NEW YORK -- ASTA President and CEO Kathy Sudeikis said the
Society in January will launch its plan to match articulate travel
agents with their local consumer press in each of 50 top U.S.
markets.
For each city, ASTA will supply key TV, radio and print outlets
with a number of local contacts and will update those lists every
quarter, she said.
Sudeikis is a firm believer in the value of good public
relations, and she is ecumenical about it, too: The ASTA-selected
trade spokespeople will include non-ASTA and well as ASTA agents,
she said.
The idea, she added, is to ensure that press at all levels have
someone they can contact whenever a travel issue is in the news --
and she wants the trade to get an upbeat story about itself in
front of the public.
Other activities that she said will generate publicity
follow:
" ASTA will stage another conference about the dangers of travel
scams. It is set for March 29 at the National Press Club in
Washington.
In addition, it will create the Extra Mile Award, recognition
for a travel agent who has performed service above and beyond the
call of duty. The winner will be named at the March 29 event.
Sudeikis said ASTA is "close to kicking off" the nomination
process, something that should turn up stories ASTA can tell to the
consumer press, she added, regardless of who the winner is. Agents
wont have to be members to qualify for nomination.
" ASTA was invited to participate in a national media campaign
on healthy travel to be launched in the first quarter by
GlaxoSmithKline, the pharmaceutical company.
The program will air with the participation of Sudeikis and Dr.
Adrian Cohen, who led the medical team associated with the CBS
"Survivor" show.
" Although this is not specifically about press coverage,
Sudeikis said she wants to create a canned service-club speech that
agents could use in talking up the value of travel agents in their
hometowns.
In a wide-ranging discussion, Sudeikis and Bill Maloney, ASTAs
executive vice president and chief operating officer, updated a
press group on a number of other topics as follows:
" In recent weeks, ASTAs consumer Web site, TravelSense .org,
was expanded to include a section where members can profile their
businesses, highlight specialties and, in general, sell their
services in a personalized way. About 200 members have created
profiles so far, Maloney said, adding that about 50 agents have
signed on to write articles about their travel experiences, which
consumers are invited to do as well.
" The Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA) will stage
its annual meeting to be concurrent with the ASTA World Travel
Congress, set for Nov. 6 to 11 in Montreal. Maloney said some
sessions will be ACTA-only and some ASTA-only, while others will be
combined events. He predicted ACTAs event will attract about 800
delegates and the ASTA event about 2,000.
" Meanwhile, ASTA committed to the second week of September
through 2013 for its revamped annual meeting, to alternate between
Orlando and Las Vegas beginning in 2006. The restructured event is
called the Trade Show, but Trade is conceived as an acronym for
Travel Retailing and Destination Expo.
One day of trade show time will be open to consumers (where
member agents are expected to exhibit), and ASTA may work with
local newspapers and members, such as the major online agencies, to
lure consumers to the event, Maloney said.
Also, the Society is negotiating with potential strategic
partners, which means the Trade Show may be more than an ASTA show,
Maloney said. Partners could include national tourism
organizations, he said.
" ASTA signed on 75 new members since mid-November, most of them
in the voting membership categories, Maloney said.
To contact
the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Nadine Godwin
at [email protected].