By Bev Fearis, published 27/05/20

Traveller education and engagement has been added as an area of focus for a new task force set up to develop global industry standards for the safe return of travel.

Corporate travel buyers and suppliers have joined together to create The Travel and Meetings Standards task force – otherwise known as TAMS – to create a list of safety standards to ensure buyers are confident about travellers getting back on the road in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Led by Susan Lichtenstein, Managing Partner for Florida-based DigiTravel Consulting, the initiative is backed by ACTE and initially covered six areas – air, hotels and apartments, ground transport, rail, TMCs and distribution, and meetings and events.

After initial discussions, TAMS has now added a committee dedicated to traveller education and engagement.

“We’ve heard ‘we are all in this together’, well the TAMS task force is a fantastic example of that,” said Lichtenstein. “Every aspect of the industry is covered in one of the teams. We have some amazing leaders and thinkers out there that have stepped up to fill a void and provide direction for the industry.”

ACTE Executive Director Leigh Bochicchio added: “ACTE is proud to support the TAMS task force by facilitating the dialogue between these industry leaders enabling the creation of new industry standards in these unprecedented times.”

An online community has been set up on ACTEConnect to house all materials related to the seven committees, including articles, videos and forums.

Bochicchio said any buyers or suppliers who wish to get involved in the weekly discussions should register their interest on ACTEConnect.

The goal is to publish recommended standards for each area of focus to be shared widely in the global industry.

“We envision the teams will need four to six weeks to get to their final standards, however we will be flexible to ensure we get to the right outcome,” said Bochicchio.