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The World Travel Agents Associations Alliance (WTAAA) held it’s second board meeting for the year 2010 and its Annual General Assembly where the new board and Office Bearers were duly elected.
Peter Barlow, President of the Travel Agents Association of New Zealand (TAANZ) was unanimously elected as the new Chairman. Ajay Prakash, President of the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) was elected as the Deputy Chairman. As the outgoing Chairman and founding member of WTAAA, Mike Hatton was unanimously awarded a life membership in recognition of his service to the association.
“I am delighted to hand over the reigns to Peter as this Association is now well positioned to meet the challenges that this dynamic industry presents. This also ends a very personal journey for me as the Founder of WTAAA and the many colleagues and friends that I leave to continue this journey” said outgoing Chair Mike Hatton.
WTAAA discussed a wide range of issues during the two-day meeting held at The Sheraton on the Park in Sydney Issues discussed included: the onward relevance of the travel agency community; the resilience of travel agents in the face of the impact of the recession in affected markets; the emergence of technologies offered in the distribution of travel; and, the importance of strong relationships in the supplier network.
“I look forward to meeting the challenges of the association going forward” said Peter Barlow. “WTAAA is the major agency representative body which accounts for almost 70 percent of global airline sales processed through airline settlement plans. The primary mission of purpose of WTAAA is to ensure the viability of its membership base and to speak from one voice globally. WTAAA facilitates an exchange of information and ideas that is of vital importance to the world’s agency distribution system,” added Barlow.
The WTAAA board of directors is comprised of Mr Chris Russo, Chairman & President – ASTA; Mr Jayson Westbury, CEO – AFTA; Mr David McCaig, COO – ACTA; Ms Robyn Christie, CEO – ASATA; Michel de Blust, Secretary General ECTAA; Mr Ajay Prakash, Secretary General – TAFI; and Mr Peter Barlow, President – TAANZ.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
