ITSA 2006 Agenda

Online travel is an e-commerce success story. Through innovative technology and superior customer service, online travel companies have offered consumers access to unprecedented travel and tourism options and furnished suppliers with opportunities to distribute their products widely, creatively and at low cost.  Travel is a virtual product ideally suited to the Internet.  ITSA members have launched promising online travel businesses, and ITSA is committed to fostering their future success.

Computer reservation systems automate online and offline travel merchants and are critical participants in the travel distribution chain.  Achieving deregulation of the US CRS industry was a major victory for ITSA; today, new opportunities in the deregulated marketplace lie ahead.   On behalf of its members, ITSA seeks to remove all remaining government barriers to the CRS industry's health and success. ITSA also will promote government policies that encourage travel and tourism.     

A key component to the continued viability of online travel and the CRS industry is fair access to information from travel suppliers.  In the deregulated marketplace, the federal government must enforce the competition and consumer protection laws that ensure such fair access.

ITSA's issues will include ensuring that deregulation proceeds on schedule, opposing burdensome federal and state taxation of travel and tourism services, addressing pressing international issues, and facilitating greater communication between the Department of Homeland Security and our industry. Please click on our Issues page for a fuller description of these and other issues ITSA is pursuing in 2006.

ITSA seeks to foster fair competition, innovation and consumer choice. ITSA gives a strong collective voice to those entities seeking to provide consumers with independent and comprehensive sources of travel information. In 2006, ITSA will focus on communicating our industry's positions to Washington policymakers, regulatory agencies and the national media. 

The following are ITSA's main activities:

Educating Policymakers

Since its inception in 1998, ITSA has worked to educate policymakers about the growing and rapidly developing world of the online travel industry. Through regular meetings and exchanges, ITSA has built strong relationships with key Members of Congress and Administration officials, particularly at the White House, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration, and the Federal Trade Commission.  ITSA works with policymakers to promote policies that benefit our industry and to ensure that threats to our industry are appropriately addressed.

Monitoring and Influencing Key Policy Issues

As Congress and the Administration develop new policy initiatives, ITSA is there to monitor and influence policies that affect the interactive travel services industry. From gathering information on upcoming legislative and regulatory activities, to monitoring congressional hearings, to providing comments and testimony, ITSA is the interactive travel services industry's eyes, ears and voice in Washington.

Reporting New Developments

ITSA keeps its members apprised of emerging legislative and regulatory activity and other developments that affect our industry. Through issue alerts, weekly briefing calls and periodic conferences, ITSA provides the most up-to-date communications on strategy, events and trends in Washington.

Third Party Outreach

While maintaining and building relationships with Washington insiders, ITSA will continue to be a source of information for national and trade media, think tanks, consumer groups, industry and financial analysts and other opinion leaders on issues related to the online travel industry. Through regular issue alerts, press releases, desk-side briefings and interviews with the key third party opinion shapers, ITSA promotes the industry's agenda.