Become a Home Based Travel Agent

Joanie: Mary you have now been named the "Head of NACTA" since September what has been your focus since becoming the person in charge?

I have to tell you it has been a large responsibility and I'm thrilled to be able to implement the new ideas that I have, members offer and my team suggests. The core to everything we implement has one major focus and that is:

How does this benefit our NACTA members? At NACTA we ask ourselves, does this event, new program or continued program truly benefit our members? The answer to this question must be yes and if it is not it will not make it on to the priority list. We have a large wish list of new member benefits we are constantly prioritizing down to the top three we want to implement and when. Once one of the three is deliver, we replace it with the next great idea. It's a never ending list because my team and our members have so many innovative helpful programs they want to see added to the current programs NACTA has for it's members.

Joanie: Since most of your NACTA memebers are independent / homebased agents, do you see any new trends in what the members need and what benefits they might be looking for?

Joanie as it was when you were the founding President of NACTA, the members still voice their number one need to be recognition as professional career focused agents. You were and still are the voice that people know started the buzz about homebased travel professionals as a real force who can move market share for suppliers. NACTA members are extremely professional and are asking for more training opportunities and certification and specialist programs to give them even more credibility within the industry. In the past three years NACTA has expanded the training opportunities for members. Last year alone we delivered 137 webinars focused not only on supplier product updates but webinars that focus on how to build your travel business, best practices for travel agents, peer driven topics delivered by agents and more.

We also are developing more educational opportunities on our seminar at sea plus program which includes 6 to 8 hours of training onboard various ships and also on our plus sailings, Bob Duglin our Director of Industry Relations, has developed shore-side training in each port of call with the tourism bureaus around the world. When you step off the ship on a NACTA Seminar at Sea Plus program you are immersed into a hands on training that includes local hotel site inspections, visits to area attractions and meals with the locals... Bob brought one group to visit "Mama's Farm" in Italy for her famous meatballs and Mama was crying and waving goodbye as the group left! Now that's total immersion and a one of a kind experience our NACTA agents can now recommend to their clients.

Joanie: Sounds like the new programs are being well received... what else is on the horizon for NACTA?

Expansion is definitely on the horizon with all of our new programs we have we have and continue to plan to expand our benefits and provide our members with fantastic educational opportunities. With the added benefits we also will be focusing on growing our services to our members and growing the organization overall. It's an exciting time to be with NACTA and I'm honored to be at the helm and guiding our growth steadily and responsibly.

I look forward to another successful year and another great convention Oct. 22nd on the MSC Poesia Canada New England Sailing. Our convention is the time of year when we gather together as an organization both new and seasoned members to share ideas, network and learn from supplier partners. The NACTA convention will focus on a full week of educational opportunities to help agents grow their business and develop one-on-one relationships with other members and supplier executives while sailing on the beautiful MSC Poesia. To register for this event your readers can go to http://www.nacta.com/events/550/ or to join NACTA go to www.nacta.com , as a special offer for HBTAN for the next 10 days NACTA will be offering a $50 discount for any new member! Regular membership is $145 for the year and with this special new members can join for $95... that's just 26 cents a day to invest in your career as a professional travel agent. To redeem the discount simply use the discount code "sponsor" and click "apply code" on the payment page. To join NACTA go to www.nacta.com and click "Join Now".

Joanie Ogg CTC MCC
Joanie Ogg Marketing Group
Editor

Joanie Ogg is a thirty-five year veteran of the travel industry and has been involved with the independent contractor evolution since 1988. She is the principal of Joanie Ogg Marketing Group, which specializes in consulting and speaking on the topic of Home-Based Travel. She also provides marketing and sales for wide variety of products under the umbrella HomeBasedTravelAgent.com.

A demonstrated industry leader, Joanie most recently served as the President of the National Association of Commissioned Travel Agents (NACTA) and TravelSellers. She and her husband Tom acquired NACTA in 1996 and sold it to The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) in 2000. Joanie’s tenure in the travel industry includes owning and operating one of the first successful host agency models. She has owned and operated several storefront travel agencies (both commercial and leisure), as well as a Hawaii wholesale tour company.

Her decades of success have garnered her numerous accolades over the years. Her accomplishments have been recognized by receipt of two Lifetime Achievement Awards from major trade groups, being named as one of the “100 Most Powerful Women in Travel” by Travel Agent magazine on several occasions, voted as “Travel Agent of the Year” by the readers of Travel Trade magazine, and has been recognized by many other industry organizations throughout her tenure in the industry. In 2008 Joanie Ogg was inducted into the CLIA Hall of Fame, an honor held by some of the most influential executives in the travel industry.

Joanie is a Master Cruise Counselor (MCC) and a Certified Travel Counselor (CTC). Joanie has co-authored two popular travel industry books for cruise specialists and home-based travel agents and has authored hundreds of travel trade articles. She has inspired tens of thousands of travel agents attending her presentations at trade events, cruise seminars, international trade gatherings and numerous local educational venues throughout the United States. With a time-honored background and forward-looking vision, she is often featured as a speaker at many of the travel industry’s major conferences and events. Joanie’s speaking talents are widely sought as a travel industry emcee by the most recognized travel organizations. She has emceed such events as Cruise-A-Thons, ASTA’s CruiseFest, The Trade Show, The Travel Institute Forum and all of NACTA’s National and International Conferences.


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