WASHINGTON -- ASTA's new chairman, David Hershberger, president of Prestige Travel/Travel Leaders in Cincinnati, is focused on increasing membership in the Society going forward.
"We want to increase ASTA membership," Hershberger said. "It's fairly hard to say what percentage of the travel industry is an ASTA member, but we know we're not at 100%. We may not even be at 50%."
Hershberger is replacing outgoing chair Jay Ellenby, president of Safe Harbors Business Travel in Bel Air, Md. He addressed agents on Thursday afternoon at the ASTA Global Convention at the Washington Hilton here.
While Hershberger said there is no exact estimation of how many agents are members of ASTA, he used 30% as a hypothetical number and said, "imagine our voice if we were at 80 or 90%."
The chair encouraged ASTA member agents to bring a new member into the ASTA fold going forward -- whether it's inviting them to the next convention, attending local chapter meetings or visiting other events like Legislative Day -- which will help bolster membership.
"We are not taking our foot off the gas," he said. "We're going to keep moving, and maybe even push down a little bit harder."