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So often we hear one of our colleagues tell a story about our
industry and through the laughter we all agree that we should write
a book. After 49 ASATA Conferences we think that might just be
a great idea and it was with that in mind that we came up with this
year’s theme:
“Redesigning the Story of Travel”
It is with great pleasure that we invite you to join us for the
50th ASATA Conference to be held in Cape Town from the 19th to the
22nd of March 2010.
The Crystal Towers Hotel and Spa will be accommodating us for the
duration with the option of staying at one of the other Protea Hotel
properties in the area; namely the Colosseum and Island Club. The
Crystal Towers is a new hotel for the Protea Group and one they are
very proud to showcase to our ASATA Members.
For the most part the conferencing will take place at the Crystal Towers Hotel but a programme with further
information about the exciting line up of speakers and events will
be released to you within the next couple of days.
We have been telling the story about this conference for nearly a
year and one of the most encouraging aspects is that the ASATA
Member Groups have agreed to utilise this event as their main
conference for 2010. This makes more sense in these ‘times’ and
hopefully our sponsorship will encourage your good attendance and
vice versa. The registration documents are available online and we
urge you to register as soon as
possible as limited space is available. Framework:
When we talk about Redesigning the Story of Travel it is not an
indication that the South African travel industry should start from
scratch, quite the contrary. By sheer coincidence we discover that
the theme for Davos 2010 is "Improve the State of the World:
Rethink, Redesign, Rebuild" an indication that what is needed is
for us to listen to the stories of others and articulate our
strengths.
An industry as robust as ours
deserves to be heard and this is why at this the 50th ASATA
conference we believe that there are many stories to tell.
Justice Malala is one of South Africa’s most respected political
analysts and newspaper columnists. An award-winning former newspaper
editor, Malala currently heads up Avusa’s (formerly Johncom’s)
stable of 56 magazines. Malala writes regular weekly columns for the
Financial Mail magazine. He also presents a weekly political talk
show (The Justice Factor on the independent eNews Channel, Sundays
at 9.30am and 12.30pm). He is the resident political analyst for eTv
and eNews Channel.
Justin Cohen is the author of two books and seven audiobooks.
He speaks and trains internationally in the fields of motivation,
sales, service, leadership and change. With an honours degree in
Psychology, Justin has an infectious charisma and as our Keynote
Speaker he will tell us a story….
In a country with a population of 47 million people it is a stark
reality that less than 3 million people represent our target market,
so where will our future growth come from. Chris Gibbons,
currently the anchor of The Midday Report, a hard-hitting news,
current affairs and business show, simulcast on Gauteng 's Radio 702
and the Western Cape 's Cape Talk will host a panel discussion with
South African’s that may just have the answer and a story you need
to listen to.
Day two will decide whether this industry is for you. Before you
answer that question, ASATA does have a solution so we look forward
to some hard hitting stories about technology and the ASATA Member’s
role. Of course if this morning isn’t sobering enough then join us
for the AGM in the afternoon.
We have wonderful events planned for the evenings and have left
enough time for networking, which has been the essence of the last
50 ASATA Conferences. You may have seen the announcement of the
ASATA Awards which will take place on the evening of the 21st of
March, 2010. Nominations have streamed in and we know how prestigious
this event always is, but wait … we have three tons of fun waiting to
entertain us.
Looking forward to Redesigning the Story of Travel with you!
Robyn |
