ACTA's work under our 4 pillars of existence

Heather Craig-Peddie, Vice President of ACTA, presented the following message to the participants at the Calgary and Edmonton Open Forum's last week. At the Calgary forum, we were fortunate to have MLA Richard Gotfried in the audience to get first hand information on what is going on in the industry and what matters to Alberta agencies.

Pillar one is Advocate:

ACTA submitted a paper to the Canadian Transportation Agency offering our position on the review currently underway. In 2015, ACTA had the privilege to sit down with the CTA Review Committee as well as the CTA to present some of our points made in the submission. Peter Keyter (an AB council member and owner of South Travel/The Travel Lady) attended all of these meetings. The submission can be found on the members’ site of the ACTA website but the highlights include: Security, Tourism as an Economic Driver and Strengthening Consumer Protection. (The latter point was expanded upon and how it relates to the current case of fraud in Saskatchewan.)

ACTA also works with IATA specifically, ACTA appoints positions to the APJC (agency program joint council). This council can make recommendations that get forwarded to the APGJC and eventually to PAConf. This year, we expect to be reviewing new financial criteria so it is important that ACTA is at that table providing agency input or it would ultimately be left to the airlines making decisions. This is definitely not what we want!!!

ACTA works with like-minded organizations such as the Small Business Matters Coalition. Exorbitant credit card fees is what brought this coalition together and we continue to present to government that something has to be done to get Canada in line with other jurisdictions around the world. 

Pillar Two is Educate and Elevate:

The ACTA Campus was launched last year and we now have 4 courses housed on this site. We are working on transitioning the BC and SK insurance exams and a number of other courses including travelling with disabilities and gay and lesbian travel working closely with Travel Gay Canada.

Our student conferences continue to grow and this year we are working on hosting a conference in Quebec and in 2017 we set our sights on the west.

Pillar Three is Promote:

Where and when possible, ACTA participates in consumer shows. At these shows ACTA is encouraging the consumer to book with an ACTA member agency and of course… Without a Travel Agent… You’re on Your Own.  This has greater impact in unregulated provinces such as Alberta.  ACTA is the only mediator for consumers but only with ACTA agencies who have qualified to be members. The public wants to know “who” they are working for.

Last year, we launched a consumer facing website: bookwithatravelagent.ca. We received great attention from the testimonials submitted by agents and their consumers. This contest resulted in lucky winners for both agent and consumer with tickets courtesy of WestJet.

Pillar Four is Connect:

The membership satisfaction survey conducted last fall showed that ACTA is doing very good but of course, we can do better. We look forward to filling the position of President in the coming weeks. Getting a new perspective on the issues is always good to ignite the fires. 

Another survey conducted last fall was the service fee survey. Results are being compiled and we expect to have this completed in Q1.

Councils: Councils are the lifelines for ACTA. You have the opportunity to get involved with your association. If you can’t be involved directly, then ensure your right to vote and elect your council and now the Board of Directors. Across the country, some councils are more active than others. In Quebec, the latest concern and discussion point brought forward by members is Discounting. (we talked about this later in the forum… while we cannot mandate the business model of a member, it was suggested that we approach the tour operators to ask why they are not reinforcing their own discounting policies) As well, the OPC (the consumer protection authority in Quebec) is looking to make regulation changes. When government starts to consider this, this is the reason that ACTA exists and needs to be at that table.

The same for Ontario. ACTA appoints three representatives to the TICO Board of Directors. On December 18th ACTA submitted a proposal on the proposed changes to the Ontario Travel Industry Act. When we met with them at the end of November, they were very receptive to a complete overhaul of this 30 year old ACT that is in serious need of updating. We will be at that table. Fraud is also a concern and so we’ve been active in working with ATOQ the association of tour operators in Quebec.

In Manitoba and Saskatchewan, consumer protection and staying connected through networking events such as the golf tournaments has been the primary focus at these council meetings.

In BC, networking events have also been discussed but last year, ACTA submitted to the Minister of Justice our position on proposed changes to the FIA (Financial Institutions Act) and CUIA (Credit Unions Institution Act). Our recommendation was to keep the status quo on the restricted agent model BUT consideration be given to exempting agencies from having to license with the insurance council since this is already “covered” under consumer protection BC regulations. ACTA is also in discussion with the CPBC and their marketing initiative to gain awareness of booking with a registered BC travel agency. As a valued stakeholder, the BC government is identifying ACTA to be the organization to work with on this new initiative.

Of course you can stay connected with ACTA if you always read our bi-weekly newsletter ACTAVision. We try to provide you with stories that you may not be getting from other trade media sources OR, we will try to give you an ACTA perspective to the story.

And our new Membership Card. The Board of Directors in our 2015-2017 Strategic Plan, made a point of wanting to make the ACTA card the “Card of Choice” in the Canadian Travel Industry. In so doing, we launched this year a new card that offers exclusive benefits to ACTA members. We are asking suppliers to give that “little extra” to you. You can find our current roster of supplier benefits on the members’ side of our website but keep in mind, we will be growing this list. 

And finally in AB, Anthony and those delegated to work on various sub-committees introduced some of the local initiatives.  Alberta agencies biggest concern is the selling of insurance.  (Peter Keyter outlined our progress with the AIC and how we are initiating involvement to have our voice be heard.)  The Alberta council initiated the National Committee with council members from across the country to work on an amiable solution for all.  Presently ACTA is working with THIA and introducing recommendations taking into consideration each province laws. 

ACTA Alberta/NWT has provided Social Media seminars, Fraud Seminars, Sponsored socials with the objective of networking and providing our Allieds the opportunities to reach out to our members.  Rooftop Social, New Years events as well as the annual Golf Tournament which has been transformed to meet the needs of all by including a day spa, man tracker and dinner only invites.  We have increased attendance from 86 three years ago to over 165 enjoying the day.

It is Alberta’s objective to be focused on consumers and helping them to understand the value of working with not only a travel agent – but more importantly an ACTA agency.  

On behalf of the ACTA Board of Directors, thank you to each council member for offering your time and commitment to ACTA. And special thanks to our ACTA members for supporting us and allowing us to work on your behalf.