The newly elected Executive Committee brings together respected industry leaders from across the globe:

• Eva Blasco (Spain), CEO of Europa Travel & Vice President of CEAV – Chair
• Dean Long (Australia), CEO of ATIA – Vice Chair
• Larry Lo (Asia), CEO of Corporate Travel Management Asia – Vice Chair
• Andrew Bowman (New Zealand), Director of TAANZ – Treasurer
• Eric Dresin, Secretary General at ECTAA – Secretary

Otto de Vries, CEO of ASATA, continues as Executive Director, with Mark Meader (ASTA) leading the Land and Sea Committee and Christian Möller (ECTAA) heading the Air Committee.

“On behalf of the alliance, I’d like to express our sincere gratitude to Wendy Paradis for her exceptional leadership and dedication during her tenure,” said de Vries. “We’re delighted to welcome Eva Blasco as our new Chair. Her extensive industry experience and collaborative approach make her ideally suited to guide WTAAA through the complex challenges facing our global membership.”

Blasco brings over 20 years of experience in travel agents’ associations and is currently CEO of Europa Travel and Vice President of CEAV. Her background includes serving as Vice President of ECTAA (2012-2020) and chairing the Spanish APJC of IATA for four years.

As the new Chair, Blasco will focus on three key priorities: achieving greater recognition of travel advisors’ value in the distribution chain, expanding WTAAA’s global membership, and strengthening the alliance’s position as a respected industry voice promoting dialogue and best practices.

Speaking about industry challenges, Blasco highlighted the real-world struggles facing travel advisors:

“Travel advisors face technological challenges in adapting to the multiple distribution channels of different providers (including the rollout of NDC), which often involves significant financial investment, as well as a significant investment of time in staff training with the aim of learning the proper functioning of each of these channels,” Blasco explained.

Fragmentation is also a challenge. Agents and advisors not having consistent access to all content that is being presented across multiple channels, is making it difficult and time-consuming for travel advisors to search available options and compare prices effectively. 

Looking to the future, Blasco outlined how WTAAA’s role must evolve:

“The WTAAA must continue working, as it has been doing, to ensure that the relationship between suppliers like airlines and travel advisors is as balanced as possible, and working to ensure that the added value of travel agents and advisors is duly recognised by airlines and other suppliers.”

She emphasised that while embracing new technologies is essential, the human touch remains at the heart of the industry: “The WTAAA must continue working to ensure that travel advisors continue providing the highest quality service and the most personalised treatment possible to travellers, integrating technological and artificial intelligence solutions as much as possible to streamline processes, but never to replace the irreplaceable consulting provided by travel professionals.”

“Undoubtedly, there is strength in unity,” Blasco concluded. “Therefore, we will continue moving forward with collaboration and cooperation, sharing best practices and concerns among member associations, obviously always within the limits set by competition law.”

Based in Cape Town, South Africa, Mr. de Vries also serves as the CEO of the Association of Southern African Travel Agents (ASATA), a founding member of WTAAA.

In this global role with the WTAAA, Mr. de Vries will provide strategic leadership for the WTAAA as the organisation advocates for balanced consumer rights coupled with travel agency interests across the industry globally.

“Our primary focus will be championing transparency for consumers in terms of choice and options, regardless of the travel distribution channel, and to foster greater collaboration between agencies and related travel partners across the travel ecosystem through open communication and engagements that bring both sides together,” said Mr. de Vries.

Specifically, WTAAA aims to re-establish the Passenger Agency Programme Task Force with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and its member airlines in 2024. The goal is to deliver business solutions for the airline and travel agency communities that mitigate and manage risk, driven by commercial principles that add value and provide value and confidence to the customer. In addition, WTAAA will address issues around IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC), which promises certain functionality and retailing capabilities but currently falls short in travel agencies’ experience.

“We want to collaborate with IATA to achieve full NDC adoption in a way that works for everyone and does not limit access to content and pricing to the detriment of the travelling public”, Mr. de Vries explained. Beyond airlines, WTAAA is assessing relationships with the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and other entities to advocate for the travel industry on taxation, sustainability, market access and more. The alliance also aims to represent agencies in “duty of care” needs and requirements vital and impactful to traveller wellbeing. Otto De Vries brings 35 years of travel industry experience to the WTAAA, including senior executive roles with ASATA, Comair, and Holiday Tours in South Africa. “I’m excited to take on this global leadership role at such a crucial time for the travel community,” said Mr. de Vries.

“My role is to ensure that WTAAA member organisation’s voices are heard in critical discussions on matters that impact the travel and tourism industry and to collaborate on the sustainable growth of our sector.