President's Podium: ACTA Working for you

As we start to plan for our membership drive in November the team at ACTA takes some time to reflect on the past year's work and achievements and how that translates into the value we are providing our members. Our recent evaluation showed that members using any of our business benefits are saving real dollars and we congratulate you for your resourcefulness. ACTA programs offer discounts on merchant services, group benefits, E & O, commission recovery, or Canada Post amongst others. Those who have put forth the effort to compare have experinced savings making the transition worth while. Understanding that sometimes it takes resources to consider new suppliers for your business, consider evaluating our programs to find out how they can be working for you.

Aside from business benefits in the form of dollar savings or revenue generating streams, ACTA provides information, representation and education to ensure agencies can thrive in a constantly changing travel industry. Here are some of the points we touched on over the past year, with appreciation that your commitment to the trade association makes our achievements possible:

CASL - Anti-Spam Legislation
ACTA has been supporting members as they work to comply with Canada's New Anti-Spam legislation. ACTA is offering its members a CASL resource to help them understand the issues, clear any confusion and comply with the new legislation that came into effect July 1, 2014.
The ACTA CASL resource includes an on demand webinar and summary documents that break down the legislation into a context that is specific to the retail travel trade. An FAQ is also offered to help answer some of the more common questions. These materials are free for ACTA members and available for download.

Fraud
ACTA initiated an ANTI FRAUD COMMITTEE with select individuals (OTA’s. Aggregators, Airlines, Tour Operators and Fraud protection technology Perseuss) to foster discussions on fraud prevention and fraud trends in Canada.  We have been successful since our last report by:
•Providing an avenue of communication amongst agents, aggregators, Airlines and members of the fraud committee
•Exploring existing and emerging trends to identify fraud prevention best practices
•Identifying areas that require education to help assist agents in identifying and preventing fraud losses, as well as working to affect change
ACTA has hosted Fraud seminars in various regions across Canada and had discussions with the Privacy Commissioner’s office and held interviews with local trade media.

Travel Health Insurance
With members expressing frustration of having to deal with the different provincials requirements to sell travel health insurance to their clients, ACTA formed an Insurance Committee to work toward a national solution. The committee is comprised of “insurance savvy” representatives from each of our six regional councils.

In August ACTA sat down with the Travel Health Insurance Association (THIA) to discuss synergies and potential joint training and licensing initiatives. With licensing being provincially regulated, the situation is complex. There may not be any simple solution but ACTA's insurance committee has held discussions with the provincial regulators to explore opportunities.

New Distribution Capability (update on Resolution 787)
ACTA is pleased to say that we to are happy with the way the DOT decision approving Resolution  787 was made subject to conditions IATA had agreed with Open Allies.

In particular we are pleased with the DOT’s emphasis that its  approval of Resolution 787 was limited to the creation of an XML communication standard that will permit airlines individually to "enhance distribution of their products”.

ACTA also welcomed the DOT’s clear statement that, "nothing in its tentative decision or final order should be interpreted as reflecting any prejudgment or determination on their part regarding the NDC as a business model."

We must also clearly state  that the DOT decision only modifies Resolution 787  for activities subject to United States jurisdiction and does not apply elsewhere.  We have to remain concerned that for the the carriers outside of the "USA" that the text of Resolution 787 remains unchanged. It still states that travel agencies can be required by a carrier to provide the traveler’s personal details in order to get a price quote.
IATA has been clear to state its “view” that the conditions imposed by DOT are consistent with what Resolution 787 is supposed to mean, but since the actual verbiage of 787 does not support the conditions on its face, ACTA will remain on edge that IATA will at some point change its view and enforce the Resolution as it is actually written outside the US.

ACTA feels the solution to this is an easy one and well within IATA’s control.  IATA can have the Resolution amended by mail vote of IATA carriers at any time on 21 days notice and make the Resolution subject to the five conditions worldwide to tighten up the language related to privacy rights, competition, and travel agencies located outside the US.

Certification and Education
It has been over a year since the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA) acquired the Canadian Institute of Travel Counselors (CITC) and adopted professional certification. As we take a moment to reflect we've got to say it was the right thing to do and the industry is better off.
The past year has proven that the industry is on board with supporting professionalism and it is showing through the increase in the number of Travel Professionals who have enrolled in the program and are working towards their professional designations of Certified Travel Counselor (CTC) and Certified Travel Manager (CTM).

