WASHINGTON, D.C. -- More than 160 travel advisors
representing 34 states converged here on Tuesday to meet with legislators and
make the case for issues important to travel agencies.
The advisors were participating in ASTA's Legislative Day,
the Society's annual fly-in.
"It's our story, and we're responsible for telling it
and for educating," ASTA CEO Zane Kerby told agents during training for
the event Monday at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington.
During training, advisors heard from legislative staffers
offering words of wisdom for their 15- to 20-minute meetings with congresspeople
and their staff members.
"Your message definitely needs to be clear and concise,
because obviously they are also pressed for time," said Chara McMichael,
chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas). She encouraged agents to
make their stories personal, and therefore, more impactful.
Ryan Hedgepeth, chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence
(D-Mich.), agreed that personal stories are more impactful.
While the Hill can be intimidating, he said, "At the
end of the day, we are just people that care about our country. I think all
of us on either side of the aisle want to be as bipartisan as we can, when we
can."
Hedgepeth also encouraged agents to offer themselves as
future resources.
Legislative Day veterans Jackie Friedman, president of
Nexion Travel Group, and John Higgins, director of business development for
Travelink/American Express Travel, also gave advice.
Friedman encouraged agents to be ready for a meeting
anywhere, including an unexpected one in the hallway, which led to one of her
best conversations to date at a Legislative Day.
Similarly, Higgins encouraged them to be ready for anything,
including using most of a meeting to build a relationship and talking about
the issues when appropriate.
"We obviously get to see lobbyists and consultants on a
regular basis," McMichael said, but those individuals are paid and travel
advisors aren't. "That has a
greater impact when you walk into a member's office, so that's very important. ...
Just the fact that you are here makes a huge difference, so thank you for that."
This year, ASTA had more representation from around the
country, executive vice president of advocacy Eben Peck said. In total, 34
states were represented, up from 27 last year.
While ASTA monitors between 15 and 20 issues that could
affect the industry, the Society must drill down on a couple of issues for
Legislative Day, Peck said. Ideally, those should be actionable issues -- like
asking a representative to sponsor a bill -- and easily explained. The issues
should also be bipartisan, where strong pushback is unlikely.
This year, ASTA focused on two issues: lobbying for funds
from the Aviation and Transportation Security Act to go exclusively to aviation
security and harmonizing the federal test used to determine which workers are
employees and which are independent contractors.