ACTA Verifying Trade Designations
Since acquiring the CITC a year ago, the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA) has made positive steps to increase the value and integrity of the Certified Travel Counsellor (CTC) and Certified Travel Manager (CTM) professional designations.
ACTA has now added the process of “running background checks” on travel professionals who are brought to its attention as misusing the professional designations. According to officials, any travel professional using CTC or CTM on their business card, e-mail signature, or social media profiles will be subject to these checks. ACTA has so far issued more than five “cease and desist orders” and expect this to increase in the coming weeks. ACTA has discovered that in some cases the offender never earned the designation, while in other instances the certification had lapsed.
ACTA president David McCaig commented, “promoting professionalism and the value of the professional certification to the consumer is a key part of our strategic mandate. If we are going to be successful at it then we must dedicate part of our strategy to ensuring that those displaying the professional designation meet the standards and qualifications which the trademark stands behind.”
Christine Chilton CTM, director of education added, “We need to closely monitor this situation as our CTC and CTM designation holders have worked hard to earn and maintain their designation. Moreover, these designations are trademarked, so those misusing them will be issued with a cease and desist letter.”
Members are invited to report any such cases to ACTA’s education department at [email protected] .