Since ACTA acquired CITC, professional designations have increased by 17% while new enrollments are over 30 times what they were last year.
Outside of the numbers ACTA Education has celebrated many milestones. First, under ACTA, the CTC and CTM exam and curriculum was updated to better represent today's travel agent. With the development of technology within the Travel Industry Central Reservations system and the introduction to e-commerce we had to acknowledge the fact that the times are changing and that we must change with the times.
Second, ACTA Regional Managers have been working diligently to reconnect with Travel and Tourism schools to get on a first name basis with the educators who teach them. Our success with this is measurable through the fact that all our Regional Managers have held "student talks" at the schools within their province.

In May, ACTA hosted an Educator's Conference where the collaboration was so valuable it led to the rebirth of the Student Conference where in early November of this year, ACTA will host hundreds of Travel and Tourism students for a gathering in Toronto. This conference will help us promote our industry as a valuable career option. It will introduce the leaders of our industry to travel and tourism students that represent the future of our trade in Canada. It is an opportunity for us all to educate on product, branding, and discuss employment opportunities with perspective future employees.

Marketing Toolkit for ACTA Members
This year ACTA launched of our member toolkit and declaring "...Without a Travel Agent...You're on Your Own!*"
The ACTA member toolkit is a collection of resources that can be used for free by ACTA members to promote the value of their services to the consumer. Offering both digital and printable content, the toolkit can be leveraged to use in tradeshows, document dressings, advertising campaigns and PR initiatives. All the materials are in both french and english featuring the slogan “Without a Travel Agent, You’re on Your Own” and features reasons to use a travel agent when planning a trip. Materials can be customized with agency contact info by using ACTA's print shop.
Later this year we will be launching a consumer facing website to promote the value of using a travel agent to the consumer. More details will follow as we move forward this this project with plans on promoting the website.

Small Business Matters Coalition
ACTA reported participating in an initial meeting to assess the prospect of joining a newly formed coalition known as the Small Business Matters Coalition addressing the need for fairer credit card fees for independent businesses. After follow-up discussions, ACTA decided to work with this coalition. With the exorbitant credit card fees we have in Canada (unlike other jurisdictions including the European Community, Australia and Spain) eroding the profitability of many small and independent businesses, this is an issue that ACTA needs to be involved.
The “ask” of government is not to pass on the credit card fees to consumers but rather make the charges more fair, especially in comparison to other jurisdictions where regulatory intervention has proven successful.

Elimination of Ontario’s Tax on Jet Fuel for U.S. and International Flights
ACTA supported the National Airlines Council of Canada, along with IATA, the Canadian Airports Council, and other interested parties (collectively the “coalition”), by signing a letter that was sent to the Ontario Government calling for the elimination of the provincial tax on aviation fuel used for flights to the U.S. and other international destinations. Upon full implementation, the tax rate would be 6.7 cents per litre and the Ontario Government collects approximately $50 million per year from transborder and international flights.  It is important to note that Ontario is one of only a few provinces and U.S. states that still have such a tax (Alberta got rid of it in 2004 and BC eliminated it more recently in 2012 so there are precedents).  In short, the coalition believes this tax puts Ontario at a competitive disadvantage and that its elimination would level the playing field with other Canadian provinces and U.S. states and would enhance Ontario’s overall competitiveness.  This tax hinders job creation, economic growth, trade and the development of Ontario’s vital travel and tourism sectors.  A copy of the letter can be found here

Continued involvement on/in other important industry issues:
•ACTA meets with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) regularly and is an advocate for members on a number of matters including the wire transfer fee mentioned earlier in this report. Financial criteria will be a matter of discussion in the next while so we will keep you posted.

•Working with the Canadian Transportation Agency, specifically on the matter of all inclusive air price advertising. ACTA consulted with the Agency as an industry stakeholder to ensure that regulatory requirements were fair to our members, retail travel agencies. With the regulations now in place, we will continue to work with the CTA and members on compliance matters.

•Passport Canada – ACTA was consulted as an industry stakeholder in the development of the new 10-year passport although at the time, we were unaware that the new passport would be reduced in the number of pages it contains. This has presented concerns by frequent travellers as expressed by some members. ACTA will continue to monitor the situation and consult with this government department.

•Aviation Standing Committee – ACTA continues to participate in this annual conference of industry delegates to ensure that the interests of the retail travel community is present and shared.

•Privacy Commissioner’s Office – ACTA was engaged to meet with the Privacy Commissioner’s Office to discuss areas of concerns and possible collaboration including a reminder of the 10-year anniversary of PIPEDA.

•Consumer Protection – This falls under provincial jurisdiction and as such, ACTA works with the regulators/authorities within the regulated provinces of BC (CPA), ON (TICO) and QC (OPC). Initiatives are underway in Manitoba to bring in consumer protection but with frequent changes to Ministerial appointments, has proven to be a challenge.

Thanking all our members for your continued support. 

 Sincerely

Questions or comments? Email me @ dmccaig@acta.ca