WASHINGTON -- ARC adopted a proposal that will require most new
travel agencies that are accredited after Jan. 1 to report sales
electronically.
Brand new agencies still will have the option of writing tickets
by hand and reporting to ARC on paper. But if a new agency entity
has a CRS, the agency must go on electronic reporting.
ARC president David Collins said the policy will not compel
existing agencies, new branches opened by existing agencies and
existing agencies that change ownership to convert to electronic
reporting.
The change was made by ARC management on the grounds that it
makes little sense to "add to the shrinking numbers" of
paper-reporting agencies when electronic reporting accounts for
more than 50% of transactions and dollar volume, and keeps
growing.
ASTA and ARTA have not objected to electronic reporting -- in
fact, many of their agent members have sent ARC testimonials on how
it has improved their productivity and cut costs.
However, ASTA and ARTA have opposed the mandatory nature of the
new policy. ARTA president John Hawks said, "Two years ago, ARTA
endorsed this system with ARC's assurances that travel agents would
never be forced to adopt it.
"Now, ARC has broken its word and it will be impossible to trust
ARC in the future," the association president said.
Hawks said ARTA withdrew its endorsement of electronic reporting
and will advise members of their legal rights to deinstall it and
go back to paper reporting.
Collins said, "We have not broken our word. It still remains
optional for agents on our books. What we're saying is that for new
people coming in, we're not doing them a favor by putting them on
an old system.
"I want to compliment ARTA for being a visionary organization in
endorsing [electronic reporting] in the first place. It's sad to
see them taking a step backward."
Electronic reporting, he said, "is a system that agents designed
for themselves. We put out a system that makes their lives better,
and this was a huge step forward in ARC-travel agent relationships.
It is a good product."
Collins also described as "false and without foundation" rumors
that ARC wants to get rid of manual tickets.
"We've been processing agents without CRSs for years -- the
number is larger than you might think -- and we will continue to
accommodate them.
"Also, agents with a CRS must have manual tickets to use in an
emergency, such as a power outage."