A few weeks ago in this column, ABTATour Operators’ Council former chairman Warren Sandral made the point that ABTAis bureaucratic.
His comments struck a chord with me. The average Travel Agents’ Council meeting costs about ú4,000 for travel, catering and accommodation.
These are held six times a year, and a few days later, TOC debates the same issues, at much the same cost.
Ultimately, most major decisions have to go forward to the Board of Directors meeting at which 10 of the same people, who were at TACor TOC, meet for a second time in the month to conclude on industry matters.
The board has to be careful not to initiate any new ideas that might tread on the toes of the councils. This has led to a number of hold-ups, where a council has insisted on its right of consultation, before action can be taken. All this leads to the association being slow-footed and bureaucratic.
It could all be avoided with a single governing body replacing TAC, TOCand the board.
This does not mean that ABTA should abandon its regional structure.
The regions serve ABTA well in debating issues of importance and communicating grass roots members’ opinions.
We need to capitalise on this structure, which could be strengthened by the formation of a Council of Regions.
This could also command significant representation on the new enlarged governing body of the association.
It is important that this governing body, which would probably need 18 to 20 members, is reflective of the industry.
In my view the distinction for ABTAbetween travel agent and tour operator will also matter less in the future, and we should move towards a single class of membership, with a single subscription and a single bond.
If we take these steps there will be substantial savings in administrative costs, which will help to keep subscriptions down.
But the big benefits will come from having a more streamlined association, capable of representing the industry more effectively and reaching decisions more quickly.
Nothing can change without a substantial amount of ABTAmembers voting for it.
There would need to be a full period of consultation with the members to arrive at an acceptable resolution for everyone.
There is no question about it, ABTAneeds to make someserious changes. One of these could involve abolishing itsvarious bodies and replacing them with one governingcouncil to debate all of the industry’s problems, and at the same time, save on expense