ATIA’s new Independent Travel Agents Association (ITAA) committee, representing independent travel agents from every corner of Australia, is off to a flying start following its initial meeting in June and first two months of activity.
At its first meeting, the committee discussed key issues facing independent travel agents and decided on their priorities for the next 12 months, with a focus on demystifying industry changes and providing support for businesses.
Since their first meeting, ITAA has been instrumental in providing close to weekly feedback on ATIA’s surcharging webinar, which supported members in the lead-up to the RBA surcharge changes, and ATIA’s advice for members on the recently announced Fiji Tourism Service Tax, ensuring ATIA’s resources are member-driven and fit for immediate use.
The first ITAA meeting, held in June, was led by the committee’s Chair, Robyn Sinfield, as well as Vice Chairs Mario Paez and Julia van Huisstede, alongside committee members Brian Conway, Felicity Dascomb, Peta Godfrey, Emma Whiting, Sonia Jones, Paul Pearman, Sandy Chen, Mandi Forrester-Jones and Nicole King.
In the coming months, the committee will continue advocating on behalf of independent agents and work alongside ATIA to improve resources and advocacy on behalf of travel agents across the industry.
QUOTE ATTRIBUTABLE TO ROBYN SINFIELD, ITAA CHAIR:
“There’s been very strong feedback that smaller independent agencies can, at times, feel overlooked. ITAA has been established to address that, and there’s a great deal of enthusiasm, expertise and commitment across the ITAA committee.”
“We’ve all got very strong views on what our priorities should be as a committee moving forward. ITAA is such a fantastic resource for independent members of ATIA and we’re determined to make the most of the strong platform ITAA provides in terms of collaboration, representation and meaningful industry dialogue to advance and support independent members.”
QUOTE ATTRIBUTABLE TO MARIO PAEZ, ITAA VICE CHAIR:
“As ITAA is a new committee, being involved at this level is fantastic for representing independent travel agents and I’m looking forward to using my role as Vice Chair to advocate for businesses.”
QUOTE ATTRIBUTABLE TO JULIA VAN HUISSTEDE ITAA VICE CHAIR:
“I’m very proud to be appointed Vice Chair. I’m passionate about small businesses and the retail sector of travel, particularly independents, is an important part of our ecosystem. We need to nurture that and bring people together to share ideas to pass on to other businesses. We don’t all have the footprint of the larger agencies, so coming together is important and ITAA is essential for representing independent agents.”
