by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 1:50 PM ET, Thu January 23, 2025
WHY IT RATES: Avoya Travel's new status as Special Needs Group/Special Needs at Sea's 2024 Power Partner of the Year showcases the commitments of its advisors in becoming certified accessible travel advocates. — Lacey Pfalz, Associate Writer, TravelPulse
Special Needs Group/Special Needs at Sea is proud to recognize Avoya Travel as its 2024 Power Partner of the Year for its commitment to helping certify numerous SNG Certified Accessible Travel Advocates (CATA).
Special Needs Group's Power Partner award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding dedication to accessible travel and have worked to certify travel professionals through the CATA program, ensuring that they are equipped to assist travelers with special needs. The recipient of this prestigious award receives an iconic ship-in-a-bottle trophy.
"Avoya has gone above and beyond the spirit of partnership and, in the process, has become an incredible advocate for accessible travel," said Andrew Garnett, president, founder and CEO of the Special Needs Group. "Thanks to their unwavering commitment, we are proud to now have over 8,000 travel professionals who have participated in our CATA program, equipping them to serve the constantly growing accessible travel market. This achievement would not have been possible without our incredible partners like Avoya."
Avoya is a vacation platform company that is redefining how vacations are booked by providing unmatched resources, services, proprietary technology and patented solutions to thousands of companies, including cruise lines, tour companies, resorts and the Independent Agencies in the Avoya Network.
"We are honored to be named Special Needs Group's 2024 Power Partner for our dedication to certifying travel advisors through the CATA program," said Steve Hirshan, senior vice president of sales at Avoya Travel. "We believe in this program because it provides our agents with the essential resources to be successful in the growing accessible travel segment, ensuring they can deliver the best possible experience for their clients."
Past recipients of the Power Partners award include Cruise Planners/We Make People Happy Vacations; NACTA – ASTA Small Business Network; Mary Pat Sullivan; Roberta Schwartz; Bob Sharak; Debra Kerper; Travel Weekly; Jim Smith, CTIE; Celebrity Cruises; and MSC Cruises.
SNG's powerful online CATA course is the travel industry's first eLearning curriculum that allows travel professionals to become conversant with the accessible travel market segment through online study and testing. The groundbreaking initiative is not only leading to a more accessible world but also providing increased success for travel professionals.
Travel professionals achieve the designation by either completing the online 3-module syllabus and meeting the mandated testing requirements or by completing a live presentation and testing session. The certification program contains no commercial content or advertising. The goal of the program is to provide travel professionals with the essential knowledge required to effectively serve the most frequent needs of existing and potential clientele, who require mobility and other forms of special needs services.
SNG's CATA program is available at https://www.specialneedsatsea.com/advisors/sng-cata-certification/. The certification is available, at no charge, to travel industry professionals who possess a valid industry identifier (ARC, CLIA, IATA, TRUE, etc.)
SOURCE: Special Needs Group/Special Needs at Sea press release.
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