The ITAA is creating four new working groups in the Association. This is an opportunity for travel agency staff to have direct input into the key areas of Events; Membership, Engagement and Communications; Regulatory issues; and Airlines.
They want to build on the success of the “public affairs” working group. This working group is the model for extending member engagement, harnessing member skill sets and sharing the workload in the association.
The Public Affairs working group will continue as is. It currently comprises the CEO, the President plus Kathryn Byrne (Limelight PR), Clare Dunne (Vice President) and Val Metcalfe.
This working group handles engagement with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTaS), any of the Oireachtas committees & other Government bodies.
What sort of person and approach are they looking for?
An open minded and pro-active approach to achieve what is best for the Association and members.
To Apply
- Your company must be a full member of the ITAA
- The nominee can be an employee of the member company, you don’t have to be an owner or manager but we would want your company to support your nomination.
- Email Lorraine or Jean in the ITAA by Tuesday 30 November 2021 at [email protected]
- Tell us the working group you want to join and in few lines tell us why you want to join and what you feel you bring to the table.
The Process
The board will review the applications at the next board meeting on Thursday 2 December with a view to confirming the membership of the working groups by Friday 10 December.
Working Group Format
- Max 5 people for each working group
- Max 2 or 3 from the board of the ITAA and 2 or 3 non board members allowing for broader member company participation
- Strive for a balance on sub-committees in terms of rural and urban members plus a balance of small, medium, and large businesses
- Ideally chaired and driven by one of the non-board members but assisted by board members as required
- Ideally, we want a mix of skill sets and mix of travel company business models
- You join by asking to join, or you can be asked to join, we don’t want a vote type situation
- The working groups should set the goals they want to achieve in the next 3, 6 & 12 months and report back on progress regularly to the board
- Work with and assist the CEO & admin team of the ITAA and seek advice/guidance from the board and advisors/experts such as Anne Dolan, Maria Gildea.
Suggested working groups
Events
Conference, Holiday World, Awards, Trade days. Plus, other things that could be considered – in addition to the conference abroad, perhaps we need a 1-day event in Ireland where more members and staff could attend?
Membership, Engagement & Communications
Integrating new members, attracting new members, better member engagement in the Association, consider non owner/manager board positions. Understanding what we as Association stand for. Anything involving the membership renewal process and fee structures should be done in conjunction with the treasurer and CEO. Best ways to reach owner/managers.
How do we communicate and reach non-owner managers? How do we share communications across the sector – portal type solutions. What comms are we currently using and what should we change. The ITAA website. B2C comms. Build the ITAA brand as a consumer brand as ABTA have done, how we can better differentiate ourselves?
Regulatory
This should cover regulatory and other material issues that impact members of the ITAA such as Insurance, CAR, Merchant Service Providers, bonding, legal and PTD.
Airline
Consider how best to build relationships with EI and if possible, with FR. Strong focus for TMC membership on this committee, aim to build a focus and representation for business/corporate travel with the Association. Airline matters, IATA, ECTAA, EU261, NDC.
The Board is moving forward on planning for a Sustainability working group and this will be added in 2022.
Existing Groups
Affiliate council
The Affiliate Council, sometimes called the Tour Operator council. This will continue as is and is not part of the sub-committee structure. Alan Lynch sits on this council as the ITAA representative. The current members are the New chair Name TBA, ITAA representative – Alan Lynch, Mary Denton (Sunway), Bev Hart (Bookabed), Alan Sparling (ASM) and Jennifer Callister (Royal Caribbean).
External committee involvement
Val Metcalfe is the ITAA representative on the Agency Programme Joint Council (APJC) Committee and the ECTAA Airline Matters Committee. Eimear Hannon and Angela Walsh also sit on the APJC.
