GBTA LINKS WITH VIRGIN ATLANTIC IN F&T TRAINING SHAKE-UP

The Guild of Business Travel Agents has joined forces with Virgin Atlantic to offer a totally new IATA-approved fares and ticketing training scheme for the first time.

The two-level courses are being launched ahead of a major shake-up of fares and ticketing (F&T) syllabuses.  IATA has prepared a new blueprint syllabus, which comes into effect on September 1 st this year.

All suppliers of F&T training programmes must submit their courses for re-approval in line with the new requirements by that date.

An F&T qualification is not only a must for travel and tourism students, or agents looking to further their careers, it is also an essential requirement for the Guild's Certificate in Business Travel, at both Introductory and Consultant Levels, jointly awarded by the GBTA and City & Guilds.  Until now however the GBTA had to refer students to another third party travel training supplier such as British Airways backed-Chameleon or ABTA's Travel Training Company (TTC) to obtain the F&T element.

But Chameleon and TTC have both been sold off by BA and ABTA respectively, leaving no industry-backed training programme in the marketplace. This move combined with IATA's revamp of the syllabus prompted the GBTA to link with Virgin Atlantic and provide a new F&T qualification.

The new GBTA/Virgin Atlantic Fares & Ticketing Levels 1 and 2, to be known as VA1 and VA2 are among the first courses to meet the revised IATA specifications.

In addition, the GBTA has just received confirmation that colleges offering the VA1 and VA2 will be able to apply for government funding to run the courses. In other words the courses have now been placed on the National Qualifications Framework. The GBTA/Virgin Atlantic programme is one of only two F&T suppliers currently awarded this status.

“This is a ground-breaking move on the part of the GBTA and Virgin Atlantic,” said John Williams, GBTA general manager. “Historically the majority of fares and ticketing courses have always been offered by BA through their own training company, or TTC. But that is no longer the case and there is currently no other industry body filling the gap.

“As a leading organisation in the business travel training arena, we recognised a real and immediate need for a programme that meets the very latest IATA standards. A fares and ticketing qualification is a ‘must' for travel and tourism students and travel agents looking to further their careers. It made sense to launch our own fares and ticketing training and we are very pleased to be working with Virgin Atlantic, one of the Guild's industry partners, in nurturing the business travel professionals of tomorrow.”

Paul Wait, Virgin Atlantic's general manager of sales added: “This is another example of how closely the GBTA and Virgin Atlantic have worked in recent years. Virgin Atlantic seriously believes in the training, development and professionalism of those in the industry as well as those wishing to find a career in it. “

For full details of the new training courses, contact the GBTA on 020 7222 2744.

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For further press information: Vanessa Aves/Steve Dunne, Brighter PR, Tel: 020 7603 2168, email: Vanessa.aves@brighterpr.co.uk .

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