MISSISSAUGA, ON — The Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA) is now sending out cease and desist letters to those using the Certified Travel Counsellor (CTC) and Certified Travel Manager (CTM) professional designations when not entitled to them.

ACTA acquired CITC last year and said it has been experiencing a surge in enrollment and exam completions.

“To continue to build on our accomplishments, ACTA has added the process of running background checks on travel professionals who are brought to our attention as misusing the professional designations. Any travel professional using CTC or CTM on their business card, e-mail signature or social media profiles will be subject to these checks. To date, we have issued over five cease and desist orders and expect this to increase in the coming weeks. We have found that in some cases the offender never earned the designation, while in other instances the certification had been lapsed for many years,” said an ACTA statement.

David McCaig, President and COO, said “promoting professionalism and the value of the professional certification to the consumer is a key part of our strategic mandate. If we are going to be successful at it then we must dedicate part of our strategy to ensuring that those displaying the professional designation meet the standards and qualifications which the trademark stands behind”.

Christine Chilton CTM, Director of Education, added, “we need to closely monitor this situation as our CTC and CTM designation holders have worked hard to earn and maintain their designation. Moreover, these designations are trademarked, so those misusing them will be issued with a Cease and Desist letter”.

ACTA is inviting members to report any such cases to ACTA’s education department at certification@acta.ca.