A trip down memory lane with ASATA
Once upon a time, booking a holiday meant heading to your local travel agency, a manila folder of handwritten tickets to carry home and a visit to the bank to order your travellers cheques. Today, travellers can book an entire holiday from the palm of their hand.
As ASATA celebrates its 70th anniversary, they’re opening their archives and inviting us to revisit the milestones that modernised the industry – and changed how South Africans travel.
1. 1956: Travel agencies become part of the journey
In 1956, ASATA was established as the first formal body to represent South African travel agents and elected Jim Finlay as its first chairman. At the time, travel agencies were essential to planning a trip, handling everything from tickets and passports to visas and even foreign currency. There was no such thing as booking it all yourself.
2. 1959–1971: The world gets easier to reach
The arrival of the first American Express plastic charge card in 1959 transformed international travel. Instead of carrying cash or travellers cheques, travellers could pay for flights, accommodation and everyday expenses with a single card. The arrival of the Boeing 747 in 1970 made long-haul travel more accessible than ever before, and in 1971, SAA rounded things off with SAAFARI, its very own automated reservations system – basically the ancestor of every booking app on your smartphone today.
3. 1972: A genuine world-first
In 1972, just one year after Japan pioneered IATA’s Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP), South Africa became the second country in the world to adopt it. The same year, ASATA elected its first president, John Bing, and successfully negotiated an increase in domestic airline commission from 5% to 7%.
*BSP is the standardised system that keeps ticket sales, reporting and payments between agents and airlines from descending into chaos.
4. 1978–1985: Regulation, insurance and the ticketing shake-up
Between the late 1970s and early 1980s, ASATA really rolled up its sleeves. The association helped draft the bill that became the Travel Agent and Travel Agencies Act (1983) and teamed up with SAA to introduce automatic ticket printing. It also negotiated an exclusive traveller insurance (Travelsure) and secured a 15-day BSP settlement period, modernising how travel agencies operated behind the scenes.
5. 1992–1994: Ethics and deregulation
During this timeframe, ASATA introduced its first Code of Conduct, reinforcing ethical standards across the industry. Just two years later, the Tourism Bill repealed the Travel Agent and Travel Agencies Act, ushering in a new era of competition and deregulation.
6. 1993–1998: A changing landscape
The repeal of marital power meant married women could finally open bank accounts, obtain credit cards, sign contracts and pay for travel independently without their husband’s consent. In 1998, ASATA elected its first Black president, Kananelo Makhetha, reflecting the transformation of both the association and South Africa itself.
7. 2001: Flying would never feel the same again
Before 9/11, passengers could arrive at the airport shortly before departure and loved ones could accompany them to the boarding gate. Then everything changed. Security tightened everywhere, and “arrive three hours early” became gospel.
8. The 2000s: Reinvention begins
During this time, smartphones, social media and online booking platforms completely transformed how people researched, booked and shared their travels. In 2005, ASATA elected its first woman president, Amanda Harrod, and as airline commissions shrank, professional service fees models filled the gap.
In 2010, the FIFA World Cup showcased South Africa to billions of people across the globe as a world-class tourism destination, proving that this country knows how to host a good party.
Throughout the 2010s, ASATA engaged government on unabridged birth certificates for minors, worked with National Treasury on cost containment measures, secured legal guardrails for pricing transparency, and helped determine the VAT treatment of international tickets through a favourable Constitutional Court outcome in 2020.
9. 2020: When travel stopped
COVID-19 became the greatest crisis the travel industry had ever faced. Borders closed, airlines grounded fleets and refunds became a lifeline for travellers. ASATA worked tirelessly to support members through SAA’s business rescue (2019-2022) and advocate for border reopening.
10. 2023 and beyond: Buckle up for the next chapter
Today, AI, digital borders and new traveller expectations are reshaping travel once again. Yet one thing has remained remarkably consistent: When flights are cancelled, visas become complicated or plans fall apart, people still turn to trusted travel professionals for guidance.
“That belief has guided ASATA since 1956,” says ASATA CEO, Otto de Vries. “Seventy years later, it remains at the heart of South African travel. In all that time, credible expertise never went out of fashion, and I suspect it never will.”
