There are certain invitations in this industry that don’t exactly have agents scrambling for the RSVP button. A Monday evening devoted to compliance, accreditation and policy updates? Traditionally, that’s been filed somewhere between “tax audit prep” and “watching paint dry”.
And yet, something rather unexpected unfolded this week in North Sydney.
At an office overlooking the harbour, courtesy of Cover-More, around 50 travel professionals gathered for Beyond Borders on the Road Sydney, a session that, on paper, read like a regulatory marathon. Sponsored by TravelPay, the evening promised airline briefings, compliance deep dives, advocacy updates, and marketing mechanics.
In short, all the things agents insist they’ll “catch up on later”.
They didn’t leave early. Quite the opposite.
They stayed, leaned in and walked out, calling it essential.
When “compliance” suddenly becomes compelling
The travel sector has always been a curious blend of aspiration and administration. For every glossy brochure or bucket-list itinerary, there’s a dense layer of regulation quietly holding the entire enterprise together.
That reality was laid bare and, surprisingly, embraced during the evening’s sessions.
Nina Hedges, ATIA Director of Compliance
The programme tackled the issues currently shaping agency performance and client confidence, including:
- A direct operational update from Qatar Airways amid ongoing Middle East tensions
- A CEO-level briefing from the Australian Travel Industry Association (ATIA), including proprietary consumer sentiment insights
- A policy and advocacy update led by Ingrid Fraser, highlighting three live campaigns
- A compliance and accreditation deep-dive delivered with unexpected flair
- A forward-looking briefing on Reserve Bank surcharging reforms
- A practical marketing masterclass focused on personal branding and lead conversion
Notably, one advocacy win alone delivered tangible value: a successful intervention that spared ATIA-accredited businesses $14,000 in setup costs and $8,000 annually in ongoing fees.
That’s not theoretical policy work. That’s margin protection, in real time.
The tuna analogy that stuck
It takes a certain confidence to open a compliance session with a reference to tuna.
Kevin Butler TravelPay
Yet that’s precisely what ATIA’s Director of Compliance and Membership, Nina Hedges, did, and the room didn’t forget it.
Her point was disarmingly simple: ATIA accreditation is defined as much by what it excludes as what it admits.
Like quality tuna, it’s the filtering process that determines its worth.
Last year, 22 per cent of applicants either failed or withdrew, recognising they wouldn’t meet the required standard. In an industry where barriers to entry can sometimes feel porous, that statistic landed with weight.
Accreditation, in this context, isn’t a badge for the sake of optics. It’s a commercial safeguard and, increasingly, a differentiator that clients recognise.
One attendee described it as “a safety net… and something to be proud of.” Another noted it now sits prominently in their email signature, not as decoration, but as reassurance.
Crisis response in real time
If accreditation is the backbone, advocacy is the muscle, and the past month has tested both.
Chris Fundell, Strativate Marketing, and Nicole O’Sullivan, Birds Eye View Consulting
When tensions escalated across the Middle East on Sunday, 1 March, ATIA’s leadership moved with speed that would impress even the most seasoned airline operations team.
CEO Dean Long detailed how the organisation mobilised from 5 am, issuing verified updates, crafting client communication tools, and equipping agents to respond before misinformation could take hold.
That last point proved critical.
A widely circulated media misquote amplified across major newspapers and breakfast television urged Australians to cancel all forward travel for five months. It was, to put it mildly, unhelpful.
ATIA intervened swiftly. The original expert was tracked down, a corrective statement secured, and Long himself appeared across mainstream media, including Seven’s midday bulletin, to reset the narrative.
Within hours, members had access to a ready-to-deploy video, ensuring consistent messaging across agencies, networks and consortia.
The result? Calm replaced panic.
And, crucially, bookings held.
Agents on the frontline: confidence restored
The most telling insights didn’t come from the podium; they came from the floor.
Gary Harford and Stella Vlahos, Qatar Airways, and Greg McJarrow, Singapore Airlines
Erika Affolter of MTA Mobile Travel Agents recounted managing client anxiety while travelling in Europe herself:
“A client emailed me at 7am saying she’d been told to cancel and she was due to make a $30,000 payment. I went straight to the ATIA updates, forwarded them to her, and she calmed down immediately. It stopped me from panicking while I was on holidays. I had no cancellations. None and I’ve had clients booking for Europe today for next month.”
That’s not just good service. That’s resilience built on reliable information.
Adam Israel of Envoyage was equally direct:
“Definitely attend. 100 per cent worth it. You’ll get to interact with great people, meet the ATIA team and learn some valuable lessons and insights.”
And Emma Grose, also of MTA, perhaps summed up the broader sentiment:
“The compliance piece I found very comforting. It’s like a safety net.”
Comforting. There’s a word rarely associated with compliance.
The business case for showing up
Trish Shepherd, Black Sheep Tourism – Nicola Harford – Stephanie Mirando Collette – Karen Deveson Collette- Emma Grose MTA
Dean Long himself acknowledged the inherent irony:
“The most common piece of feedback we got was that people didn’t expect to have so much fun. Compliance. Accreditation. Advocacy. Public policy. These are not words that make people rush to register for an event. But every single thing we covered has a direct consequence for how your business operates, what it earns, and what protects it when something goes wrong.”
There it is, the crux of the matter.
In an industry often driven by inspiration and storytelling, it’s easy to overlook the operational scaffolding that keeps revenue flowing and reputations intact. Yet, as Monday night demonstrated, those foundations are where the real competitive edge lies.
Beyond Borders rolls on
The Sydney session was just one stop in a broader national tour.
The Beyond Borders on the Road series continues in Brisbane (20 May), Adelaide (20 July), and Perth (22 July), before culminating in the flagship summit in Melbourne on 9 October.
If the North Sydney turnout is any indication, attendance may soon become less about obligation and more about opportunity.
Because here’s the quiet truth: the sessions that look least exciting on paper are often the ones that deliver the most value.
And in a year where uncertainty has become a familiar travel companion, that value is no longer optional—it’s essential.
by Susan Ng – (c) 2026.
Read Time: 5 minutes.
About the Author.
With the polish of an international hotel professional and the instincts of a born storyteller, Susan Ng learned hospitality where it truly lives behind reception desks, in banquet halls, beside linen carts. She understands that excellence isn’t announced; it’s felt, in the small, quiet gestures that linger long after checkout.
Away from the bustle, her curiosity found a new front desk: the blank page. Her blog, candid and gently wry, drew readers who recognised truth when they saw it. She wrote about grace and imperfection with the steady eye of someone who had lived both.
Today, at Global Travel Media, Susan brings that same warmth and insight to her stories. Expect writing that is polished, generous, and reassuring, like the perfect welcome after a long journey.
