All of us in the travel industry would like to believe that consumers' awareness of a travel agents' role-and value-is gaining ground.
We may not be there yet, but we're well on the way.
That might, however-and I stress the "might"-be a case of wishful thinking based on a recent exchange I overheard during a Newark to Montego Bay, Jamaica flight.
"So they actually still have travel agents?" a flight attendant asked a woman seated behind me. "Everything is so 'internety' now."
Aside from the flight attendant's amusing coinage of "internety," I was seriously disappointed, (surprised, really), by that comment.
The passenger, however, responded with: "Oh, yes. Everything is taken care of for us on this trip [by our agent]. They even have someone waiting for us when we get there."
I didn't hear the entire exchange but I did hear enough to know that what we had here was a "half full, half empty situation." In other words, the glass looks to be half empty if we consider the flight attendant's view, but half full if we focus on the passenger's comments.
Either way, that brief exchange had me wondering if we've all been preaching to the choir with our sense-and the current buzz-that agents "are back."
Enter ASTA.
Fittingly, ASTA-the American Society of Travel Agents-has made it a priority to boost awareness of travel agents-who they are, exactly what they do, exactly what they can do for travelers.
You'd think that mission would always have been an important one for a trade association representing agents. And it has been, though ASTA's efforts have arguably turned aggressive just recently. Both Zane Kerby, ASTA's president and CEO, and Jay Ellenby, its new chairman of the board, see consumer awareness of agents as critical.
It's under their leadership that "We really ramped up these initiatives," says Erika Richter, ASTA's director of communications.
Among those developments, ASTA has enhanced-and continues to enhance-its consumer website, travelsense.org, which features and promotes the use of travel agents. (Not just travel agents but ASTA agents.)
The best is yet to come with the soon-to-be-released How America Travels study, commissioned by ASTA and funded by Carnival Corp., according to Richter. The study is being conducted by Penn Schoen Berland, a market research and consulting firm that is a partner of Burson-Marsteller, the public relations giant ASTA recently hired.
This in-depth research-the full report will be released in July-will be the anchor for the association's consumer awareness campaign.
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"It will help us get our foot in the door to some media outlets we don't have a strong relationship with," says Richter. "It's a tool for media engagement because consumer awareness happens in the consumer media."
The research will also help ASTA understand how it can help its agents market themselves.
"It's one solid study to define who we are," notes Richter. "This research is a step beyond representing travel agents. We represent a wide range of the industry and we are also the voice of the American traveler."
With what Richter calls "a long shelf life," findings from the study will be "teased out over time," with the idea of attracting consumer media attention and establishing ASTA as a thought leader.
But even before this happens, mentions of ASTA and, in some cases entire stories, are increasingly appearing in the consumer media. This year alone, there have been stories in USA Today, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Wall Street Journal.
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"There's been a lot of activity over the past two years," says Richter. "We are seen more in the consumer media; people think about us more. It's really important for us to continue the story line that agents are alive, they're well and they're here to help."
Now, all we need to do is get that message across to folks like that flight attendant.
But Richter, for one, isn't concerned. She sees the glass as half full.
"That's one person," Richter says, referring to the flight attendant. "But the better part of the story is that passenger who countered with her praise for a travel agent."
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