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AFRICA TRAVEL
ASSOCIATION
ANNUAL GENERAL
MEMBERSHIP MEETING Zambezi Sun
Livingstone, Zambia , May
15, 2003 ITEM #
1. WELCOME MESSAGE BY THE ATA
PRESIDENT - Hon. Zakia Hamdani Meghji (M.P.) ‚
Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, Republic
of Tanzania At 2:45 p.m., the
Honorable Zakia Hamdani Meghji, Minister of Natural
Resources and Tourism, Republic of Tanzania
welcomed the delegates to the ATA General
Membership Meeting of the 28th Annual International
Congress in Livingstone, Zambia
– Southern Africa. She
thanked the Hon. Patrick Kalifungwa, Minister of
Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources of the
Republic of Zambia, for actually staying with the
ATA delegates throughout the entire Congress.
She also thanked David J. Saunders for all of his
efforts in assisting everyone with the business of
the ATA organization during each ATA Congress that
she has presided at as ATA President.
Next she raised
the question as why the ATA delegates are not
attending the many educational and training
sessions offered by the Congress? She also
asked the leadership of the ATA organization what
could be done to encourage greater participation by
ATA members as well as further strengthen and
develop the ATA Chapters? Lastly, she asked
if the African tour operators are doing enough to
encourage tourists to visit the various
destinations that they experienced during each ATA
Congress? In closing, she
stated that she was asking these very important
questions in the hope of heightening the awareness
that the ATA organization must undergo a serious
review and assessment of what can be done to make
the ATA organization more meaningful to its members
as well as influential in the travel and tourism
industry community. ITEM #
2. APPROVAL OF THE MEETING AGENDA
- Hon. Zakia Hamdani Meghji –
Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism, Republic
of Tanzania and ATA President After asking if
there were any comments regarding the meeting
agenda and hearing none from the members assembled,
Minister Meghji asked for someone to make a
motion. Dr. Gaynelle Henderson-Bailey made
the motion to approve the meeting agenda and Helen
C. Broadus seconded the motion. Minister
Meghji then stated that the meeting agenda was
approved as submitted. Please refer to Attachment
Number One for more specific details. ITEM #
3. REVIEW OF MINUTES OF THE
PREVIOUS GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING HELD IN
CONAKRY, GUINEA - Helen C. Broadus
– ATA Executive
Secretary Next, copies of
the minutes of the previous ATA’s
General Membership Meeting held in Conakry, Guinea
on May 2, 2002 were provided to everyone in their
handout packages. Please refer to Attachment
Number Two for more specific details.
Minister Meghji requested everyone to review the
minutes and comment if there were any changes or
corrections. Hearing no changes requested,
Minister Meghji moved that the minutes be approved
as written and David J. Saunders seconded the
motion. The motion carried and the minutes
were approved as submitted. Note: There were
no “Matters Arising From The
Minutes” and the ATA President
made afollow-up motion that we proceed with the
agenda. Marlene Melton seconded the motion
and the motion carried to move to Item
#4. ITEM
#4. REVIEW OF 2002 FINANCIAL
REPORT AND ACCOMPANYING STATEMENTS
– Mira Berman, ATA Executive
Director provided this report in the absence of Dr.
Beryl Dorsett, Member of the ATA Finance Committee
representing Sharifa Burnett –
ATA Treasurer Mira proceeded to
distribute copies of the ATA’s
Financial Report and Accompanying Statements and
explained that the information was prepared up to
December 31, 2002. She stated that the
financial information showed a favorable status of
the ATA organization from the past few years.
