WTM Africa, in partnership with the Association of Southern African Travel Agents (ASATA), have launched the ASATA Travel Agents’ Academy, which will be hosted at #WTMA20 in Cape Town.
The ASATA Travel Agents’ Academy will be held in the Destination Theatre on 8 April, the final day of the African continent’s largest B2B travel and tourism trade show.
The ASATA Travel Agents’ Academy has been structured to support the ASATA Professional Programme (APP).
The APP is an online system that recognises travel agents’ expertise, qualifications and practical skills to achieve professional recognition by ASATA and ultimately, a professional designation as either a Travel Practitioner or Travel Advisor.
ASATA is the only local travel industry body to be accredited by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) as a professional body. As such, it is the only association that can award a SAQA-accredited designation to travel consultants.
The ASATA Travel Agents’ Academy will be
offering four 45-minute content sessions which will be in the form of
training sessions. Travel consultants who attend these sessions will be
able to use the Certificate of Attendance received to gain Continuous
Professional Development Points (CPD) towards their APP designations
i.e. they will be awarded 5 CPD points per session attended. The topics
covered during each training session will be aligned to the APP.
Attendance to the ASATA Travel Agent’s Academy is free of charge, but pre-registration will be mandatory.
Megan Oberholzer, Portfolio Director: Travel, Tourism
& Sports Portfolio for Reed Exhibitions South Africa says, the
partnership will offer unique development opportunities for South
African travel agents.
“The establishment of the ASATA Travel Agents’ Academy, in partnership
with WTM Africa, is going to add exciting opportunities for agents to
gain cutting-edge insights at #WTMA20,” she says. “We are excited to be
able to meet the high demand that has inspired this initiative and look
forward to working with ASATA to grow it even further in the coming
years.”
ASATA CEO Otto de Vries agrees that the benefits
offered to travel consultants through the ASATA Travel Agents’ Academy
are vast. “The ASATA Professional Programme is a key initiative aimed at
driving professionalism within the travel sector. We are thrilled to be
entering into this partnership with WTM Africa which will enhance
opportunities for travel consultants to achieve their SAQA-accredited
designations,” he says.
For more information on the ASATA Travel Agents’ Academy, in partnership
with WTM Africa, and details on how to register for WTM Africa 2020,
visit africa.wtm.com.
#WTMA20 runs from 6-8 April 2020 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
For more information on the ASATA Professional Programme (APP), contact Nivashnee Naidoo on app@asata.co.za
