Outside Sales Support Network (OSSN), the home-based agent
organization acquired by CCRA Travel Solutions last year, has been fully absorbed
into CCRA and rebranded under new leadership.
Since the acquisition in March 2014, OSSN had operated as a
wholly owned subsidiary of CCRA. Now, OSSN has been integrated into the company, and groups
that were OSSN chapters and regions will be referred to as CCRA chapters and
regions going forward.
Margie Jordan
Gary and Melody Fee continued in their positions as OSSN president
and vice president, respectively, after the acquisition. That arrangement was
initially scheduled to last until March 2016, but CCRA said the Fees agreed to
shorten it to Sept. 28. Gary Fee founded OSSN in 1990.
Margie Jordan is the agent group’s new leader as CCRA’s vice
president of membership services. Jordan, the president and CEO of Jordan
Executive Travel Service of Jacksonville, Fla., said she is still figuring out
the future of that business, but in the meantime she is “excited by all the
things that are coming down the pipe” at CCRA.
Jordan will essentially take over the Fees’ roles, but her
job also will include responsibilities related to CCRA’s hotel booking portal, said
Dic Marxen, CCRA’s president and CEO.
The Travel Retailer Universal Enumeration (TRUE) code, the
agent ID booking system developed by OSSN, will remain a flagship product for
CCRA.
Initially, Jordan said she plans to focus on getting the
membership up to speed on what the changes mean to them. Then she intends to
look at ways to grow membership, as well as provide new offerings to members.
“It’s all very positive change, and nothing grows without
change,” she said. “Absolutely nothing grows without change.”
CCRA has a new membership structure that reflects a modest
decrease in pricing. Marxen said the model is “extremely simplified” from what
had been offered in the past.
This structure will be rolled out after the Travel Show
Marketing Group’s Home Based Travel Agent Forum at the end of October. CCRA is
a presenting sponsor of the forum.
The first membership level, CCRA Agent Subscriber, is a
free membership that grants access to CCRA’s hotel booking platform and offers
invitations to limited events. Members at this level can attend one free local
chapter meeting.
The next level is the CCRA Associate Travel Agent
Membership, which is $150 per year. It offers access to the hotel booking
platform, online learning platform, invitations to PowerSolutions live events
and local CCRA chapter support. The CCRA Associate Travel Agency Membership, $200 per year,
includes access to all of those benefits for three agents within an agency. Under the CCRA Accredited Travel Agency Membership, $300 per
year, five agents within an agency will receive all of those benefits, as well
as a unique TRUE code. It is the highest level of membership.
Dic Marxen
Existing members will see renewal notices reflecting the new
structure early next year, CCRA said.
A new, all-encompassing website, CCRA.com, will be launched
shortly. Marxen said it will include everything branded under CCRA.
“That’s a big deal,” he said, noting it will be “a single
point of contact … we just had way too many websites.”
CCRA will continue its global expansion, Marxen said, with
the TRUE code being delivered to independent consultants outside the U.S. CCRA
directors are currently operating in Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador,
Spain and the Republic of Georgia.
According to Marxen, some countries are “in desperate need
of an accreditation,” and CCRA intends to fulfill that need.
Marxen said CCRA plans to be in 20 countries by the end of
2016 or the first or second quarter of 2017.
“This is a big step for us,” he said.