NEW YORK -- ASTA
last week officially launched its two-tiered membership structure
and rolled out a new logo and slogan to go with it.
ASTA COO Bill
Maloney said that as of Jan. 9 the Society had signed up 57 Premium
members, who pay $2,500 rather than $250 annually, and said ASTA
was on track to make its goal of 65 Premium memberships this month.
Those that sign on by Feb. 2 will be identified as Charter Premium
members.
Charter Premium
members include businesses of all sizes and models, he said. The
published list includes the American Express representative
network, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Uniglobe Travel International,
Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz as well as affiliates of Amex,
Carlson and Virtuoso. Trade groups Ensemble, Jurni Network, Radius,
Virtuoso and Vacation.com also are members.
Cheryl Hudak,
ASTA's president, said participating smaller agencies "want to know
what the big guys are doing."
Maloney said the
goal for the first year is to sign up 300 Premium members, and the
expectation is that nearly half will be new to ASTA. Maloney said
the "overwhelming majority" of existing members is expected to at
least stay on as core members, and this category is projected to
grow by about 400.
To provide
promised personalized consulting and other custom services at the
Premium level, he said, ASTA will add staff. The Society currently
has 47 employees.
Also, Hudak said,
ASTA will continue to stand for the American Society of Travel
Agents, but henceforth it will use only the ASTA acronym as its
brand, as many large corporations have done.
Maloney described
the new logo, which uses a rendering of a globe intertwined with
the ASTA name, as a "modern and fresh identity." He said the globe
reflects the nature of the ASTA membership, which builds bridges
around the world.
In addition,
ASTA's familiar slogan, "Without a travel agent, you are on your
own," will be embellished to say, "Without an ASTA travel agent,
you are on your own."
Hudak added that
a simplified mission statement says exactly what ASTA is about:
helping members sell travel.
To contact the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail
to Nadine Godwin at [email protected].