By its very name, the American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) is an advocacy group that fights the good fight for the travel agent community.
In the last several years, however - and especially in the last 13 months since the coronavirus pandemic - ASTA has jumped into the fray of some of the biggest travel-related issues in the world.
In fact, based on the number of issues ASTA has become involved with, and its number of 'wins' for the community, the group has proven itself to be a big-time player on the political scene.
The latest push is for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to issue more firm guidance to the traveling public. In a letter to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, ASTA President and CEO Zane Kerby pulled no punches.
"The CDC's numerous orders intended to slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) have created confusion, uncertainty and unpredictability, a chilling effect on future bookings and innumerable other challenges for our travel agency members," Kerby wrote.
It's astonishing what ASTA has been able to do on a limited budget. The group has three lobbyists and a $137,000 contribution to Washington D.C coffers on behalf of its constituents. By contrast, the airlines currently have 191 lobbyists in Washington and have contributed $3.5 million to its efforts; hotels have 63 lobbyists and have contributed $3.4 million; cruise lines have 21 people in D.C. and a $408,000 contribution, and car rental companies have 11 lobbyists and contributed $3.3 million.
In 2020 alone, ASTA's advocacy efforts have included:
- 150+ Congressional meetings/calls/Zooms
- 14 separate federal/state campaigns
- 25,047 participants/105,917 advocacy messages
- 6,105 Letters to the Editor
Between 2012 and today, ASTA's efforts led to legislative and regulatory "wins" that saved the industry an estimated $630 million in new taxes, fees and other costs. These wins include:
- Securing small business financial relief related to COVID-19 as part of the CARES Act in March 2020, including access to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Economic Injury Disaster Loans and expansion of unemployment benefits to include independent contractors (ICs) and the self-employed. According to member surveys, 78 percent of ASTA's 14,000 members received relief under at least one of these programs.
- Securing additional relief related to COVID-19 as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act in December 2020, including "second draw" PPP loans for hard-hit businesses, a significant expansion of the CARES Act's Employee Retention Tax Credit (retroactive to 2020 and more generous for the first half of 2021) and a continuation of expanded unemployment benefits for ICs and furloughed agency employees.
- In 2020, won a four-year fight to compel the U.S. Department of Labor to rescind an arbitrary regulatory "blacklist" that blocks travel agencies from utilizing an exemption from federal overtime rules designed for retail businesses.
- In 2020, worked with cruise line partners and ASTA's grassroots network to press the CDC to replace its draconian "No-Sail Order" with a "framework for a phased resumption of cruise ship operations," which it did in October 2020.
- In 2020, led a grassroots campaign to force the Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL) to abandon a proposed 25 percent increase in annual Sellers of Travel fees, which it did in November 2020.
- In 2020, led a grassroots campaign to compel New York State to change its mandatory two-week quarantine policy so as to allow returning travelers, including those from international destinations, to "test out" of the requirement.
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