This was primarily attributed to the ATA
organization conducting several successful and
highly attended Congresses and Symposiums over the
past few years. She added that a secondary
contributing factor was due to the increased
membership of African nations and retention of
major corporate sponsors. Please refer to
Attachment Number Three for additional
details. She then asked if there were any
questions or comments from the
membership. Question Number
1. The Hon. Patrick Kalifungwa, Minister of
Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources,
Republic of Zambia asked if the ATA organization
has these financial documents audited? Mira
replied yes, the ATA has these documents audited by
an accountant. Question Number
2. Minister Kalifungwa asked Mira to provide
an explanation for the cash flow on page five of
the financial report with regard to the stated
decreases in deferred income. Mira stated
that she would have the ATA Treasurer provide a
more detailed explanation of these matters in
future financial reports. Question Number
3. A member of the Atlanta ATA Chapter asked
Mira to explain why does the financial report have
to balance exactly? She suggested that the
financial report should denote either a deficit (in
the red) or a surplus (in the black). Mira
stated that the financial report showed a surplus
of $2,951.00 and reiterated that the ATA Treasurer
would provide more detailed explanations in future
financial reports, Question Number
4. Doris Wooten of the New York ATA Chapter
asked for an explanation of the Management Fees to
the Executive Director. Mira responded that
this figure actually represented (as of last year)
that all past due fees have been paid up except for
this year’s management
fees. She also stated that the total amount
was actually reduced in half. Raymond Matiba,
Chairman of the Kenya Tourist Board, followed up by
stating that this information should be more
clearly explained in the document and again Mira
concurred by stating that the ATA Treasurer would
be advised to follow these recommendations for all
future financial reports. Question Number
5. A member of the Cape Town ATA Chapter
stated that he was still not clear about the matter
of the Management Fees to the Bradford Group and
asked for more clarification. Mira stated
that these Management Fees represented the salaries
for the management staff in support of the
operation of the ATA organization. Violet
Tspane, Department of Environment and Tourism
suggested that a written statement explaining how
the Management Fees are to be deferred from year to
year and has this deferment been approved by the
ATA Board of Directors? She also suggested
that there should be a definite separation of the
Bradford Group and the ATA Secretariat because in
her opinion there was too much ambiguity and the potential
for a conflict of interest with regard to the
oversight of funds received by the ATA
organization. Question Number
6. Jake Henderson, Member of the Atlanta ATA
Chapter, asked why is the overall budget for the
ATA organization so small? The Minister of
Zambia concurred with this observation and
suggested that a sponsorship strategy needed to be
deployed by the ATA organization. Mira
totally agreed with his comment and introduced to
everyone Marlene Melton, President of the New York
ATA Chapter as the newly appointed Chairperson of
the ATA Sponsorship Committee. Minister Meghji
closed out the question and answer session by
stating that with regard to the Financial Report it
was evident that the ATA Executive Committee must
work more closely with the Finance Committee to
further improve upon the financial accountability
and management of the ATA organization. She then
asked for a motion to accept the Financial
Report. Connie Bunn, Member of the New York
ATA Chapter, made a motion that the
ATA’s 2002 Financial Report and
Accompanying Statements be approved as written and
several members seconded the motion. The
motion carried and the Financial Statements were
approved as written. ITEM
#5a. UPDATE REPORT OF REVISED ATA
CONSTITUTION – Doris Wooten,
representing Hagos Legesse – ATA
Constitution Advisory Committee
Chairperson Doris Wooten
informed everyone that Hagos Legesse had resigned
his position as the Chairman of the ATA
Constitution Advisory Committee and that the ATA
Board of Directors had subsequently appointed her
to become the chairperson. She explained that
the ATA Board of Directors had thoroughly discussed
the revisions to the ATA Constitution and had
consented to ratify the document by an overwhelming
majority of the members. Doris explained
further that the ATA Constitution was most recently
revised in 1988. This 2002 version includes
By-Laws in order to prevent the unnecessary changes
to the major components of the ATA
Constitution. Instead, it was explained that
there will only have to be regular reviews of the
By-Laws to address any future issues and
concerns. Only when the By-Laws cannot
resolve the specific areas of interest will it be
necessary to revise the ATA Constitution.
At this moment,
the Hon. Beth Mugo, Deputy Minister of Tourism for
the Republic of Kenya, stated that she really
needed additional time to thoroughly review the ATA
Constitution and provide a report back to her
government about the status of the revisions to
this particular document. Doris stated that
she would be quite available to discuss in detail
with Deputy Minister Mugo’s
issues and concerns or for that matter with any
other member of the ATA organization who has a need
for further clarification of the ATA Constitution
and By-Laws. She then proceeded
to inform everyone that the special section
concerning the Pre-Conference roles and
responsibilities of the African Nations had been
resolved to the satisfaction of everyone.
