The Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA) wishes to inform its members of the growing concern of fraudulent situations in cases where an agency is purchased. Due to this concern and understanding how the risk of fraudulent activity impacts our agency members, ACTA, as an active participant of the Canada / Bermuda Agency Program Joint Council (C/BAPJC), agreed to initial changes to Resolutions 804, 818 and 818g section 10 and the financial criteria for a new travel agency or when a change of ownership occurs.

At the C/BAPJC meeting held in Montreal in April, 2009, ACTA accepted in principle, the initial changes to Resolution 804 but requested time for a complete review of the new wording. The Canadian review was subsequently conducted in conjunction our network of industry leaders and World Travel Agents Associations Alliance (WTAAA) contacts.

ACTA President and C.O.O. David McCaig reported on the Canadian findings at the IATA and WTAAA meetings in September of this year. ACTA along with all other members of WTAAA expressed concern about the wording of the proposed resolution changes. The European Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators’ Associations (ECTAA) with the support of ACTA, submitted recommended changes to the wording pertaining to the transfer of stock.

Further discussions led to concerns for travel agencies acquiring existing agencies. The changes proposed under Resolution 804 and the financial criteria for a new travel agency ($35,000 CDN up from $25,000 CDN for a period of 2 years instead of 6 months) should not be required for travel agencies which purchase existing agencies, provided that a financial performance review has been accepted by IATA and upon approval, their IATA appointment is deemed to be in good standing.

Under the Change of Ownership section, the wording proposed by IATA must be clear in that the same rules as mentioned above apply to an “outside party”, if the outside party is an existing agency.

In addition, the terms minimum and maximum as it relates to financial security and period of time, posed a concern to ACTA and the WTAAA. ACTA has recommended that the Resolution be re-worded to specify “maximum” amount of $35,000 CDN and a “maximum” period of 2 years rather than the word “minimum” that was used.

In early October, ACTA invited IATA Country Manager for Canada & Bermuda, Michael Guenther and Joan Cote, Manager Passenger Services to attend the third quarter meeting of the Board of Directors in Montreal. ACTA reiterated our concerns to IATA about the wording of the Resolution changes and asked for their support of the recommendations put forth by ECTAA and ACTA at the PAConf/32 meeting in Geneva on October 22-23, 2009.

ACTA is fully aware and recognizes that PAConf is led by the airlines and may or may not accept the changes to the Resolutions. ACTA is hopeful that the members of PAConf will recognize that our recommended changes properly identify agencies that may put other agencies at risk in a purchasing situation, and do not interfere with an appointed agency in good standing to grow their business with this purchase.

ACTA will continue to inform all members of the developments on these Resolution changes.