WTAAA appoints new Executive Director

Saturday, February 3, 2024

Otto de Vries has been named the new executive director of the World Travel Agents Associations Alliance (WTAAA), a position he will fulfill from his base in Cape Town, South Africa. Additionally, de Vries holds the position of CEO at the Association of Southern African Travel Agents (ASATA), which is a foundational member of the WTAAA. In his role at the WTAAA, he is tasked with guiding the organisation’s strategic direction as it seeks to balance consumer rights with the interests of travel agencies on a global scale.

De Vries expressed the organisation’s commitment to promoting transparency for consumers, ensuring they have access to various choices and options across different travel distribution channels. He emphasized the importance of fostering collaboration between travel agencies and their partners within the travel ecosystem. This initiative aims to enhance mutual understanding and cooperation through open dialogue and engagements that benefit both parties.

A key initiative for the WTAAA under de Vries’s leadership will be to revitalize the “Passenger Agency Programme Task Force” in collaboration with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and its member airlines in 2024. The objective is to develop business solutions that benefit both the airline and travel agency communities by addressing risks through commercially driven principles. These solutions are intended to increase confidence and add value for customers. The WTAAA will also tackle challenges related to the IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC), striving to ensure its adoption benefits all stakeholders without restricting access to information and pricing, which could adversely affect travelers.

Moreover, the WTAAA plans to work closely with other organizations, including the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the United Nations World Tourism Organization (now UN Tourism), to champion the travel industry’s interests in areas such as taxation, sustainability, market access, and more. The alliance is also dedicated to representing travel agencies in addressing “duty of care” needs crucial for travelers’ well-being.

Bringing over 35 years of experience in the travel industry, de Vries’s extensive background includes senior executive roles at ASATA, Comair, and Holiday Tours in South Africa.

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