Moreover, the revised ATA Constitution and By-Laws
has established standing committees to serve as a
check and balance process with the management of
the ATA organization. The Standing Committees
are: (1) Program, Planning and Development
Committee; (2) Constitution Advisory Committee; (3)
Election Committee; (4) Press and Public Relations
Committee; (5) Membership Committee; (6) Committee
for the Annual Congress; (7) Finance Committee; (8)
Awards Committee; and (9) Education and Training
Committee. For a detailed description of the
roles and responsibilities of each ATA Standing
Committee she suggested that everyone refer to
their copy of the revised ATA Constitution and
By-Laws. ITEM
#5b. UPDATE REPORT OF REVISED ATA
CONSTITUTION – Doris Wooten
– ATA Constitution Advisory
Committee Chairperson Doris informed
everyone of the decision by the ATA Board of
Directors to postpone the election of officers and
board members until the Cameroon Congress would
take place in the spring of 2004. Her
rationale for this decision was based on the
critical need to maintain consistency within the
leadership of the ATA organization in order to
complete a smooth transition from the previous
Constitution to the revised Constitution and
By-Laws. At this time, she
requested a show of hands vote for the approval by
the ATA General Membership for the acceptance of
the revised ATA Constitution and decision to
postpone the election process for the ATA Board of
Directors until 2004. After recording the
votes, it was duly acknowledged by the ATA
President that the ATA General Membership had
accepted and approved the revised ATA Constitution
as well as the decision to postpone the election of
ATA Board of Directors until the spring of
2004. At the conclusion of this status
report, Mira once again thanked the Constitution
Advisory Committee for its outstanding efforts over
a two year period with the successful completion of
the revisions to the ATA Constitution and
By-Laws. ITEM
#6. UPDATE REPORT OF FES
DECLARATION FROM ATA ECO-TOURISM SYMPOSIUM
– Marlene Melton, President of
New York ATA Chapter representing Loris Crawford,
Co-Chairperson ATA Environment, Eco-Tourism and
Culture Committee Marlene stated
that the final version of the
“Fes Declaration for Responsible
Action”, was completed based on
the results of extensive discussions and debates
among very dynamic delegates of the ATA Fes
Symposium that was held in December 2002. The
main outcome of this document was to recommend the
establishment of an ATA Standing Committee for
Environment, Eco-Tourism and Culture. Please
refer to Attachment Number Four for additional
details. ITEM
#7. CHAPTER
PRESIDENTS’ REPORTS
– Mira Berman, Executive
Director The following ATA
Chapters provided their Annual Reports: MID-ATLANTIC
CHAPTER – presented by Gaynelle
Henderson-Bailey for Wendy Johnson, Chapter
President ATLANTA CHAPTER
– presented by James Brock,
Chapter President NEW YORK CHAPTER
(NYATA) – presented by Marlene
Melton, Chapter President SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA CHAPTER (SOCAL) - presented by Marlene
Davis for Michael Madison, Chapter President
CHICAGO CHAPTER
– presented by Chester Spears,
Chapter President VANCOUVER, CANADA
CHAPTER – presented by Jerry
Bird, Chapter President CAMEROON CHAPTER
– presented by Francoise Kameni
Lele, Chapter President WESTERN CAPE
CHAPTER – presented by a member
representing Rube Khan, Chapter
President KENYA CHAPTER
– presented by Raymond Matiba,
Chairman, Kenya Tourism Board for Peter Muiruri,
Chapter President GAUTENG CHAPTER
– presented by Mimi Macorb,
Chapter President ZAMBIA CHAPTER
– presented by S.K. Sharma,
Chapter Vice President Mira Berman
commended the presenters on the amount of detailed
information regarding their respective
Chapter’s activities and
initiatives. Helen C. Broadus, the ATA
Executive Secretary made a follow-up request that
written copies of ATA Chapter Annual Reports be
provided to her for record keeping purposes of the
ATA General Membership Meeting. Mira Berman
also requested that written reports be provided
from the various ATA Committees which is a
requirement under the guidelines of the revised ATA
Constitution and By-Laws. ITEM #
8. EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
– Mira Berman Mira once again
expressed that she was very pleased with the superb
job that the Zambia Ministry of Tourism team had
done for the ATA’s 28th Annual
International Congress. She also acknowledged
the attendance at the ATA Congress of the Angola
Minister of Tourism, Benin Director of Tourism and
