IMAGES: NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE. GETTY; ISTOCKPHOTO
ASTAnews ASTA RESEARCH Use Value of Travel Agents study as leverage
FOLLOWING ASTA’S 2014 Value of Travel Agents study, which revealed that leisure travelers who use travel agents believe they have better vacations than those who don’t, the Society is urging members to spread the word that travelers are happier because of them. ASTA wants all member agents to spread the
word that ‘travel agents are the experts’ and ‘without an agent, you’re on your own’. In support of this is a new webinar in ASTA’s online video library titled Messaging for Targeted Marketing to Consumers — Using Data from Value of Travel Agents, which more fully explores effective marketing messages. Additionally, a members-only summary report
and a list of actionable results are available to download in the research section on
asta.org. Released in February, the Value of Travel
Agents study also shows that four in 10 business travelers (38%) who used an agent to book a vacation were more satisfied with the vacation because of travel agent assistance, while 88% said the quality of their vacations planned by agents were either better or the same than if they had done it themselves.
Another key finding in the study, sponsored by
Carnival Cruise Lines and conducted by MMGY Global, is that both current travel agent users and potential agent users want trips that are safe but unique. Agents are therefore being advised to advertise new and off-the-beaten path travel
destinations and experiences combined with messages of safety and reliability as part of their social media practice. Again, this ties in with ASTA’s consumer message that the way to keep travelers both satisfied and feeling secure is to ‘Go with the Pros’.
asta.org/research
ASTA seeks to overturn Hazardous Materials Rule ASTA PETITIONS DOT
ASTA HAS SUCCESSFULLY petitioned the Department of Transportation (DOT) to delay implementation of the disclosure and acknowledgement provisions to the Federal Aviation Administration’s
(FAA) Hazardous
Materials Rule. In 2011 the FAA added provisions to its
Hazardous Materials Rule requiring that a disclosure be made of items prohibited on aircraft (i.e. paints, lighter fluid and fireworks), and that the purchaser’s acknowledgement be obtained before a ticket is purchased. In October 2012, ASTA asked the FAA to push
back the Jan. 1, 2013 effective date, and FAA agreed. Te effective date is now Jan. 1, 2015. In a new petition filed in April, ASTA has argued that these provisions will do little
and programming costs and $26 million per year in ongoing compliance costs. As an alternate to this regulation, ASTA
submitted that the FAA replace the phone notice regulation with a disclosure requirement similar to the existing DOT regulation on baggage fee disclosure using e-ticket confirmations. ASTA has also negotiated with industry
to increase air safety as the same disclosure and acknowledgement must be made by the traveler at check in. Further, ASTA has argued that these provisions will impose an enormous economic burden on the travel agency industry — comprised predominantly of small businesses — of more than $58 million in initial training
stakeholders and the FAA to have the two- paragraph verbal disclosure reduced to one question in the pending Advisory Circular (guidance document). Depending on the outcome of ASTA’s filings,
ASTA may engage legislators to help pressure FAA to act and may also petition the FAA for another delay if a response isn’t forthcoming.
asta.org
summer 2014 | ASTAnetwork | 9
Travelers have better vacations with agents
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