WTAAA elects new chair & executive committee

The World Travel Agents Associations Alliance (WTAAA) held its annual General Assembly and bi-annual Board meeting on September 25-26, 2018 and have elected a new executive committee and board.

Outgoing Chair Otto de’Vries has served his two-year term as Chair and the WTAAA board thanked him for his service which has seen the WTAAA expand its membership considerably, negotiate for meaningful change with IATA and continue to represent the voice of the travel agency community on the global stage.  

The following newly elected WTAAA Executive Committee include:

  • Chair – Mark Meader – American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) 
  • Vice Chair – Praveen Chugh – Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI)
  • Vice Chair – Guillermo Correa Sanfuentes –  Federation of Latin American Travel Associations (FOLATUR)
  • Secretary – Michel de Blust – European Travel Agents and Tour Operators Associations (ECTAA)
  • Treasurer – Wendy Paradis – Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA)

The following newly elected WTAAA Board (Directors, Deputy Directors) will hold a two- year-term:

Association Countries/Regions Directors Deputy Directors
ABAV Brazil Geraldo Jose Zaidan Rocha Marcelo Marcos de Oliveira
ACTA Canada Wendy Paradis Heather Craig-Peddie
AFTA Australia  Jayson Westbury 
ASATA South Africa  Otto de Vries  Dinesh Naidoo
ASTA USA  Mark Meader Eben Peck
CEAV Spain  Rafael Gallego Nadal Eva Blasco
ECTAA Europe  Michel de Blust Lars Thykier
FATA ASEAN Hamzah Rhamat  Pauline Suharno
FOLATUR Latin America   Guillermo Correa Sanfuentes Paula Cortes Calle
KATA South Korea Moo-seung Yang  Sa-woon Hong
SIPA Hong Kong  Larry Lo  Sunil Nanda
TAFI India  Praveen Chugh Jayesh Tharani
TAANZ New Zealand  Andrew Bowman Andrew Olsen

“I am delighted to take on the role of Chair of the WTAAA and look forward to working with my WTAAA colleagues as we address the many opportunities and issues facing the global travel agency community” said Mark Meader, Chair WTAAA.

L-R: Michel deBlust, Wendy Paradis, Guillermo Correa Sanfuentes, Mark Meader, Praveen Chugh

ABOUT WTAAA

The mission of the World Travel Agents Associations Alliance (WTAAA) is to act as the voice of the global travel agency community through the exchange of ideas and information. WTAAA members can be found at: 

http://wtaaa.org/who-we-are/

Contact: Mark Meader 
Email: mmeader@asta.org
www.wtaaa.org