The ACTA AGM was held in Montreal on June 12th at the Ritz Carlton Hotel Montreal. Jean Collette, ACTA Chair and Christiane Theberge, President and CEO, presented their annual reports and the financial statements at year end 2007. All items were voted on and carried.

Outgoing Chair Jean Collette began by stating that: ‘ACTA had to rise to many challenges in 2007’. One of the major challenges the Association had to face was IATA’s decision to withdraw from ACTA the management of its ID Card program resulting in a substantial loss of revenue. Following IATA’s decision, ACTA launched its own ID Card program in February 2007. The program started with 19 suppliers-partners giving benefits to the card and at year end, the list of partners had grown to one hundred. ACTA plans to continue to promote the value of its ID card to travel professionals and hopes it will become the industry’s card of choice.

Both Jean Collette and Christiane Theberge addressed the many issues the industry had to face in 2007 and stressed the importance of strong partnership with other associations and groups, such as WTAAA at the international level, in order to continue its lobbying and advocacy efforts.

On a brighter note, ACTA’s membership base continues to grow and increased by 219 members in 2007. ‘This growth is a clear sign of health’ stated Christiane Theberge, President and CEO of ACTA. ACTA is proud to report that it will continue to promote several programs which were launched in 2007, such as the ATLAS Awards and the Young Professionals of Canada (YPC) Program. Furthermore we will continue to promote our ‘Travel with a Pro’ campaign which highlights the benefits of booking with a travel professional.

ACTA also signed on the ‘Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism’ with Beyond Borders. By doing so, ACTA has committed to be a socially responsible tourism company and to implement an Action Plan aimed at members and consumers.

Jean Collette announced that his two-year term as Chair of the ACTA Board has ended and that Jacqueline Jamieson from British-Columbia, who was formerly Vice-chair, has been elected as the new Chair. ACTA would like to thank Jean Collette for his contribution and to welcome Jacqueline Jamieson in her new role.