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THE HOME-BASED TRAVEL AGENT
=============================================
A Newsletter for Those on the Cutting Edge
of the Travel Distribution System
http://www.hometravelagency.com
ASTA WANTS
YOU!
When I first
started teaching people how to become home-based travel agents (back
in the "dark ages" of 1995), I took a lot of flak from the
"traditional" travel agent community and the trade press.
How times have changed!
Recognizing
that home-based travel agents are the fastest growing segment of the
travel agent community (one might almost say the ONLY growing segment),
the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) has announced that it
will begin accepting independent, non-ARC, home-based agents as full-fledged
members with voting rights. In doing so, they said some very nice
things about folks like us.
Predictably,
the announcement met with mixed reviews from ASTA members, a number
of whom questioned the propriety of mixing agency owners with outside
agents (both employed and independent contractors) and true independents.
I must say
I tend to agree. I have nothing against ASTA. It’s a fine organization
with a code of ethics to which I think ALL travel agents, no matter
what the shape of their business model, should adhere. Still, the
business interests of agency owners (many of whom operate ‘outside
agent networks’) and home-based independents like us are different.
Not mutually exclusive, not antagonistic, just different. To the extent
that ASTA "represents" its members (to the public, to Congress,
etc.) these differences raise some intriguing practical and ethical
questions.
The announcement
also begs the question: "What’s in it for me, the home-based
agent?" Well, that’s something that will have to be answered
by each individual. However, I can see no screaming need to rush out
and join ASTA, although I am clearly eligible under the new guidelines.
I am perfectly
happy with my membership in the Outside Sales Support Network (OSSN),
which is today the only truly independent (with the accent on "independent")
voice representing the home-based agent. At OSSN meetings you can
speak your mind freely among your peers without worrying that it will
somehow "get back" to an executive board top-heavy with
agency owners. By the way, as a subscriber to this newsletter, you
are entitled to a discount on OSSN membership. It’s a good career
investment. You can download an application form by clicking
here.
Sadly, I think
the ASTA announcement has less to do with the new-found respectability
of home-based agents than it does with ASTA’s own institutional
survival. The writing is clearly on the wall. Traditional travel agencies
are shrinking in number. Many of those that remain are questioning
whether ASTA membership is still a viable investment of scarce funds.
The Association of Retail Travel Agents (ARTA) is giving ASTA some
very real competition. On the other hand, home-based agencies are
growing and prospering. Is it any wonder that ASTA sees home-based
agents as a potential source of new members, not to mention new revenue?
I have long
believed that any bureaucracy’s first allegiance is not to the
constituency it was created to serve but to its own survival. I believe
we are seeing proof of this "law of nature" in ASTA’s
new-found respect for what I call the home-based travel revolution.
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