ASTA Packs 2015 Convention Agenda With Industry Leaders & Fresh Voices
by Marilee Crocker /ASTA is aiming high for its 2015 Global Convention (AGC), hoping to attract 1,000 attendees to the nation’s capital by offering a program packed with top speakers who will tackle critical industry issues.
The convention, themed “Capitol-izing on Success,” is scheduled for Aug. 29 to Sept. 1 at the historic Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Travel agents cannot afford to miss ASTA’s 2015 Global Convention, said president and CEO Zane Kerby. “We’re in a challenging, fast-paced business. It is important to understand, directly from industry leaders, where they see opportunity and risk.”
Take it from the top
Among industry leaders on the agenda of this year’s ASTA Global Convention are:
- Matthew Upchurch, CEO of Virtuoso; Alex Sharpe, president and CEO of Signature Travel Network; Roger Block, president of Travel Leaders Franchise Group, and John Werner, president and CEO of MAST Vacation Partners–– in a panel on the future of the travel agency consortia.
- In an intergenerational panel on changes in the industry: Butch Stewart, founder of Sandals Resorts International, and his son CEO Adam Stewart, together with Valerie Wilson, founder of Valerie Wilson Travel, Inc., and her daughter co-president and co-owner Jennifer Wilson-Buttigieg.
- In a panel on “the new airline-agent relationship,” top airline executives: Dave Hilfman, senior vice president of worldwide sales for United; Derek DeCross, vice president of global sales, American, and Bob Somers, vice president of global sales, Delta.
New views
ASTA attendees will also hear from voices from outside the industry.
“We hear a lot that our industry wants a fresh perspective. They want to hear about new ideas on selling and marketing that don’t necessarily come from the travel industry,” Kerby said.
Among fresh voices featured on this year’s AGC agenda:
- The award-winning sales and marketing team Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender, experts on retail and consumer trends, who will offer sessions on targeting millennials through social media and advanced sales techniques.
- UCLA marketing professor and Innovation Protocol founder Sasha Strauss, whose keynote address will look at how agents can manage their own brands. “If you haven’t heard this guy speak, trust me, he’ll help you learn how to sell,” Kerby said of Strauss, who is a Ted Talk alumnus.
One novelty on this year’s agenda is a competition for aspiring entrepreneurs modeled after ABC’s reality TV show “Shark Tank.” In ASTA’s Entrepreneurialism Competition, finalist agents will compete to win $10,000 in cash to fund their business idea.
Fun stuff too
ASTA’s convention program weaves in networking and special events that will take full advantage of the D.C. setting.
The firm Destination DC will provide national mall tours, a Monuments by Moonlight tour, a bike tour, a walking tour and a food tour, among others.
Attendees who meet a May 1 early bird deadline will also have a chance to tour the White House. (See sidebar.)
In addition, approximately 100 restaurants and venues around town will be providing discounts to ASTA attendees, and participants in the Aug. 29 Global Travel Exchange will be invited to an evening reception at one of four international embassies.
Moving the needle
The travel agency industry is healthier than it has been in years, Kerby noted. “Sales are up. Awareness by consumers of agents is moving upward. And we’re doing everything in our power to keep that needle moving up.”
Agents will hear more about ASTA’s efforts at the convention, Kerby said. “We have big plans to remind Joe Consumer that ‘without an agent, you’re on your own,’ and we’ll be revealing some of that strategy.”
If ASTA meets its attendance goals for the 2015 Global Convention 2015, it will be a sizable jump over recent years. Attendance at the 2014 AGC was about 450. About 800 people attended ASTA’s 2013 convention in Miami.