ARTA has been laying low but never stopped advocating for agents

24.06.2024 - 22:09 / travelweekly.com / Robert Isom

The Association of Retail Travel Agents (ARTA) has largely stayed out of the headlines in recent years, but the 60-year-old organization said that it has never stopped advocating for its travel advisor members, mostly when they have a supplier dispute.

Recently, ARTA made a rare expression of public support for American Airlines' decision to revisit its distribution strategy, which had been largely viewed as anti-trade. Behind the scenes, ARTA did not support what it called American's "heavy-handed, forced adoption of the current problem-riddled NDC strategy," said board member John Faulds, a travel advisor with Travel Destinations Inc. in Scottsdale, Ariz.

ARTA said it puts out a daily e-newsletter, keeping members apprised of industry issues and potential travel problems. But it generally operates quietly and does not make many statements beyond its member base.

According to Faulds, the main reason for that is also one of its biggest advantages.

"One reason why sometimes we seem quiet is that we don't have supplier members or their money," Faulds said, so the organization has little budget for marketing or public relations.

But that comes with what he called a unique advantage: They have no qualms about directly addressing suppliers.
"It allows us to call a spade a spade. If there are suppliers that are not dealing with agents fairly, we can call them on it. When you're an organization that has suppliers as members, it's a little more delicate, I would say," Faulds said.

ARTA also has a seat on ARC's Joint Advisory Board for the Agent Reporting Agreement, which it uses to "voice our opinions rather effectively," Faulds said.

While ARTA doesn't publicly disclose how many member agents it has, Faulds said readership of its daily e-newsletter amounts to "several thousand" advisors. Members are located around the country, mainly along the East and West coasts, with a particularly active chapter in Southern California.

Of late, all eyes in the travel agency community have been on American and its distribution strategy. The carrier last year pulled fares from legacy GDSs, among other moves, to drive agencies to use New Distribution Capability (NDC) channels. However, in May, American CEO Robert Isom announced a reversal of that strategy. ASTA had led the charge against the carrier.

In a statement, ARTA called Isom's announcement "a step in the right direction" but noted it was still cautious about the airline and its policy.

ARTA takes issue with NDC in general, Faulds said, because "it kind of doesn't work," causing added work for travel advisors, especially when servicing bookings. As an example, Faulds said he did an NDC booking for clients going to Paris. One of them couldn't make it, so he needed