A new relationship bewteen the Niche Cruise Marketing Alliance and the National Association of Commissioned Travel Agents (NACTA) has been formed as NACTA revealed. Under the agreement, the 12 NCMA member lines become active allied members of NACTA. NACTA is an affiliate of ASTA, the American Society of Travel Agents.

According to NCMA Executive Director Larry Dessler, this relationship will provide the opportunity for the two organizations to work together on creation of regional travel agent training programs and explore other marketing and education initiatives.

Home Based Travel Agents have tremendous potential for the proactive selling of niche cruising and other specialty travel products, Dessler said. It is NCMA`s privilege to work with the foremost organization supporting these independent sellers of travel to create new educational programs to help improve the success and profitability of Home Based Travel Agents.

There is tremendous synergy between Home Based Travel Agents and NCMA and these agents are particularly well-suited to working with the specialty cruise market served by the NCMA members, Dessler said. The popularity of niche cruising and the continuing expansion of the Home Based Travel Agent community complement each other.

Dessler said NCMA has worked with NACTA at their annual meetings in Fort Lauderdale over the last two years and co-sponsored NACTA’s training program last June.

NACTA President Joanie Ogg has led the charge for home-based travel agents for many years and has been at the forefront of making programs available to this growing group of travel professionals. She is recognized as the industry leader in this segment of the travel distribution system, says Dessler.

We are thrilled to welcome all 12 members of the Niche Cruise Marketing Alliance to the NACTA Family as Allied Supplier Members, Ogg said. Our membership of travel professionals is primarily leisure-based and focused on providing their clients with innovative and experiential travel opportunities. Each of the NCMA member lines is known for their unique and specialized itineraries and on board experiences. This combined with the personalized service that NACTA member travel professionals are well known for makes this a great new opportunity for our members to gain more knowledge and insight into what each line offers.

We look forward to working closely with the entire group to bring educational opportunities to our membership and to forge a long standing mutually beneficial relationship between our agent members and each member line of the NCMA, Ogg added.