Professional Travel Agents of North America

What Professional Travel Agents of North America does

Professional Travel Agents of North America (PTANA) is a US-based non-profit professional association founded in January 2009 that provides educational programming, networking, and industry certification support to independent travel agents and small travel agencies across North America. The organization operates a chapter-based delivery model with 13–14 regional chapters in the United States, an annual national convention (the 17th edition held in 2025 aboard Sun Princess sailing Athens to Barcelona, with the 18th planned for 2026), and a recurring suite of virtual and in-person training formats including the weekly Alonzo's Education Corner newsletter, Travel Tech Tuesdays webinar series, the Money-Making Travel Advisor Boot Camp, and Power of the Upsell monthly training. Members gain access to a network of National Affiliate Partners — including Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Sandals, Globus, AmaWaterways, Aruba Tourism Authority, Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, and others — that supply destination training, familiarization trips, and member discounts.

PTANA's core products are membership and education rather than technology; the underlying stack is a standard membership portal (MembershipWorks), email/newsletter infrastructure, video conferencing for webinars, and a digital Member Vault for archived training content. There is no proprietary AI, app, or platform technology — AI is taught as curriculum (notably ChatGPT usage for travel advisors) rather than built in-house. The organization holds a Premier Consortia Agency Membership with Cruise Line International Association (CLIA), a designation held by fewer than 30 of more than 8,000 North American agencies, which yields a 42% discount on CLIA Individual Agent Membership ($79 vs. $119) and four complimentary CLIA online courses per agent.

The business model is a non-profit membership organization funded primarily through recurring annual membership dues, convention registration and sponsorship, and affiliate partner contributions. Go-to-market is community-led and event-driven: members are acquired through chapter networks, supplier-sponsored events, and convention participation; engagement is sustained via weekly education touchpoints and monthly training series. Pricing is not publicly disclosed. The leadership is a volunteer Board of Directors elected from membership (Chairperson, Co Chair, Treasurer, Financial Secretary, and committee chairs representing different chapters), with no disclosed executive compensation structure typical of venture-backed companies.

Name

Professional Travel Agents of North America

Legal name

Professional Travel Agents of North America

Website

https://ptana.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Professional Travel Agents of North America (PTANA) is a US non-profit professional association founded in 2009 that delivers education, networking, certification support, and industry partnerships to independent travel agents through 13 regional chapters and an annual national convention.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Association Services

NAICS

Convention and Visitors Bureaus (561591)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Travel Fulfillment & After-Hours/Agent Assist Services (White-Label TMC Operations) (THACAAAJ)

Keywords

• Travel industry association
• Travel agent networking
• Professional development training
• Industry certification support
• Travel education programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Richmond

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: PTANA operates as a non-profit organization that generates revenue through membership fees. Members pay annual dues to join the organization and access member benefits including educational resources, networking events, supplier relationships, and convention attendance.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Professional Travel Agents of North America (PTANA) is a non-profit membership-based professional association that provides travel agents across North America with educational forums, networking opportunities, industry certification support, and access to supplier partnerships. The organization operates through regional chapters, an annual national convention, weekly educational newsletters, and structured training programs covering technology tools and business development for travel advisors.

Product overview

Professional Travel Agents of North America (PTANA) is a membership-based professional association offering a unified suite of educational programs, networking opportunities, and industry certifications for travel professionals. The core offering is PTANA Membership, which provides access to weekly education via Alonzo's Education Corner, monthly Power of the Upsell training, the annual PTANA Convention, and local Chapter Events. The association has expanded into structured technology education through Travel Tech Tuesdays (a members-only series covering tools like Zoom, ChatGPT, Google Workspace, and Canva) and the Money-Making Travel Advisor Boot Camp for intensive business training. Members also benefit from CLIA certification support with discounted agent membership ($79 vs $119) and access to the PTANA Member Vault for archived training content. The organization operates 14 regional chapters across North America and facilitates familiarization trips for professional development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• PTANA Membership
• PTANA National Convention
• Travel Tech Tuesdays
• Money-Making Travel Advisor Boot Camp
• Power of the Upsell
• Chapter Events
• Alonzo's Education Corner Newsletter
• Familiarization Trips (FAMs)

