ATAS penetration “gold”: Westbury

ATAS ‘brand’ rises among Australian consumers.

According to the latest Choice survey, ATAS has a whopping 19% recognition across Australian consumer mindset, or 1 in 5 Aussie consumers, a “pretty remarkable” result in just 12 month since inception, AFTA CEO Jayson Westbury said.

“The result was higher than expected,” Westbury told Travel Weekly after his address to Magellan Travel Group this morning, adding “in a world of brand, that’s gold”.

While the closure of the TCF and launch of ATAS has had its fair share of hurdles in the past, Westbury also addressed criticism from industry partners as to the ongoing operations of the group’s two brands, AFTA and ATAS, saying the differences were “distinct” and would only be leveraging ATAS in the consumer space.

“ATAS helps consumers identify reputable and professional travel businesses … it is important we sit underneath your brand and support any undertaking you’re doing,” Westbury told Magellan members.

Westbury confirmed the organisation has to date spent $700,000 on promotion of ATAS to consumers, with social media being used as its strongest outlet. Traditional ads were also placed in Virgin and Qantas in-flight magazines.

“The communication process has been extensive and getting the brand out there through social media, [I’ve been] taken aback as to how powerful the marketing through social can be,” Westbury said.

Initial results reveal ATAS received 1.46 million brand impressions online in 22 weeks, targeted advertisements to drive 54% direct to the website, a 90% increase in LinkedIn connections and 179 new Twitter followers.

Westbury also touched on results from a recent industry-wide survey following the wind-up of the TCF, which showed 87% of respondents saying the reputation of their business has not been affected in the past 12 months, but 39% felt their business financial standing has declined since July 2014 as a result.

The survey received a 30% uptake from AFTA members, with Westbury confirming overall results showed the “lion share” viewed the TCF closure had no impact on their business.

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

Latest comments

John Grier says:
September 18, 2015 at 4:09 pm
very dodgy figures. Our experience is none of the public have a clue or care.
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Jesse says:
September 18, 2015 at 12:38 pm
My question is, what exactly are consumers thinking when they recognise the brand? Do they know EVERYTHING? My guess is, probably not. The consumers are being falsely lulled into believing that ATAS accreditation somehow means their money is better protected than it would be with a non-ATAS agent. This is ridiculous and false. There is no proof that a non-ATAS accredited agent is any less professional or reputable than one who pays the voluntary scheme for a logo on their webpage. There is absolutely no financial protection for consumers booking with an ATAS agent, the accreditation just ensures the agent meets certain criteria set for membership eligibility and that the fees are paid when due.
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