Destroyed and beyond repair?

Is “NITAS’’ beyond repair? “NITAS” is the acronym of the registered corporation, “non-IATA, Inc.” whose member-travel agents are not accredited by airlines that are members of IATA or the International Air Transport Association.

In the travel industry, a non-IATAtravel agent carries all sorts of negative connotations such as, for example, that the agent or agency is financially weak (inadequate capitalization) and therefore unreliable when its comes to booking airline seats, hotel and resort rooms or packaged tours to overseas destinations. But such negative attributions are remote from the truth. In fact, some non-IA

A travel agents sell airline tickets at lower price than IATA-accredited travel agents do. That’s competition. Most, if not all, non-IATA travel agents are in the retail of airline seats supplied by their cousins, the IATA agents. But I’m digressing.

Long ago, someone silly in the “Non-IATA, Inc.” preferred that the organization be known as the “Network of Independent Travel Agencies” without

bothering to change the name through appropriate legal actions. Up to this day, the name “NITAS” stuck with member not really knowing that the corporate name of “NITAS” is “Non-IATA, Inc.”

In the last three years, the organization grew by leaps and bounds (with current membership of around 600 from the tiny 60 with chapters in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao), under the leadership of Bobby Joseph

. It has become the largest association of travel agents, tour operators and others from allied sectors of the travel and tourism industry.

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Naturally, new kids on the block such as new travel agents and tour operators with less than five years in the business and who needed some additional lines in their resume to show prospective corporate clients, got attracted to the organization. Some had ambitions of wrestling the leadership of the organization, hoping that a position of leadership could sweet-talk and persuade an unsuspecting client. Some preferred to be kingmakers, operating behind decent members but with dubious intentions and eyeing the growing funds of the organization.

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Now, as a result of endless dispute over a quorum to elect a president, the “NITAS” appears to have been totally destroyed, beyond repair, if contending parties don’t reconcile. And one side does not seem to desire reconciliation.

Meanwhile, criminal charges are being prepared by the Angel Bognot-John Batacan followers against some members for falsifying Batacan’s signature on a “board resolution” that pertains to “NITAS” money in the bank. Dave de Jesus, the “other president” himself is out on bail having been charged in a criminal case for alleged violation of certain provisions of the Corporation Code, specifically, for allegedly refusing a member to “examine, inspect and copy excerpts from the minutes of the meeting” of “NITAS.”

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To avoid a complete fallout of “NITAS” members, Angel Bognot, together with some members, had set up a safety net. They registered the National Association of Independent Travel Agencies (NAITAS) and has offered “NITAS” members an alternative organization during the last “general membership meeting” of “NITAS” at the Grand Boulevard Hotel. Will “NITAS” members migrate to NAITAS and be able to move on with professional advancement?

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Not far away at the Holiday Inn Manila last week, the Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) suffered another no-quorum flu, and thus stayed with the incumbent officials led by Annette Feliciano as president in “holdover” capacity. This is the second year in a row that PTAA could not muster a quorum to elect a new set of officers. Is the no-quorum the handwriting on the wall of members who wanted to convey the subtle message that they didn’t want this year’s crop of candidates?

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BY THE WAY, of the three organizations of travel agents and tour operators, only the Philippine Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA) was able to elect a new president, Ms. Kelly Boncan of Travel Edge in Alabang and Makati. The new president got elected after PHILTOA members failed to muster a quorum last year. (Comments to consult@skyinet.net)