The American Society of Travel Agents is forming a committee to monitor current and upcoming tech trends and how they will impact the role of travel agents.
The travel tech task force was announced during the recent Premium Business Summit in New York by ASTA chair, Jay Ellenby.
It is important agents keep up to speed with rapid changes and emerging trends, Ellenby said.
"We need to be in a better position to understand these technologies," he said.
Ellenby cited the influence Google has in travel booking behavior and moves Amazon has been making in the travel space.
To address this a task force will be established to evaluate the impact.
The first member was named as Marc Casto, president and CEO of Casto Travel, who will be co-chair.
The task force will consult regularly with the industry and then report findings to ASTA’s board.
ASTA CEO Zane Kerby also addressed the burgeoning capabilities of artificial intelligence.
Rather than as a straight replacement for the human touch, Kerby wants to investigate ways the agency community can make use of AI innovations.
