NEW YORK -- David Preece, president of the Travel Institute,
believes that the travel industry is not good at cooperation. "The
challenge," he says, "is to get everyone singing 'Kumbaya' around
the campfire together."
Seeking an unprecedented level of industry harmony, Preece has
invited the leaders of 17 professional associations, as well as ARC
and Iatan, to New York on Jan. 8 to discuss the idea of core
certifiable standards for industry professionals.
The presidents of the associations -- some of which (such as
ASTA and ARTA) have aggressively competitive agendas -- are being
asked to engage in a "broad collaboration" to help create what
Preece calls "an anointed curriculum" to serve as the foundation
for an industrywide continuing education program.
If standards can be agreed upon, Preece expects that the
institute would then play the lead role in administering
certification of the program.
"With a core program, we can eliminate redundancies," Preece
said. "The curriculum could, for instance, have a sales component.
Then, if an association or company wants to create a specialist
program for selling cruises, it can focus on selling cruises,
without needing a segment covering basic sales skills.
"Companies shouldn't have to start from scratch when starting a
training segment. Portability is key here."
Preece envisions, for instance, that the National Tour
Association (NTA) will help decide what core tour knowledge should
be in the tour portion of the curriculum and Cruise Lines
International Association (CLIA) will help decide what cruise
information should be included.
"We need to get everyone together to figure out how to make this
work," he said. "And the only way to do that is to get together
physically."
In addition to ASTA and ARTA, Preece has also invited both the
National Association of Commissioned Travel Agents and the Outside
Sales Support Network; CLIA and the National Association of Cruise
Oriented Agencies; and the U.S. Tour Operators Association and the
NTA.
And what if he doesn't hear "Kumbaya"?
"We'll be the tie-breaker" if there is conflict, he said. "We
have a unique, neutral and educational role."
The Travel Institute's neutrality may be in question in the
minds of some, as its Destination Specialist programs could be seen
as competing with specialist programs run by tour operators and
tourist boards.
Preece said that the institute will continue to certify
third-party education programs, as well as maintain, and possibly
expand, its own Destination Specialist program.
"We're not asking anyone to sacrifice their programs," he said.
"We're just trying to look at what core noncommercial content is
important to include. "But it goes beyond even the core curriculum.
Currently, the word specialist has lost its meaning. We need to
define the standard for specialist, and when we do, it may cause us
to revise our own specialist programs, as well."
To contact editor in chief Arnie Weissmann, send e-mail to
[email protected].