Model Agency Program - NEW

The Model Agency Program is designed to provide you, as a professional agency, with the essential business tools to run your business in a more efficient and profitable way. In order to be more successful in the future, it is imperative for agencies to have a solid understanding of the relationship between revenue sources and cost structures, consider their clients' values, set service and sales goals, develop marketing and business strategies and take advantage of the automation and technologies that offer opportunities for continued growth and financial prosperity.

Cuba Travel Specialist Course - NEW
By Sue Wilder, CTC

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The purpose of this specialist course is to help you, the professional travel agent, develop a specialty in travel to Cuba. Given the current restrictions in place regarding U.S. travel to Cuba, it is not the intention of this course to promote or condone the illegal sale of travel to Cuba. Rather, this course is designed to meet the education needs of travel agents who want to: 1) sell Cuba in accordance with current rules and regulations; and /or 2) begin preparing now for the day when they will be able to freely promote and sell Cuba as a travel destination and capitalize on its tourism potential. Of course, true destination specialization requires a great deal more than taking a single course. As with any speciality, our pursuit of a Cuba travel specialty should be ongoing, including continued study as well as authorized travel to Cuba. While there is no substitute for personally experiencing all that Cuba has to offer, this course will lay the foundation for successfully selling Cuba by allowing you to demonstrate your competency as a Cuba Travel Specialist.Topics include:

• An overview of Cuba
• Explore three major touring regions in Cuba: West, Central and East
• Provides an overview of tourism in Cuba, including transportation, accommodation, dining and shopping

USA Travel Expert Program
By Sue Wilder, CTC

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Designed for international travel professionals to develop an expertise about the United States of America (USA) as a tourist destination and enhance their service for inbound travel for clients living outside of the United States (US). This is great opportunity for travel professionals in the international arena to become “experts” on selling the USA.

While there is no substitute for personally experiencing all that the United States has to offer, this program will lay a foundation of essential knowledge upon which to develop a comprehensive specialty in travel to the United States.

Topics include:

• Identify trends and characteristics of the United States
  inbound travel industry.
• Provide essential information about regulatory and other practical
  issues regarding travel to the United States
• Discuss relevant aspects of the country’s transportation,
  accommodations, dining and culture.
• Identify basic geographical characteristics of the United States.
• Highlight key features of destinations in nine major touring
  regions of the United States: Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, South,
  Great Lakes, Great Plains, West, Northwest, Hawaii and Alaska.
• Suggest tips for visiting popular destinations throughout the United States.
• Earn a certificate designating you as an ASTA USA Travel Expert.

Family Travel Specialist Course
by Sue Wilder, CTC
The family travel market is growing and diversifying. This course takes a focused look at the different types of families, their buying patterns and how their needs evolve as they progress through the family life cycle. Topics include:

• Defining the family travel marketplace
• Addressing the unique needs of various types of families
• Planning the family vacation: do’s & don’ts
• Identifying family-oriented operators and destinations

Niche Travel Specialist Course
by Robin Fetsch, CTC
This course examines a wide diversity of special interest groups. Topics include how to conduct local research and positioning, as well as promoting and selling special interest travel. More than 100 areas of specialization are discussed including:

• Ecotourism
• Wine/Gourmet
• Historical/Cultural
• Disabled
• Scuba Diving
• Spa/Fitness
• Dude Ranch
• Spiritual/Religious
• Sports
• Gay & Lesbian

Mature Adult Travel Specialist Course*
By Talula Guntner, CTC, MCC
Every eight seconds someone in the United States turns 50. Mature adults (50+ years old) control 50% of discretionary spending. That’s what makes this such a lucrative, growing niche. Course topics include:

• Expectations, demands and travel trends of mature adults
• Travel patterns and expenditures
• The different buying patterns of the senior citizen (65+) and baby boomer (50-64) markets
• “Hot Buttons” for upscale mature adults
• Unique marketing and sales strategies
• Companies sensitive to mature adult needs
• Health and the mature traveler

Travel Marketing Specialist Course
Essential information on how to market your business, including the importance of niche marketing in today's environment. Topics include:

• Fundamentals of niche marketing
• Understanding demographics
• Trend analysis
• Successful marketing techniques
• Evaluating your agency
• Creating a marketing plan

North American Rail Travel Specialist
By Sue Wilder, CTC
Planning travel by rail - whether in the United States on Amtrak or the AMerican Orient Express or in Canada on Via Rail - is a challenging task, even for an experienced travel agent. Thus, by becoming a rail specialist and marketing to specific niches (or groups) within the marketplace, you, with extensive knowledge and experience in rail travel, will have carved a unique position for yourself in the travel industry, one of the surest ways today of maintaining profitability. Learn the tricks of schedules, accommodations, route guides, travelogues, example of costs, helpful hints, book suggestions, tipping and other onboard customs, as well as online rail travel web resources, vacation packages, luxury or first class services, and specialty trains. Topics include:

• Defining the rail travel marketplace
• Planning the rail vacation
• Niche marketing and sales techniques
• How to plan and package rail travel
• Identifying operators and destinations

Sponsored by Amtrak

Course Costs
$79 for ASTA members
$95 for non-members

Each home study course includes:

• Course manual
• Shipping charges
• Test packet
• Evaluation