The World Travel Agents Associations Alliance (WTAAA) held its 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 reins 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 including: 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% 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."
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.
