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Fraud detection: Travel agents launch new identification card
National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) in collaboration with the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority( NCAA) has launched the Nigerian Travel Practitioners Identification Card (NTPIC).
National President of NANTA, Bernard Bankole and the launch of the identification card in Lagos said the idea of the identification card was birthed from the need to sanitize and decontaminate the downstream sector of the aviation sector.
Bankole recalled that the travel practitioners, who are the so called travel agents have been in existence for several years, adding that the idea of the travel agent started with Thomas Cook in 1841.
He noted that the travel agency had since then evolved Cook’s first train business into a major business distributing the airlines’ inventory so that the airline can focus on their core competency which is moving people from point A to B.
The travel business in Nigeria, according to him has become one for all and sundry with absolute disregard for professionalism.
His words, “The global nature of the business has been adulterated by fraudulent people who have little or no regard for the business and has thus become worrisome with the level of default to the airlines as well as passengers losing their hard earned money to duplicitious travel agents.”
“This appalling act has continued for several years, undermined the professionalism of serious minded consultants within the industry and threatened the existence of a business whose primary focus is to distribute inventories on behalf of the principals which are the airlines.”
He disclosed that in knowing the anomalies in the industry, the executive council of NANTA, the umbrella body responsible for all travel agencies in Nigeria decided to think of a lasting solution to the industry that contributes billions of Naira to Nigeria’s economy, stressing that for instance, in 2017, a total of N504 billion was contributed to the economy.
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