IN THIS EDITION

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR THE DENVER TRAVEL & ADVENTURE SHOW (AND OTHER THINGS)

The Annual Denver Trade & Adventure Show is coming soon! It is on March 8 and 9, 2025 at the Colorado Convention Center. ASTA will have a booth there and we would love your help staffing the booth! Help explain the value of ASTA to other Travel Advisors, and meet  travelers while explaining why ASTA members like you are the best advisors to work with. 

Shifts will be 2 hours long, and we'll have Exhibitor badges you can use to walk the show floor on breaks as well. If you're willing to help us out, please click the button below to complete our Volunteer form. 

By the way, we are always looking for volunteers to help with other things in the chapter too! More info is found at the button below. 

WELCOME DARLENE ERICSON TO THE LEADERSHIP TEAM

I've been in the travel industry since July 2023 (and am loving it!).  Previous to that, I worked for IBM for 37 years as a project manager, so my attention to detail and love of travel is what drew me to become a travel advisor.  My husband and I are avid SCUBA divers and travel 2-3 times a year for diving, on top of cruises, land tours, etc. :-)  Fiji, Indonesia and Bonaire are our favorite diving destinations.  

HAVE ASTA QUESTIONS? FEEDBACK FOR OUR CHAPTER? JOIN ROCKY MOUNTAIN ASTA'S NEW MONTHLY OFFICE HOURS

Do you have questions about ASTA or the Rocky Mountain Chapter? Want to share your feedback? Just want to say hello? Our chapter president, Jeof, will start hosting monthly office hours on the first Friday of the month where you can ask anything that's on your mind! From questions about membership, to ASTAPAC, to the new Verified Travel Advisor certification - simply join the Google Meet! Our first session is this Friday, February 7th!

FEBRUARY SUPPLIER MEETUP
POSEIDON EXPEDITIONS: A POLAR CRUISE OPERATOR

Whether you seek to explore the Arctic with destinations like Greenland, Svalbard, the British Isles, and Iceland or venture to the White Continent to see Antarctica, South Georgia, and the Falkland Islands, Poseidon Expeditions knows how to make this adventure the trip of a lifetime.

Join us for our Virtual Supplier Meetup on February 18th at 12pm to meet Poseidon Expeditions. They will be providing door prizes, plus other advantages to those present for this webinar. This event is free for ASTA members, and $12.50 for non-members. 

THE NEW VERIFIED TRAVEL ADVISOR CERTIFICATION UNLOCKS YOUR PROFILE ON VERIVACATION

How do you stand out as a trustworthy, ethical, professional travel advisor? How do consumers know you are someone they should work with and they can rely on? ASTA is working to solve this problem through the ASTA Verified Travel Advisor certification.

While the first version of VTA has been around for a while, the program has been redesigned to further emphasize experience. If you've been helping travelers for several years now, you should definitely get certified by ASTA as a VTA, because it shows you are one of the best of the best. 

Plus, with the launch of ASTA's new consumer-focused VeriVacation website, a search tool for travelers to find a trustworthy travel advisor, only VTAs are eligible to be included. With only 800 current VTAs and 2,500 by the end of the year, that puts you at the top of the list for new leads from eager travelers. 

To become an ASTA Verified Travel Advisor, you need to: 

• Complete four key courses on ethics, legal, and regulatory matters 
• Have spent 2 years as an advisor, selling $500,000 in travel during one of those years -OR- Have spent 5 years as an advisor, selling $250,000 of travel in each of those years. 
  • Sneak peak: Not quite there on the sales numbers yet? You'll soon be able to start the courses beforehand and then lock in the VTA once you hit the numbers!

If you are already a VTA, recertification happens every two years and you need to complete some Continuing Education units. Existing VTAs are grandparented into the program without having to show sales volume.

If you have any questions about the VTA program, join the Rocky Mountain ASTA Office Hours on Friday (see above)!

TOGETHER WE PROTECT EACH OTHER

One of the most important parts of ASTA's mission is being our voice in the halls of power. Compared to airlines, cruise lines, tourism boards, and even chambers of congress, we're not huge—but we are mighty. Remember we book 59% of cruises, 75% of tour packages, and 40% of all air travel in the US, and ASTA does a fantastic job of making sure the government remembers that and keeps our interests in mind. But as with all things in government, it takes money to get in the door, and that's where ASTAPAC comes in. 

ASTAPAC is our Political Action Committee and it's the funding arm we use to build relationships, get a seat at the table, and ensure that congressional and executive leadership hears our message. ASTAPAC is nonpartisan - it gives money to the people who stand up for our jobs, regardless of political party (in fact, the spending is roughly 50-50 between the two major parties). 

We need your help. Your membership dues fund the many programs of ASTA that help us be better at what we do, but legally can't be used toward ASTAPAC. So whenever you get your commission checks, save a little bit out for a donation to ASTAPAC using a personal—not corporate—credit card. That small donation from one commission will help protect all your future commissions. 

MAY 1ST GOAL: $2,500

CURRENT AMOUNT: $902.56

Last year, our chapter raised more than $7,000 toward ASTAPAC and the ASTA Advocacy Fund. These funds are essential to ASTA's mission of protecting our jobs and and building relationships in Washington, DC, that benefit all of us. This is not a political thing, it's an advocacy thing. 

Please donate to ASTAPAC today—the career you save may be your own!