Members of the Australian Travel Industry Association (ATIA) have unanimously voted in favour of a 1 July 2026 merger with the Council of Australian Tour Operators (CATO), in a move that will introduce a single peak body for travel advisors, tour operators and wholesalers.
Less than 24 hours after CATO members overwhelmingly passed the motion to merge in an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), ATIA members approved a merger of the organisations next month, which will see the association create a new constitution establishing a CATO division within ATIA – to be governed by its own set of by-laws – as well as give the CATO chair a dedicated seat on the ATIA board.
At an ATIA EGM on Thursday morning, chair Christian Hunter said the new constitution would “represent a significant step change in how the industry association will operate [and] how it will service and represent the land supply sector, which is an important part of the Australian travel industry”.
“The merger aims to create a single association with a stronger capacity to better represent members’ interests and to continue programs that support and advance the Australian travel industry,” he remarked.
With the merger, ATIA is expected to gain 90 additional members on the CATO Touring Academy education platform and two new staff members.
How will accreditation work?
Until 1 July 2027, both ATIA’s and CATO’s accreditation schemes will continue to operate. From then on, only ATIA’s program will exist, which means CATO members will need to be ATIA-accredited. However, council members will still be able to use the CATO brand if they are a land supply member, and state they’re both CATO and ATIA-accredited.
“The other important item is that we’ll be reviewing the two accreditation programs… and taking the best parts of those and combining them together,” ATIA CEO Dean Long said.
“That is the best outcome… particularly in light of the AVG Travels collapse and public comments that are causing significant levels of stress and tension for those impacted customers.
“We will absolutely need to bring that together and do that in a solid way that ensures that government and the community still has faith and trust in the accreditation program.”
Farewell AFTA
During the EGM, ATIA members also unanimously approved to formally retire the Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) name, officially replacing it with the Australian Travel Industry Association, under which the body has been trading since August 2023.
According to Hunter, member feedback since that change had been “strongly positive”, and the formal retirement of the AFTA name would have no financial impact on the association.
“It really is a bit of an end of an era, with the AFTA name now being formally retired,” the chair remarked.
“Even though we’ve been trading as ATIA… this formalises the structure and really does better represent where the industry association sits today – and where it will move into the future.”
KARRYON UNPACKS: For years, travel’s representative voice has been fragmented. This merger won’t solve every challenge overnight, but a more unified industry should carry greater weight with government, consumers and suppliers.
