IATA
has launched an online portal, at www.iatatravelcentre.com, enabling consumers, travel
agents and others access to carefully monitored airline data on
changing international travel requirements and restrictions.
Steve Lott,
communications director for IATA in Washington, said the data is
part of its airline association's TIM/Timatic System, which keeps
track of and updates information on requirements for travel
documents imposed by immigration authorities around the world,
including current health, passport and visa
requirements.
Lott said there are
some 14,000 changes to the requirements noted and updated by the
airline's documentation database annually. The service is available
to organizations for a small annual fee and is free to individual
travelers.
The new portal is
part of what the organization calls its Simplifying the Business
campaign, which also includes a drive to eliminate paper tickets
from the airline reservations system this year.
The portal allows the
information to be linked from other Web sites, including travel
businesses, and so far, since the portal was launched in
mid-December, some 319 referring sites have been directing traffic
there.
IATA is projecting
that they will assist as many as 2 million travelers during 2008
with passport, visa and health advice.
While airlines and
travel agents assist international travelers with information,
travelers are ultimately responsible for their own travel
documents, the association noted. IATA said in some cases fines
over improper documentation by immigration authorities can amount
to thousands of dollars. IATA estimates documentation issues cost
the travel industry itself some $200 million a year.
To
contact reporter Dan Luzadder, send e-mail to [email protected].