Eighteen months after CCRA Travel Solutions acquired the Outside Sales Support Network (OSSN), it announced last week that it was fully integrating the group into CCRA and placing it under new leadership.
"I've been with CCRA now 10 years, and CCRA has tripled in size during this 10-year period, but this is the single most important and exciting event for CCRA that I have ever undertaken," said Dic Marxen, president and CEO.
Marxen said that Margie Jordan had been named to head OSSN.
Since acquiring OSSN in March 2014, CCRA had operated it as a wholly owned subsidiary. Going forward, OSSN chapters and regions will be referred to as CCRA chapters and regions.
Since the acquisition, there has been an increase in the number of travel agent members, with 488 added this year, according to CCRA, to bring its total active membership to 5,130.
Marxen said a new membership structure, to be rolled out at the end of the month, would reflect a modest decrease in pricing and be "extremely simplified."
OSSN's Travel Retailer Universal Enumeration (TRUE) code, the agent ID booking system, will remain a flagship product for CCRA, Marxen said. There are currently 3,474 members with an active TRUE code, according to CCRA, with 195 added this year.
An all-encompassing website, CCRA.com, has been launched.
OSSN was founded by Gary Fee in 1990. After it was acquired by CCRA last year, he and his wife, Melody, continued in their positions as OSSN president and vice president, respectively. That arrangement was initially scheduled to last until March, but the Fees agreed to end it on Sept. 28.
The Fees' responsibilities will be essentially taken over by Jordan, but her job will also include responsibilities related to CCRA's hotel booking portal, Marxen said.
"We wish them a lot of success," Gary Fee said. "Obviously, we want them to carry on that legacy."
Since leaving OSSN, the Fees have launched Travel Industry Educational Services, operating FamTrips.travel, created to serve as an organizer and host of agent familiarization trips around the world. Gary Fee said the trips will often include educational components.
The Fees have years of experience organizing fams, including with OSSN, and they have received favorable feedback about their new initiative, he said.
FamTrips.travel will also have a "giving back campaign," supporting charitable initiatives founded by travel agents and industry leaders. The first will be Acts 4 Rwanda, created to support education for Rwandan children. It was founded by Globestar Travel international travel consultant Lynda Weir.
Meanwhile, at CCRA, Midwest regional director David Appleby said the transition seemed to be going smoothly. Any impact would be felt at his level or higher, he said, adding that members had not been negatively affected.
"I haven't noticed any real major reaction from any of my chapter directors or my members," Appleby said. "Naturally, we've discussed it. … I haven't heard anything negative at all."
The only reaction Appleby has seen from members is excitement about something new, even though he admitted the OSSN name does hold emotional significance to him and some other members.
"There's always the emotional attachment to a name that's been around 25 years kind of going away," he said. "But the content's not going away."
Appleby said he sees the changes as being exciting.
"Whatever OSSN was five years ago, fundamentally it's the same," he said. "It's got the same core principles. I'm excited about where it's going."
Denise Hangsleben, chapter director for southern Illinois, said her "small but very active" chapter had not been noticeably affected.
"As long as we can continue to meet and CCRA continues to work to add members and bring in more suppliers, we are thrilled," she said.