them and I could learn from them.
Q: What have you changed at Nacta?
A: In 2013 we raised the membership requirement. We want to live up to our name: the National Association of Career Travel Agents. Members have to have errors-and-omissions insurance. They can carry it on their own or qualify through their host. The other change I made is that you have to have been in business a certain amount of years and have revenue. If a new person wants to get into the industry and they come to Nacta, we recommend that they join a host to help them enter the industry, and then in a year or so, they can look at a Nacta membership to complement that.
Q: What are Nacta's unique offerings?
A: We have access to ASTA's resources. It's kind of this Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval that we're owned by them.
Nacta members can enjoy ASTA pricing at ASTA chapter meetings and ASTA's Global Convention. If an agency wants to join both ASTA and Nacta they receive a $40 savings. Nacta membership is $145. The rate to join ASTA is $320 for agencies with revenues of $5 million or less.
Q: What other benefits does Nacta offer?
A: The Nacta member benefit that has gotten a lot of attention is the [health] insurance program. It includes all segments, from pet insurance to discount prescription drugs. We introduced errors and omissions -- that was just added -- because we made it a requirement and we wanted to ensure that we were offering it to members. Our chapter program makes us different, too. We have 42 chapters around the U.S. and Canada. Agents can come out and network with other career-minded consultants at these meetings.
Q: Nacta has preferred supplier relationships. How do those benefit members?
A: They meet with them at our chapter meetings, at our national conventions. That is where they can sit down at the roundtable discussion and learn about [the supplier's] product and how to position that product to the customer. The element the supplier brings is the training and education about their product and destination. There are webinars so Nacta agents can come together on the phone, so when a supplier says "Ann, I want to invest in doing a webinar series with you, they are reaching the independent agent." So Nacta is a platform for them to meet, be it a webinar, a phone call, a chapter meeting or a national convention.
Q: What's next for Nacta?
A: Our goal in 2014 is to provide consumer tools. In the first quarter we will launch "Find a Travel Consultant," Nacta's new consumer site and consumer lead initiative for members. Nacta HQ will generate the consumer interest in Nacta agents and help "match" consumers to consultant. The strategy is to inspire consumer interest in a particular destination or type of travel and allow the member agent to act as the consultant.
Follow Kate Rice on Twitter @krtravelweekly.