Seven travel organizations met June 23 in Washington, D.C., to discuss ways to leverage the collective voice for the multi-million dollar packaged travel industry. The associations formed a coalition and established five areas for collaborative work in the future, including government relations, research, airline issues, sustainable travel and promoting the use of professional travel providers.
Coalition members include the American Bus Association (ABA), the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), the National Tour Association (NTA), the Ontario Motor Coach Association and Motor Coach Canada (MCC), the Receptive Services Association of America (RSA), the Student and Youth Travel Association (SYTA) and the Travel Industry Association (TIA).
The Travel Industry Association of Canada, the United Motorcoach Association and the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) also have committed to be a part of the coalition.
For each of the areas of focus, advocates were named to oversee the work. The yet to be named group plans to meet later this year to review progress. The issues and the coordinating associations are: government relations, sustainable travel and promoting the use of professional travel providers — SYTA and USTOA.
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