An ASTA/NACTA Timeline

True or false: 

– Fidel Castro once attended an ASTA Conference. 

– A bomb went off at the ASTA Manila conference in the 1980s. 

Read on to get the scoop. 

ASTA 

1931: Founded on April 20 as the American Steamship and Tourist Agents Association. More than 60 agents joined to protect and promote the mutual interests of its members, maintain a dignified code of ethics, combat unfair competition, stimulate the public’s desire to travel and promote the use of ASTA members’ services. 

1930s: At a time when agents were booking 85% of all steamship travel, ASTA was urging shiplines to adopt agent-friendly policies and trying to persuade hotels and railroads to pay agent commissions. 

1940s: When war curtailed all but essential travel, ASTA members fought for the survival of their association. In 1946, when the one-year-old International Air Transport Association (IATA) cut agent commissions to 5% from 7.5%, ASTA was there to fight for its members. 

1946: ASTA changes its name to the American Society of Travel Agents. 

1950s: ASTA won a 27-year battle for rail commissions and introduced the industry’s first training tool, a home-study course. 

1959: ASTA held its annual World Congress in Havana, just after Fidel Castro assumed power. Castro himself attended. 

1960s: ASTA held its first School at Sea and opened seven travel schools. 

1968: When President Lyndon Johnson restricted travel outside the U.S., ASTA waged the largest grassroots campaign of its history to reverse the policy. 

1970s: ASTA formed ASTA Marketing Services Inc. (AMSI) to help member agents get high-quality products and services at discounted prices, the ASTA Political Action Committee (ASTAPAC), and the Chapter Presidents Council. The decade also saw the first rise in air commissions in 25 years—from 5% to 7%, resulting from the deregulation of the airlines. 

1980: A session of the World Congress in Manila was interrupted by a small bomb. President Ferdinand Marcos had just left the session when the explosion happened.  

1980s: ASTA continued its emphasis on education, holding Trainingfest, School on Rails, School at Sea and School on the Road.  

1990s: ASTA published the Travel Agents Manual. 

1995: Seven major airlines capped agency commissions at $50 on domestic tickets. ASTA filed an anti- trust lawsuit that was settled out of court for $86 million. Before the end of the decade, commissions were cut or capped five more times.  

1999: ASTA secured a Justice Department investigation of five carriers’ plan to launch a joint website. ASTA published the Air Travelers Bill of Rights and secured Congressional endorsement of the key principles of the bill, and gained passage and funding of the Consumer Access to Travel Information Act. 

2001: ASTA held its World Congress in New York less than two months after the 9/11 attack to show support for the city. About 3,000 people attended. 

2007: ASTA relaunched its brand, unveiling a new membership structure and enhanced member benefits, a new logo and a new mission: to facilitate the business of selling travel through effective representation, shared knowledge and the enhancement of professionalism. The “new” ASTA brought a re-energized commitment to helping members grow their business and market share.  

In recent years ASTA has: 

• Continued to enhance member communications and provided members with tools to launch or improve their own advertising and public-relations campaigns.  
• Unveiled the Green Member program, leading the agency industry in incorporating environmentally conscious practices into their businesses.  
• Actively engaged in tackling threats to the financial security of agents, including anti-competitive taxes and onerous regulations. Several ASTA-endorsed pieces of legislation to protect passenger rights and end airline preemption have gone to Congress.  
• Led the fight to prevent airlines from passing along merchant fees to travel agents and ultimately, their clients, and remains on the front lines on the issue of proposed worker classification legislation.  
• Scored numerous victories at the state level in defeating regulations that would prove harmful to agents. Currently, ASTA is working to ensure that airlines fully disclose their ancillary fees in all sales outlets in which they participate and has been successful in defeating onerous hotel booking fee taxes, and in the deregulation of travel insurance sales in several states.  
• Connected members through a variety of social media outlets as well as under the umbrella of pro travel agent legislation and initiatives that will benefit the industry. 

NACTA 

1986: Formed as ACTA: The Association of Commission Travel Agents. It was created by Donna Sherf for independent agents in the Dallas area. ACTA was re-created as the National Association of Commissioned Travel Agents after an agent from New York expressed interest in opening a chapter. 

2000: ASTA acquired NACTA. 

2000s: The association elevated professionalism through increased and improved membership requirements and establishment of chapter operating guidelines. NACTA was thought of as a cruise-oriented travel club early on, lacking the professional image of “employed travel agents.” But NACTA increased dues, upgraded requirements and attracted new chapter leadership. 

2008: NACTA was renamed the National Association of Career Travel Agents. In 2008, NACTA had only 25 chapters; today there are 52 chapters and NACTA has expanded into Canada. NACTA evolved from a primary focus on fam trips to a wide selection of member benefits. 

2016: Today, NACTA continues to seek new benefits for its members, such as the $199 ASTA membership rate, and reduced travel insurance for familiarization and educational trips through its InsureandGo partnership, as well as enhanced commission rates for client sales. NACTA provides education, training and FAM programs to ensure the up-to-date knowledge and expertise of members. Programs include webinar supplier series, Seminars at Sea, a 24-7 education center and fam trips.