Quantifiable outcome

• 42 percent discount on CLIA Individual Agent Membership dues ($79 instead of $119)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Cruise Line International Association (CLIA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 August 2018PTANA holds Premier Consortia Agency Membership with CLIA, one of fewer than 30 agencies in North America with this designation. This partnership provides CLIA Individual Agent Membership discounts for PTANA members ($79 instead of $119 annual dues), four complimentary CLIA online courses per agent (valued at $236), and high-level visibility within the cruise industry.
• Travel Show Marketing Group (TravelSMG)flagshipGTM or Marketing Partner · 30 August 2018Strategic partnership announced in August 2018 to drive professional growth and education within the travel agency distribution channel. PTANA agents and leadership play a role in enhanced conference content creation, and PTANA members receive early-bird registration discounts for Travel Agent Forums (e.g., $109 PTANA member rate for 2022 Las Vegas Forum).
• The Travel InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPTANA references The Travel Institute's professional development content in its education newsletters, including articles on certification, itinerary creation, and social media marketing for travel advisors.
• Money Maker's Mindset (PJ Douglas Sands)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational Affiliate Partner providing educational content including Travel Tech Tuesdays series host, Power of the Upsell monthly training, and the Money-Making Travel Advisor Boot Camp. PJ Douglas Sands is a Certified AI Business Strategist with 27+ years in the travel industry.
• National Affiliate PartnersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPTANA maintains relationships with various National Affiliate Partners including cruise lines (Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Virgin Voyages, Celestyal Cruises), hotel/resort groups (Sandals, Globus Family of Brands, AIC Hotel Group), destinations (Aruba Tourism Authority, Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Barbados Tourism), and travel service providers (TravelJoy, Railbookers, AmaWaterways). These partners provide educational content and member benefits.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Nexion Travel Group: Nexion is a host travel agency offering independent agents back-office support, supplier access, and training — overlapping with PTANA's value proposition for independent travel advisors.
• Virtuoso: Virtuoso is a leading luxury travel network of agencies and advisors offering training, marketing, and preferred-supplier access. It serves a similar advisor audience to PTANA but operates as a commercial consortium at significantly larger scale.
• Ensemble Travel Group: Ensemble is a major travel agency consortium offering member agencies supplier contracts, marketing, education, and events — comparable to PTANA's benefits stack but at a much larger commercial scale.
• Signature Travel Network: Signature is a cooperative of US-based travel agencies providing supplier access, training, and marketing support to member advisors — competing with PTANA for the same agency-owner audience at a larger scale.

Direct peers

• American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA): ASTA is the largest US national professional association for travel advisors, offering advocacy, education, certification, and member benefits — the closest direct functional peer to PTANA's travel-agent association model.
• The Travel Institute: The Travel Institute is a non-profit dedicated to travel advisor certification and continuing education (CTA, CTC, CTIE). PTANA references its content in member education, positioning it as a direct peer in advisor professional development.
• Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA): CLIA is the principal cruise industry trade association, providing agent certification, training, and membership benefits. PTANA is a Premier Consortia affiliate of CLIA, making CLIA both a partner and a structural peer in cruise-focused advisor development.
• National Association of Commissioned Travel Agents (NACTA): NACTA is a US-based membership association serving independent and home-based travel agents with education, networking, and supplier access — a directly comparable niche trade association to PTANA.
• Outside Sales Support Network (OSSN): OSSN supports outside (home-based) travel agents with training, marketing tools, and supplier relationships, directly overlapping PTANA's independent-advisor member base and value proposition.

Others

• Travel Show Marketing Group (TravelSMG): TravelSMG produces the Travel Agent Forum events and is a strategic partner of PTANA. While not a peer in the membership-association sense, it is a closely adjacent event-organization player in the same advisor-engagement ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/PTANAGreaterHoustonChapter
• Xx.com/PTANAhouston
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ptanahouston

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Professional Travel Agents of North America