A Clear PATH to Support for Host Agencies
Written By: Joanie Ogg, Editor and Co-Founder – Travel Professional NEWS
I boarded my flight in San Diego on Sunday, August 19th headed to our Nation’s Capital to attend the 9th Annual PATH Symposium with great enthusiasm as I looked forward to covering this event for Travel Professional NEWS® and FindaHostTravelAgency.com. Having traveled to DC hundreds of times throughout my career, one would think it might not be all that exciting. However, there is just something that grabs my patriotic emotions when I fly into Washington Regan airport. Seeing the Washington Memorial upon approach during the evening sunset is simply magnificent. I stepped off the plane and grabbed an Uber headed to the Washington Hilton ready to see friends, colleagues and enjoy a day of great collaboration.
Attending this event was especially exciting as I was one of the initial attendees at an advisory meeting back in 2007 when the concept of creating PATH (The Professional Association of Travel Hosts) had only just begun. The industry needed an association that would represent the top Host Agencies here in the United States and since PATH’s beginning in 2007 it has grown and flourished into a strong and empowering group. They have a strong Code of Ethics for their Host Agency Members with strict operating standards.
The PATH Symposium is a day and a half event each year. This year they switched it up a bit and the first day was a meeting comprised of PATH Host Agency Members and their representatives. They spent that day discussing important topics and issues as they relate to operating successful agencies for their independent agents. They also discuss topics focused on the supplier community and the relationship between hosts and suppliers. They all enjoyed a great dinner together that evening.
Day 2 began at 8:30am with a lovely informal continental breakfast for all the supplier and host agency participants. Everyone found their seats at the roundtables that were each set for ten and enjoyed some conversation with one another before the official kick off of the meeting.
Anita Pagliasso, the President of PATH and owner of A Ticket to Travel, began the day with a warm welcome to the more then 70 industry professionals and gave us a brief overview of how the day would progress. She recognized the PATH Board Members that were in attendance and acknowledged their continued support to the association. Each of us in attendance had the opportunity to introduce ourselves. This was followed by an update from Peter Lobasso, ASTA’s General Counsel where he discussed many of the ASTA initiatives they are currently working on and shared current information on seller of travel regulatory situations.
Members of PATH’s Board of Directors, Jackie Friedman, President of Nexion and Drew Daly, GM, Network Engagement & Performance with Dream Vacations, CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. shared with the group some insight on both business relationships and complexities between the supplier community and host agencies. Everyone had the opportunity to chime in and share their thoughts on topics that were brought up as well as to bring additional topics for conversation and input. It was a lively and very informative session to say the least. Topics were posted on the whiteboard in front of the room and later we would have the opportunity to dig deeper into specific areas of interest to the group. The topics of discussion focused on Best Practices and what is working as it relates the continuing strong relationship between the suppliers, host agencies and their independent agents.
We had a quick break then resumed another discussion “Opportunities to Grow Together” which was again moderated by Jackie Friedman and Drew Daly. With a long laundry list of topics as you can see by the photo, we had our work cut out for us after our buffet lunch and quick break.
We resumed after lunch and began Breakout Session 1 of 2. Everyone one had been assigned a table for each session. We grabbed our table name cards and headed to our respective tables to begin the lively and very interesting dialogue with our table-mates. Each group at the roundtables consisted of supplier and host agency representatives as well as a couple of us representing the press. We had time to discuss a couple topics in-depth and elected a scribe and a speaker from our table-mates to share our findings with the entire group. We then had a quick break, moved to the next assigned table and hunkered down for Session 2 and again shared findings and intel with the entire group.
Some of the topics that were discussed in depth included:
- Checks from Agents vs. Agency
- Signatures on Group Contracts
- Secondary Phone Fields Issues and Answers
- Use of Marketing Funds for Agent Engagement vs. Consumer-Facing Campaigns
- Insurance Licensing Issues
- Better Processes to Work with Sub-Agents
- Communicating with Agents in Varying Host Models
- Identifying Agents Geographically for Events
- Agent Collaboration and Networking
- Professionalism and Ethics
- Creating Regional Groups on Social Media
- Ways to Better Reach Individual IC’s
One of the key insights that I found to be of extreme importance was that of the open and willing attitude the supplier companies have to find better and more effective ways to bridge communications between themselves and host agencies. Their desire to work hand in hand to grow with one another was inspiring. This is an amazing turn of events and a credit to PATH for providing a conduit to help make this a reality.
Eleven years ago you would not have seen this type of commitment on the part of the suppliers toward this distribution channel of hosted agents. As past President of NACTA, I remember so well working diligently from the year 2000 to 2008 to educate the supplier community on the importance of hosts and their independent agents. A sector of the industry that barely existed before the year 2000 is now widely recognized and sought after. Seeing this come full circle and seeing the commitment to this channel makes me very happy and proud to have had a part in seeing the success so many have earned.
The day flew by and while we were all on information overload (in a good way) we still had the evening dinner to look forward to. Some of us met up in the lobby and took the scenic walk to Carmines Restaurant and the rest met us there for wine and an amazing dinner. We had a large private room where we were all seated family style to delicious Italian food. I ate far to much, but it was just impossible to say no to any of it!Sincere thanks go to Camille Olivere, Senior Vice President of Norwegian Cruise Line for hosting the wine for all of us during the dinner.
PATH, you outdid yourself this year! Anita Pagliasso and the Board of PATH are a dedicated group of industry executives who have created an event that is not to be missed. If you are a host agency and not a member of PATH yet, I encourage you to join and if you are a supplier looking to better understand and connect with hosts and their agency partners, you simply need to be at the 10th Annual PATH Symposium.
In closing, I want to share some quotes that both the host and supplier attendees shared with me when asked about the value of the event to their continued success. I think they say it best!
“In a world where most businesses look at one another as their competition, at PATH we see each other as peeps in the same business all trying to bolster the travel advisor community. We come together to share best practices and more importantly challenges in the industry, that affect all of us.
Collaboratively, we work with suppliers to help make their systems and processes more effective for the entire advisor community. The suppliers are blown away with what they don’t know about our business model and are excited to make the necessary adjustments for the success of all.” Jenn Lee, Vice President of Sales & Marketing Travel Planners International
“This is my 4th PATH meeting and each time I am energized by the growth of existing relationships and the opportunity to cultivate new ones. This year I am eager for all of us to take back new ideas to elevate the integrity of our industry through improving business practices and the continuous pursuit of professionalism and etiquette of the advisors and suppliers. The passion and genuine drive of each attendee grows and drives us to a more impactful organization every year and certainly inspires me to examine all the ways that Trisept can better serve the industry!” Beth Kitzman, BDM Agency Channel Trisept Solutions
“PATH is a unique organization. It’s a place where the best host agencies share and collaborate to solve problems, set standards and to improve supplier relationships. I’m particularly proud what PATH has accomplished by connecting with suppliers so that suppliers better understand the host agency model and how to effectively work with hosts to improve efficiencies, increase communication and maximize sales.”Connie Miller, Vice President of Development Your Travel Center/Montecito Village Travel