Hotels, Cameroon Minister of Tourism, Ethiopia
Commissioner of Tourism, Kenya Deputy Minister of
Tourism, Tanzania Minister of Tourism as well as
representatives of the South African Ministry of
Tourism and Zanzibar Commission of Tourism. Next
she asked Jerry Bird to provide an overview of the
ATA website and expressed the desire that everyone
utilize this valuable tool for the marketing of the
ATA organization. Jerry proudly announced
that the Africa Travel Magazine is now 2/3 in the
English language and 1/3 in the French language. He
also expressed his sincere appreciation to the
Ministry of Tourism for the Republic of Guinea for
their assistance in the
publication’s new look. He
further explained that with thirteen
Francophone-speaking African nations it is an
essential requirement that the ATA organization
become multi-lingual in its dissemination of news
and information. Jerry also proudly provided
an update on the progress being made with the ATA
Website by stating that the
site’s annual hits have increased
by more than 3.5 million in the last six months and
that the site will very soon exceed the 5 million
mark the total year. This extraordinary
activity was due to the amount and variety of
content that is on the ATA website as well as
linkages from other related sites. Further,
he explained that the ATA’s
website targeted market is the upscale adult market
with a particular focus on travel
professionals. This is borne out by the types
of e-mail requests that are received with the bulk
of the activity coming from the United
States. Mira thanked Jerry
and then asked James Brock, President of the
Atlanta ATA Chapter, to inform the membership of
the 2003 Conakry Festival which will be held in
June of 2003. James made a brief video
presentation and stated that more information would
be made available through the ATA website very
soon. Mira also informed everyone that
Cameroon would be conducting a high profile trade
and investment show during the upcoming ATA
Congress in Cameroon in 2004. She also
informed everyone that SN Brussels Airlines and
South African Airways along with Ethiopian Airlines
will be official carriers for the ATA Eco-Tourism
Symposium that will be held in Zanzibar December
2-7, 2003. In addition, the International
Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) would
follow-up the ATA Eco-Tourism Symposium with its
Second African Peace Conference in Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania December 7-12, 2003. Mira also
requested that all new ATA Chapters provide the
list of names and contact information to her before
the conclusion of the ATA Congress. Lastly,
Mira Berman thanked everyone for their patience
with her remarks and then concluded her
report. ITEM
#9. OTHER BUSINESS
– Membership Report by David J.
Saunders, Chairperson of the Membership
Committee At this time,
Gaynelle Henderson-Bailey asked David J. Saunders
to provide a report on the Membership
Committee. David stated that the ATA
Constitution and By-Laws required that a Membership
Report be provided during the Annual General
Membership Meeting and formally requested that in
future General Membership Meeting Agendas that this
report be appropriately positioned in order to
allow the committee to provide this very essential
information as well as allow for questions and
answers. Unfortunately, due to the lack of
adequate time on the agenda, he briefly stated that
copies of the membership report would be passed out
to the members and that he would remain afterwards
to speak to those members that wished to
remain. Please refer to Attachment
Number Five for more detailed information about the
status and progress being accomplished by the
Membership Committee. At this time, the
Honorable Zakia Hamdani Meghji, Minister of Natural
Resources and Tourism, Republic of Tanzania and ATA
President, made a motion to conclude the ATA
General Membership Meeting. Minister
Kalifungwa seconded the motion and the motion was
passed. The ATA President officially declared
that the ATA General Membership Meeting concluded
at 5:05 p.m. Respectfully
submitted, Helen C.
Broadus Executive
Secretary, Africa Travel
Association Attachment Number
One – Revised Meeting
Agenda Attachment Number
Two – Minutes of the Previous
ATA General Membership Meeting Attachment Number
Three – ATA 2002 Financial
Report and Accompanying Documents Attachment Number
Four – ATA Fes Declaration for
Responsible Travel Action Attachment Number
Five – ATA Membership Committee
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Africa
Travel Association