WASHINGTON -- Michael Spinelli's two-year term as ASTA president
encompassed such pivotal events as the airline commission cuts, the
expulsion of Renaissance Cruise Lines from the Society and the
opening of an ASTA chapter in China.
Nevertheless, Spinelli said he hopes his tenure will be
remembered most for simply improving the image of travel
agents.
Before he took office, Spinelli said, consumers had a vague view
of the role played by agents in the industry.
It was a view, he said, partly fostered by the consumer media,
which generally had a less-than-sympathetic opinion of agents,
especially after the airlines capped commissions.
"We were looked upon as poachers trying to get consumers to pay
higher fares," he said. "There were a lot of [stories] condemning
agents."
Spinelli said that under his leadership ASTA made a concerted
effort to promote agents as consumer advocates, with
representatives appearing on television newsmagazines such as
"20/20" and making statements promoting agents in dozens of
newspapers and magazines.
The Society also hired Ed Perkins, former editor of Consumer
Reports Travel Letter, to be the ASTA consumer advocate, a new
position, to further promote agents while offering consumer advice
on myriad travel issues.
"The media have changed their attitude," Spinelli said. "Now
they mention on their own, 'see your travel agent.' "
While boosting agents' image, Spinelli said, he has been equally
aggressive about encouraging agents to sell more leisure products
and weaning themselves from air tickets.
"I've tried to put the focus on profits," he said. "I am a
bottom-liner. But, I think too many travel agents don't focus on
profits. I got rid of the air ticketing business one year after I
went into business, and I haven't had an unprofitable year in 39
years of business."
Spinelli said he took every opportunity available to drum the
message home, including conducting one-hour seminars, called
Pathway to Profitability, at ASTA regionals, Tourfest, Trainingfest
and Cruisefest.
Such gatherings dovetailed with ASTA's Take Control efforts,
which focused on boosting sales.
Spinelli said some of ASTA's membership wanted to sue the
airlines after the cuts, but he firmly believes the Society made
the right decision.
"Suing isn't the answer," Spinelli said. "The problem with most
agents is that they seem to think you can fight the airlines.
"But whether they like it or not, as Sancho Panza said in 'Man
of La Mancha,' whether you hit a rock with a kettle or a kettle
with a rock, the results are the same for the kettle.
"The airlines are the rock, and we are the kettle. We can smash
ourselves against them, but we are only going to hurt ourselves.
You have to face reality in business."
Looking back at other aspects of his tenure, Spinelli said he
regrets he was unable to convince the Society's leadership to
institute an ASTA photo-identification card.
"I think the average travel agent should be identified with a
photo so that any [supplier] would know the agent is a member of
ASTA," Spinelli said.
Nevertheless, ASTA was not keen on creating a new ID card,
especially since the International Airlines Travel Agent Network
card is widely recognized among suppliers as the official
identification card for agents.
"I do not understand why an airline company is identifying
travel agents. To me, it should be the function of [ASTA],"
Spinelli said. "I feel there will always be room for an ASTA ID
card. I would support an ASTA ID anytime regardless of how big the
other ID cards are."
Spinelli also said he wished he could have changed ASTA's bylaws
by eliminating all restrictions on running for elected office.
But ASTA's membership approved several new bylaws provisions,
including requiring presidential candidates to have completed a
two-year term on ASTA's executive committee.
If the tighter provisions had been in place two years ago,
Spinelli said he could not have run for president.
"To me that's totally ludicrous," he said.
Now that his term is ending, Spinelli said he will throw himself
back into the day-to-day operations of his consortium, Lowell,
Mass.-based Action 6.
In fact, Spinelli plans to hold a press conference in New York
sometime after the ASTA World Travel Congress in Los Angeles to
promote a new Internet site for Action 6, which he said will
"simplify the Web" for consumers and agents.