ASTA seminars feature 'profitable' lineup

LAS VEGAS -- This year's ASTA World Travel Congress is offering delegates a choice of nearly 60 seminars.

The following is a sampling of scheduled seminars that focus on profitability:

This workshop is designed to help agents evaluate whether booking on line is of value to them and their clients. Stephanie Kenyon and John Pittman, ASTA's vice president and director, respectively, of industry affairs and travel technology, will discuss the pros and cons of booking on-line and the keys to integrating on-line bookings into an agency's business.

Most agents know how to sell to the mass-market client, but there is a market of customers with specialized interests. This seminar is designed to help agents sell to this group. Moderator Joe Kwortnik, Cruise Line International Association's director of training, will show a variety of ways to match niche clients to cruises. He will also explore the profiles of six common niche client types and what they want from a travel experience.

This Institute of Certified Travel Agents' seminar will present successful strategies on how to recruit the best employees, develop their potential and keep them. Anna Fesmire, a 15-year travel industry veteran, will lead the workshop. She will discuss human resource strategy and how to create a professional development plan.

Doris and Phil Davidoff, co-founders of Belair Travel Consultants in Bowie, Md., will teach participants how to efficiently use the power of the Web to benefit their business. In this workshop, agents will learn how to enhance ciency and proftability of their agency and answer questions, such as what should be on your Web site and how to respond to leads received via the Web.

No matter what size an agency may be, there still are liability risks. Steve Leven and Greg Takehara of the Berkely Agency in Garden City, N.Y., will give participants a better understanding of what liability exposures exist, how to manage them and how to incorporate a risk management perspective into your business. They also will discuss claim situations, how to avoid them and propose remedies for when lawsuits do occur.

According to ASTA, home-based agents are one of the fastest growing groups in today's industry. This seminar provides information on how a home-based agent can improve business profitability, or how to go about becoming one. Joanie Ogg, president of the National Association of Commissioned Travel Agents and co-author of "How to Start a Home-based Travel Agency," will lead the workshop. Ogg has been in the industry for over 27 years and been a home-based agent since 1988.

With a growing group of affluent travelers out there, this seminar is structured to help agents learn how to tap into this market. Moderated by Jeff Drew, general sales manager of North America for Cunard Cruise Line, the seminar will show delegates where to advertise and what products are best suited for today's luxury traveler.

Searching the Internet takes time, but using it is essential to stay ahead of clients who are already taking advantage of this resource. Judith Albright, a travel counselor in Denver for 30 years, will teach participants which Web sites are invaluable to agents and how to use them to stay ahead of even the best Web surfers.