'ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- ASTA said it will ask IATA, the Geneva-based
keeper of industry numbers, to supply a bloc of identification
numbers for the Society's registration program for non-ARC travel
sellers.
But if IATA declines, "we'll do it ourselves," said Paul Ruden,
ASTA staff senior vice president for legal and industry
affairs.
ASTA is developing criteria and costs for people eligible to
register, with "the goal of ensuring that people acquiring numbers
are genuinely involved in the sale of travel," Ruden said during a
telephone press conference after the ASTA board voted 16 to 6 to go
ahead with the program, called www.travelsellers.com.
Based on the press conference, it appears ASTA will have at
least two categories of registrants: non-ARC agents who have a CRS
and book air tickets (but have ARC agencies issue their tickets)
and those who have training and "other demonstrations of industry
knowledge and commitment to retailing."
ASTA president Joe Galloway said the Society is developing
criteria because all it takes to get a number from the Cruise Lines
International Association "is to have your check clear, and I
suspect that will be the same with the [proposed ARC registration]
program."
In response to Galloway's comment, Jim Godsman, president of
CLIA, said, "The notion of sending a check to CLIA and receiving an
ID card is blatantly false."
He said that to obtain a CLIA ID card, an agent must be a
"member in good standing" with all dues paid. The agent's'
application also must be signed by the agency's owner or manager.
"The notion of sending in a check and going ahead is dead wrong,"
said Godsman.
"CLIA got into the ID card business not because it wanted to,
but because there was a need for it," said Godsman.
He explained that as more cruise retailers, who traditionally do
not have ARC affiliations, have sold ancillary vacation products
like hotel stays, they have asked for a means to confirm their
agent "status" to non-cruise suppliers.
"Our constituents are different from ASTA's," he said. "Of
CLIA's non-ARC agencies about one-half are retail agencies that
sell 25% more cruises per location than the typical ARC
location."
"We have a large number of [agents] who sell mostly cruises and
have had problems getting benefits from non-cruise suppliers," he
added.
Galloway, meanwhile, described himself as "upset" that some
people have called the program a card mill, a reference to ARTA
president John Hawks.
Detailing the Society's long fight against card mills, Galloway
said ASTA has no intention of giving out cards. "We're not going to
compete with Iatan [the International Airlines Travel Agent
Network], at least not at this time," Galloway said.
Ruden raised the possibility that registrants' marketing
information might be sold to suppliers, with the registrants'
permission.
ASTA executive vice president Bill Maloney said Society leaders
had talked with non-air suppliers of all types, which "all said
they would be supportive" of the program, pending review of the
criteria.
In other news, Galloway said ASTA will spend $135,000 for a
complete redesign of its Web site.
Northern Ireland, which the board visited after its Dublin
meeting, plans to start a subchapter, with half the dues for new
members paid by David Boyce, director, USA, Northern Ireland
Tourist Bureau.