Alliance of independent travel companies
The alliance of independent travel companies - Bundesverband e. V. (asr) is a German industry association of travel agencies and tour operators from medium-sized businesses. The office is located in Berlin .
history
The association was founded in 1976 under the name "Working Group of Independent Travel Agencies" and has retained its first abbreviation to this day. In 1983 the name was supplemented by "professional association for medium-sized travel companies". Since 1986 the name “asr Bundesverband Mittelständischer Reiseunternehmen e. V. “, this was renamed in November 2007 in Allianz independent travel company. Members of the travel association: travel agencies, tour operators and tourist service providers, such as rental car providers, insurance companies, visa service providers and software companies.
tasks and goals
Goal setting
The association exclusively represents the interests of entrepreneurial medium- sized businesses in the tourism industry . The aim is to maintain a diversity in the market on the travel agent side as well as in the travel business sector.
On the one hand, the association should serve as a service station for its members. That is why the association offers legal advice in problem cases, help and advice on business issues or decisions, special conditions, imparting know-how in changing competitive and working conditions, and advanced training.
On the other hand, the association carries out lobbying work within the industry and at all political levels and attaches importance to constructive cooperation with all associations and organizations active in tourism, but without subordinating the fight for the interests of the members.
The association also sees soft tourism as its task and for this reason implemented active support for members in integrating environmentally friendly and socially responsible tourism into its statutes in 2007.
One of the goals of the association is to raise public awareness, especially through the general media, of the need to maintain medium-sized structures in the tourism industry.
Political advocacy
- Representation of interests in disputes of importance to the industry
- Representation of interests in the event of violations in the tourism industry
- Maintaining and creating optimal framework conditions for medium-sized companies
- Promotion of commercial, economic and legal concerns of the members
- Representation towards domestic and foreign associations
- Mediation in disputes
- Promotion of technical knowledge in the tourism industry
- Informing members about developments in the travel industry
- Communication of the importance of the middle class in the tourism industry
- Sensitization of politics and the public to issues of the middle class
- Promotion of environmentally friendly and socially responsible tourism
Bureau
The presidium consists of three people:
- President Jochen Szech (GO EAST Reisen GmbH, Hamburg)
- Vice President Martin Pundt (INVATARRU GmbH, Munich)
- Treasurer Anke Budde (Budde vacation trips, Bretzenheim)
Board
The board consists of the committee chairmen:
- Tour operator committee: Xuan Tinh Herfort (Indochina Travels EUVIBUS GmbH, Frankfurt / Main)
- Travel agent committee: Winfried Schulze (Best Time Touristik, Lehrte)
- Education Committee: Roswitha Schlesinger (ITD Travelmanagement, Borkheide)
- Legal & Corporate Security Committee: Nils Schmidt (MDT underwriting GmbH, Dreieich)
- Flight & Transportation Committee: Jochen Szech (GO EAST Reisen GmbH, Hamburg)
- International Relations Committee: Detlef Meyer (Heritage Consult International, Lutherstadt Wittenberg)
- Marketing Committee: Anke Budde (Budde Urlaubreisen, Bretzenheim)
Partnerships
Mutual memberships
- AAC - Active Counter Working Group
- ARGE Latin America - Working Group Latin America e. V.
- AGK Caribbean working group
- Bffk - Federal Association for Free Chambers
- CATA - Central Asian Tourism Association (in formation)
- DPG - German - Portuguese Society eV
- DIU - Federation of German Incoming Companies V.
- Gbk - Quality Association for Bus Comfort e. V.
- Reisenetz eV - German Association for Youth Travel
- ÖVT - Austrian Association for Tourism
- PATA Germany e. V.
- Tourism NRW e. V.
- UHPA - Association of Croatian Travel Agencies
- VFF - Association of Ferry Shipping and Ferry Tourism
- WATA - World Association of Travel Agencies
International cooperation
- Ashgabadsiyakhat - State tourist company (Turkmenistan)
- ETAA - Egyptian Travel Agents Association (Egypt)
- Hubei Tourism Association (PR China)
- IATO - Indian Association of Tour Operators (India)
- Zhejiang Province (China)
- RUTI - Russian Union of Travel Industry - Baltic Department (Russia)
- RUTI - Russian Union of Travel Industry - North-West Division (Russia)
- UNPAH - Union of Croatian Independent Travel Agents (Croatia)
- YUTA - National association of travel agencies of Serbia (Serbia)
- ZATO - Zansibar Association of Tour Operators (Zanzibar)