The Enterprising Travel Agent’s Association (ETAA) has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to promote the Travel Industry Designator Service (TIDS) Seller Identification Program to its 800++ members on a pan India basis.
The program allows for the bookings of travel sellers and intermediaries to be recognized by industry suppliers from airlines, hotel & resort chains, cruise lines, car rental companies, theme parks, and rail companies.
“The IATA TIDS program provides standard identification for non-accredited agents and sales intermediaries. Our partnership with ETAA, a leading travel agency association in India, to promote the IATA TIDS program aligns with our digital identification strategy. Having made the TIDS service available at no cost to travel sellers, this initiative demonstrates IATA’s ongoing support of Travel Agents in India and around the world,’’ said Harsha Krishnan, IATA’s Head of Identity Services.
According to a release issued by ETAA, it is a significant achievement for the travel and tourism Industry. A letter of recommendation from ETAA can be used in place of a letter from “Airlines, GDS or other major industry suppliers”.
“It is a good move by IATA to include ETAA members in this program to enable them be part of the selling process by Digital Identification. I urge all ETAA members to avail of this facility which will enable them to be Identified through the TIDS certification program,” Carl Dantas, Chairman Emeritus, ETAA, said.
As the digital transformation of the industry ramps up, industry-wide standard identification of sales intermediaries has become critical. To facilitate this, TIDS is now free of charge. As part of this digital transformation, IATA has launched a new self-managed information platform to allow you to easily maintain your agency profile and details online.
The Association organized a webinar with Luc Debono, Sr. Manager of Product Development, Identity Services from IATA to assist its members with the procedures for TIDS.
