Dear Mr May,
I was troubled to read your editorial - Reality check: Barack Obama is right about offline travel agencies - which ran in yesterday’s Tnooz.
It is difficult to understand how our defending an industry of more than 120,000 employees is the same as "picking a fight [we] cannot win".
Rather than looking to start something, ASTA is looking to end something - the ongoing misperception that traditional travel agents have disappeared.
Educating our President about our industry doesn’t make us confrontational or a bully, nor does it mean we have stuck our collective heads in the sand.
Quite the contrary. ASTA continues to provide its members with the resources and information they need to drive their businesses to keep up with emerging trends and technologies.
On behalf of ASTA’s 8,500 members, I would invite you to book your vacation with a professional travel agent and see the difference that working with a professional can make. If you would like to discuss this further, please don't hesitate to call me at the number below.
Regards,
Tony Gonchar
CEO, American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA)