Tourism Cares & ASTA Launch Plan For Agent Mentors, Workforce Grants

Tourism Cares and ASTA have teamed up on a two-phase workforce initiative that will provide mentoring and industry education to under-40 travel agents and professional development grants to individual travel agencies.

Dubbed Travel Talent for Tomorrow, the program is kicking off with a mentoring and education program that will pay for a dozen travel agents under the age of 40 to attend the 2015 ASTA Global Convention in Washington, D.C., and connect them with mentors while there.

The initiative will be expanded in 2016 to include a grant competition that will award winning travel agencies with $8,000 each to put toward their own workforce development programs.

‘Lifeblood of the industry’
In announcing the program, Tourism Cares CEO Mike Rea called agents “the lifeblood of the industry.”

“We’re thrilled to support them with this tried-and-true mentoring model, based on our long-established and successful NTA program,” said Rea.

Rea was referring to a Tourism Cares mentoring program that for more than a decade has given travel and tourism students the opportunity to shadow an experienced professional at the NTA Travel Exchange.

ASTA convention & more
In the pilot travel agent mentor program, 12 agents under 40 will be invited to attend the 2015 ASTA Global Convention (AGC) in Washington, D.C., Aug. 31 to Sept. 1.  

Each of the agents, who will be selected through a nomination process (see sidebar), will be matched with an industry leader for guidance and support during the ASTA convention. 

The agents also will receive:

•    complimentary registration for the ASTA convention

•    up to $500 reimbursement for air and ground travel

•    lodging (double occupancy) and meals for the three-day program

•    invitations to attend the Young Professionals Society event and the ASTA Advocacy Dinner.

ASTA president and CEO Zane Kerby praised the initiative and its backers.

“By providing a meaningful educational experience to young agents, and matching them with their more experienced peers, the new mentoring program will provide a much-needed professional development opportunity,” Kerby said.

The 2015 pilot mentoring program is funded by ASTA, ASTA’s Mid-America/Allegheny and Southeast chapters, travAlliance Media, and Marriott International.

Workforce gap
In announcing the workforce development initiative, Rea of Tourism Cares cited ASTA research indicating a strong need for workforce development.

Fully 70% of the travel agent workforce, including its top revenue generators, is over age 55, according to ASTA. When those agents retire over the next five to 10 years, they will vacate 18,000 management roles.

“We wouldn’t take credit for noticing the problem, and we’re not going to fix it alone,” said Tourism Cares director of advancement John Yonce. “We want to start somewhere. One small lever we have is our mentoring program. We hope it leads to bigger and better things.”

Taking on the travel agency workforce development issue fits in with Tourism Cares’ triple bottom line mission, which includes giving back to the community and the industry, added Yonce.

Phase 2: professional development grants
Phase 2 of the Travel Talent for Tomorrow program, the grant-making portion, is still being developed, but Marriott International already has provided seed money to fund two grants of $8,000 each.

Tourism Cares is looking to raise more money from new partners and additional ASTA chapters.

Grants will be awarded at the agency level to support innovative efforts to further agents’ professional development, Yonce said. A panel will evaluate agency proposals.

“There’s very little that wouldn’t be on the table,” Yonce said. “So whether it’s scholarship, or seed money to establish a workforce development program for continuing education –– we don’t really know what we’ll get out of it.”

The travel agency industry’s workforce challenges are significant, and there won’t be “any one magic bullet solution,” said Rea. “But we think that with the right supports, the answers can come from the agent community itself.”