The ACTA Open Forum held at the Addison Travel Trade Show in Toronto on Wednesday September 26th, provided the 70 attendees the occasion to engage wholesalers on a number of problems as revealed in a recent survey conducted by ACTA Ontario. “This type of dialogue has worked well in the past and I am happy to see the participants benefiting from this opportunity”, stated Heather Craig-Peddie, ACTA Ontario Regional Manager.

The regional survey, previously conducted in Quebec, identified a number of issues expressed by travel professionals when it comes to booking passengers with a wholesaler or tour operator. Of the 11 questions posed to Ontario retail travel professionals, most of the allotted time was spent focusing on wholesalers who deal with travel agencies that are discounters and those who sell directly to consumers at regular prices. The survey reported 43% and 37.6% respectively found these practices to be unacceptable.

The consensus from the panel, comprised of Lorraine Brisebois from Sunwing Vacations, John Hamilton from WestJet Vacations, Denise Heffron from Transat Holidays and Bruce Slade from Intair, was that there are serious moves from tour operators to restrict discounted prices.

“The forum opened the doors and perhaps the eyes of the parties involved and we can use these findings as we enter into more formal discussions with our supplier partners,” concluded Craig-Peddie.

The afternoon session was preceded by a presentation on the new ACTA ID Card program. Craig-Peddie announced that the new initiative by ACTA has seen tremendous growth in the number of suppliers that are supporting the program. The message was clear: Get the card for you, for your career and for your industry!