Going by the words of the NANTA President, Bernand Bankole, the ID Scheme will become a reality when it is launched next month as approved by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority and endorsed by the airline operators.
According to Bankole “This would not only change the perception of the general public, but give a sense of belonging to the practitioners within the Industry and be seen as true professionals that we are, which will automatically eliminate fraudsters.”
Prior to the administration of the Bankole led NANTA and even up till now the travel agents which has over 6,000 registered members have been battling with image problems brought upon it by the criminal activities of some black legs who hide under the guise of travel agencies to defraud innocent Nigerian travelers through tickets purchase.
While many innocent travelers have fallen prey to the illegal activities of the fake travel agents, the rise in the numbers of the unregistered fake agents at a point almost brought NANTA in general to disrepute with many travelers avoiding any transaction with them.
Beside this, at a point the association was looked down upon by the public due to lack of cooperation and the too many factions of travel agents operating illegally.
The good thing is that the association is fast taking shape particularly with the coming of the present leadership as evidenced in the determination of the Bankole led government to give it a new lease of life worthy of respect and confidence.
One of such steps being taken to bridge the gap between the genuine members of the association and the traveling public is the latest move to give the members the required true identity that will make transactions between them and the traveling public more trust worthy and seamless.
Therefore, as the aviation community awaits the launching of the identity card project next month, indications have emerged that the launching will not only bring an end to years of impunity, lawlessness and criminality being perpetrated by the undesirable elements within the folk, but will be the beginning of a new era when the genuine members of the association will be better coordinated for better transactions.
There is no doubt that with introduction of the Bankole identification policy, the gap that hitherto existed between NANTA and the aviation authorities in the area of proper coordination will be bridged while it will be easy for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in particular to have the proper data of the genuine travel agents and advise traveling public on who to genuinely patronize.
With the identification project, certainly, the end has come for the fraudulent travel agents who had before now had defrauded many unsuspecting travelers.
The project will definitely stabilize and bring back the lost confidence of the public in NANTA as intending travelers will now have the confidence to transact business with the members without the fear of falling prey to fraudulent travel agents.
As soon as the project is finally launched next month, the heat should now be turned on the bad eggs should be found and dealt with under the law.
Obviously, the present leadership of NANTA has proved that it is in tune with what is obtained amongst travel agents around the world and therefore, saw the need to replicate the ideologies in Nigeria for the purpose of making the profession an enviable one in the country.
While the Crucial Moment is congratulating the present leadership of NANTA in advance, it is sure that there are better days ahead not only for travel agencies and the average traveller but to the country’s aviation sector as the good wind blowing will bring better business and better money to all key players including the government.
The NANTA leadership should, however, bring its experience to bear on the need for a good synergy between the tourism sector and the aviation sector.
The need for the two sectors to come together is pertinent to the critical development of tourism development in the country. In other words, each of the two sectors cannot operate without each other.
The role of NANTA is, therefore, very critical in ensuring this is achieved. Presently, all hands are on the deck with the hope very to see the identification project become a reality for a better transformed NANTA.
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