Cormac Meehan has been elected as the new President of the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) – and becomes the first President of the Association to come from the province of Ulster.
He is the owner of Meehan Travel, an independent retail travel agency in Bundoran, Co Donegal, that was established by his late father, Sean, in 1954. Cormac has been an active member of the Irish Travel Agents Association and has served on its Retail Council and Board at various stages in the 1990s and 2000s. He has had the opportunity to represent the Association at international forums such as the International Air Transport Association and in bilateral discussions with the Association of British Travel Agents in the UK.
Cormac said: “I am looking forward to the year ahead as President of the ITAA. In the forthcoming year, the ITAA will be developing and implementing the long-awaited EU Package Travel Directive. I will be preparing submissions for Irish and European legislators in consultation with my members and trade partners.”
He has also promised to examine as to whether the ITAA annual conference should be held in Ireland every second year.
“The Irish travel trade has a very strong and close relationship with the Irish consumer in terms of continuing to provide a personal service driven offering to them,” he said. “We are trusted and valued by the consumer, they know when they deal with us exactly who they are dealing with. The Irish travel agent has evolved and developed by keeping up to date and investing in staff training and development and state of the art technology.”
The newly elected and re-elected ITAA Board members are:
– Des Manning, Manning Travel, Kilkenny
– Pearse Keller, Keller Travel, Ballinasloe, Galway
– Martin Skelly, Navan Travel, Meath
– Ben Greene of Arrow Tours, Drogheda, Louth
– Clare Dunne, The Travel Broker, Clontarf, Dublin
– Valerie Metcalfe, FCm Travel Solutions, Dublin
– Jim McGonigle, Clondalkin Travel, Clondalkin, Dublin
– Mark Clifford, O’Hanrahan’s Travel, Monaghan
– Angela Walsh, CTM, Cork
– Joe Tully, Tully Travel, Carlow
– Des Abbott, Des Abbott Travel, Dublin, who was also elected Treasurer
The ITAA represents 100 travel agent members and 70 affiliate partners. ITAA members cover over 140 outlets in different towns and cities throughout the Republic of Ireland. All travel agent members are licensed by the Commission for Aviation Regulation and are fully bonded.
