My company organizes educational travel for many thousands of people
each year.  However, we are not a registered travel agent and do not
currently book travel directly for anyone.  We are an intermediary who
organizes the travel and related events and sells the trips to the
participants.  We buy hotel space in bulk for our travelers.  Air is
either purchased in bulk by us through a travel agency or participants
make independent arrangements.

My question is, are there memberships, certifications or other
registrations that we should get that would place us in a more
beneficial position in the travel industry?  If so, what and to what
benefit?

A great answer will produce a GREAT tip

Thanks

<The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) http://www.astanet.com/
with 24,000 members is the world’s largest association of travel
industry professionals. It promotes professionalism and integrity in
the industry with a strict code of ethics for members.
Members gain prestige by becoming part of a highly respected
organization.
Consumers are more confident about booking with an ASTA member as the
organization has a consumer affairs department to look after their
interests. The code of ethics ensures that consumers are fairly
treated.
Members may use the internationally recognised ASTA logo.
Members gain access to ASTAnet which is an industry information
resource.
The organization also publishes ASTA Agency Management Magazine,
Dateline ASTA newsletter and weekly e-mails with business information.
ASTA is the travel industry’s voice that represents its interests in
negotiations with government,  ARC, CRS, hotels and airlines.
Meetings and Trade Shows are organised which allow networking and
promotion of member companies services.
Vendor discounts and bonus commissions are offered.
 
Charles Sturm of Linstron Travel Bureau Inc says “ASTA membership has
allowed me to make important industry contacts. Networking with fellow
agents has helped me grow professionally, and developing relations
with suppliers through ASTA has enabled me to take advantage of
valuable business opportunities.”
Further member testimonials can be seen at
http://www.astanet.com/join/testimonials.asp


United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA)
Promotes a code of ethics in the tourist industry. More than 800
members. Organises an annual conference and marketplace.

The Institute of Certified Travel Agents (ICTA)
http://www.icta.com/aboutict.htm
An international, non-profit organization that educates and certifies
travel industry professionals. They host an annual national forum
which is ideal for networking within the industry. They have an online
directory that can be searched by consumers and travel providers. An
awareness campaign is run to promote the organization. They have their
own magazine that is aimed at travel professionals. This is published
6 times a year and distributed free of charge to members. Members
receive discounts on industry events and resources. They provide
marketing tools and merchandise.

International Airlines Travel Agents Network.
This organization promotes professionalism and business standards and
educational programs in the travel industry. It has 295,000 members.
Members receive a numeric code that is recognised by the travel
industry worldwide. Members are listed in printed and electronic
database products that are subscribed to by the international travel
industry community. They also provide educational programs.
http://www.iatan.org/>


<Additional links:>
<Travel industry professional associations.>
<http://www.rivierarental.com/ttools/tagents.htm>

<Travel industry organisations.>
<http://www.business2.com/webguide/0,1660,1289,00.html>

<Travel industry organisations.>
<http://www.icta.com/indres.htm>


<Search strategy:>
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22travel+agents%22+associations>

<Hope this helps.>

Thanks.

The power of the Educational Travel is information, training,
networking and the experience of returning home with a renewed sense
of mission and opportunity for your travel program, and a plan in hand
for leading through change, challenge and uncertainty. The Educational
Travel deliver the tools, industry experts, lessons learned and
applied travel knowledge for reengineering every piece of legal and
liability collateral for your travel programs, reassessing the
security and stability of destinations visited, recapping lessons
learned under fire, rethinking strategic goal setting and
value-measuring processes, reassessing destination choice and traveler
issues, redefining service delivery and traveler profiles, and
redesigning the comfort management, staffing and marketing of your
travel program, from top to bottom.

Regain confidence, consider options, adapt and adjust perspectives,
and align more with the current marketplace for travel. Leave with
actionable intelligence to pursue a larger share of your member/alumni
base of travelers, successfully. Understand choices, challenges and
achievements that will dictate your success in planner, supplier,
customer connections, cope with the uncertain business environment of
the 21st century, and move your program forward.

More ways to make your business extra better:

* Understand how industry rules are fundamentally changing and the
next steps you must take with your program to not only survive but
thrive in the days ahead.

* Catch up on what colleagues did and are doing, lessons learned, new
ideas and opportunities to successfully drive your program to new
markets and destinations.

* Discover where, why and when Americans will travel and what
motivations must be acknowledged to expand your program in new
directions with new travelers.

* Maximize your visibility, reach and return in direct marketing, and
at the same time minimize your marketing costs and risk exposures.

* Learn why the competition is increasing within the educational
travel market, and why you don't have the luxury of time to "wait and
see".

* Hear about transitional practices successful colleagues are bringing
to the table and compelling insights on leadership and delivering
service through change.

* Analyze your communications, marketing and management plans

* Hear ways to assess risk and assess destinations, backed by in-depth
briefing on the safety and security.

Travel agents are excellent resources. In fact, large operators accept
bookings made only through travel agents. But it's a good idea to
collect brochures from several agencies, because some agents'
suggestions may be influenced by relationships with tour and package
firms that reward them for volume sales. If you have a special
interest, find an agent with expertise in that area; ASTA (American
Society of Travel Agents) has a database of specialists worldwide.

Here I give your information of my best knowledge, I hope I helped
you. Have a great day, sir.