AITO – The Specialist Travel Association has set up a membership scheme for newly launched tour operators, called AITO Aspire.
AITO Executive Director Martyn Sumners said: “We are regularly contacted by recently launched companies seeking to find their way amidst the complex plethora of rules and regulations with which travel companies are expected to comply.
“We believe that, by nurturing the travel industry’s new generation of specialist travel experts, and ensuring that they understand – and meet – their legal obligations to the holiday-buying public, AITO’s support will ensure that such new businesses understand, and comply with, the often-complex UK travel industry rules and regulations; this will be to the benefit of one and all – but especially, of course, to the consumer.
“We are therefore delighted to launch this innovative and hugely useful membership platform. We believe that AITO Aspire will prove to be a safe harbour in which start-ups can flourish and prosper. SMEs have long been the seedbed of new ideas in tour operating, and AITO is the natural home for vibrant start-ups. We look forward to welcoming many new companies to AITO Aspire and to helping them to achieve their long-term goals under the supportive AITO framework of wide industry knowledge and know-how, plus genuine friendship and a caring and, above all, a practical, can-do approach.”
Tour operators most likely to be interested in the scheme will have a turnover of less than £750,000 and will be able to take advantage of a wide range of benefits geared to help SMEs, including AITO networking events, training courses and access to shared business resources and advice.
The aim is for AITO Aspire companies to become fully-fledged AITO members in their second year.
