According to Richard Aquino, Head of Sales for Allianz Partners U.S., being a leader in travel insurance comes with added responsibilities. “You can’t be a market leader and just sit on the sidelines,” he remarked.
In addition to supporting partners, Allianz Partners has connected with several professional organizations over the years to help strengthen the travel industry and its positive impact across the globe—investing heavily in training travel advisors and advocating for travel professional-friendly legislation that helps ensure your continued success.
Here are five organizations Allianz Partners proudly partners with in their ongoing efforts to support travel and tourism—plus ways you can get involved.
- American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA)
ASTA, the world’s largest association of travel professionals, is a leading global advocate for travel advisors, the travel industry, and the traveling public. Its travel advisor members demonstrate a commitment to continually advancing their education and leading advocacy efforts for issues affecting the travel industry.
It’s estimated that between 2012 and today, ASTA’s advocacy efforts have led to legislative and regulatory wins that have saved the travel industry $630 million in new taxes, fees, and other costs. ASTA’s efforts have recently been focused on securing small business financial relief related to COVID-19—including access to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and “second draw” PPP loans for hard-hit businesses, Economic Injury Disaster Loans, expansion of unemployment benefits to include independent contractors and self-employed workers, expanding the CARES Act’s Employee Retention Tax Credit, and continuing expanded unemployment benefits for independent contractors and furloughed agency employees.
Last year, ASTA selected Allianz Partners as its Partner of the Year for demonstrating willingness and desire to partner with agencies and reward their travel advisor salesforce accordingly. Aquino continues to sit on ASTA’s Corporate Advisory Council.
Join ASTA to access member-exclusive training, events, and other professional resources and learn more about ASTA’s political action committee agenda.
- Tourism Cares
Tourism cares works to unite the travel and tourism industry to support the people and places on which it depends by hosting in-person and virtual summits that educate professionals on issues like destination stewardship, helping initiate and enhance organizational strategies, and coordinating hands-on service projects in destinations around the world.
“The work days are one of the most meaningful experiences I’ve had working in the industry,” said Tom Trotta, Vice President of Business Development for Allianz Partners U.S., who has recently joined the Development Committee.
“The local workers we help are so appreciative of all the work we accomplish in just one day, and they can’t believe that people come from many states to help their area. Performing manual labor side-by-side with partners, prospects, and even competitors, builds comradery and long-term relationships across the industry,” he added.
Join Tourism Cares as a Professional Member, subscribe to announcements, sign up for a webinar, and join industry events.
- United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
UNWTO is a United Nations agency that promotes responsible, sustainable, and universally accessible tourism. One of its five main areas of focus is currently leading innovation and digital transformation of the travel sector. To that end, UNWTO has launched the first global, digital dashboard for tourism insights—including global, regional, and national data on arrivals, tourism’s share of exports and GDP contribution, source markets, seasonality, and accommodations (number of rooms, guests, and nights). It also launched a policy tracker on measures to support travel and tourism—and, most recently, a tourism recovery tracker.
UNWTO also promotes tourism investment and entrepreneurship, the creation of more and higher quality tourism jobs, safer and more seamless travel, industry resilience-building, the protection of cultural and natural heritage, and the social and economic support of communities through tourism.
This year, Allianz Partners became one of the first insurance companies to join the UNWTO affiliate member network. “UNWTO brings together leaders from various sectors to encourage knowledge sharing and strengthen the cooperation between public and private sectors for the promotion of Tourism,” said Ion Vilcu, Director of the UNWTO Affiliate Members Department. “We are delighted to welcome Allianz Partners to our working groups and know that they will continue to contribute to the travel industry through their focus on the protection of tourists and responsible travel solutions.”
If you’re an expert with strong academic qualifications, international experience, or language skills, UNWTO is calling for professionals like you to help lead worldwide training initiatives.You can also subscribe to the UNWTO mailing list for updates, access their training resources and tourism insights dashboard online, help promote UNWTO’s sustainable development goals, and become an affiliate member.
- U.S. Travel Insurance Association (USTIA)
The USTiA represents the United States’ largest travel insurance organizations, with a mission to foster ethical and professional standards of industry conduct, cultivate state and federal government relations, inform and assist members, and educate consumers.
In addition to being an active member, Allianz Partners has partnered with USTiA to keep travel professionals up-to-date on various countries’ travel insurance requirements and other mandates for entry—providing updated information every two weeks that USTiA posts to their website.
If you haven’t signed up yet, be sure to register with USTiA and take the required training to be able to offer travel insurance to your clients legally and compliantly. You can download updates on destination entry requirements every two weeks here to share with your customers.
- Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA)
The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is the world’s largest cruise industry trade association. It promotes the common interests of the cruise community—including member education and the advancement of policies to enhance shipboard safety, security, and environmental stewardship. The CEO of every CLIA oceangoing cruise line member verifies their cruise line’s implementation of each specific CLIA policy every year.
From the onset of the pandemic, CLIA members have been working under the guidance of international and national health authorities to adopt robust safety policies and protocols. Members are currently advocating for a safe return to cruising, and for vaccinated passengers to be able to exercise the same degree of precaution as participants of other public activities like sporting events.
Allianz Partners is a CLIA executive partner.
Join CLIA as an individual agent, agency, or premier agency. You can also visit the CLIA Action Center to get involved in current CLIA advocacy efforts.