Mission

To represent Travel Agencies, operators, wholesalers and retailers, denfending their interests. No matter if their activity is outgoing or incoming and whatever their specialization was.

To tend always to train and to make of the travel Agent a better professional, ensuring the excellence on the touristic services, for their own benefit and the benefit of the users.

Every action taken should tend to obtains information, data and bussiness relationships, as in the estrablishment as in differents companies related with the Tourism, in order to become a benchmark in the sector.

Valores

Professionalism, reliability, efficiency.

Our Job  

The Argentine Association of Tourism and Travel Agencies, better known in Spanish as AAAVYT, is the representative entity, at a national level, of the major tourism and travel agencies of Argentina.
This association is comprised of 26 Regional Associations spread over the national territory. Over 1,600 Tourism Operators and Travel Agencies from all over the country are currently its associates.
The main objectives are, among others:

• To analyze the issues affecting the tourism activity, helping to find adequate solutions to the different problems, representing and defending the interests of its associates.
• To exert a severe control of the member operators and agencies, so as to ensure the continuity of the business and professional ethics in the tourism activity.
• To offer a permanent training plan to its associates, in order to achieve and be able to demand from them the highest level of servicing and quality offered to users.

History

A Pioneer Institution

There were only a few companies in Argentina. Neither the authorities nor the community understood the new dynamic, transforming and revolutionary phenomenon, which was full of perspectives.

Only a few men noticed the need to assemble, agree on criteria and work together. In spite of everything, on August 22, 1950, the first Temporary Commission of the Association was established, which would give shape to the new initiative of constituting a representative entity of the whole Tourism Sector.

The AAAVYT is born

On April 27, 1951, the Argentine Association of Tourism, Travel and other Agencies was officially established. The word “other” referred to the intention of going beyond the sector and considering tourism from a multiple-perspective approach, seeking integration with the other segments of the field: land and air transportation, hotels and other supplementary services.

Statement of Principles:

• Comprehensive tourism planning.
• The legitimate representation of travel agencies, in addition to the contributions made by other segments of the Tourism Sector.
• The basic distinction between agencies responsible for the whole trip and tourism activities, and those involved only in travel sales.
• The defense of common interests
• The need to foresee and arrange legal services and others
• The foresight concerning the evolution and development of Tourism, as a key element to the country’s economy.

The progress of the Institution went beyond the sphere of Travel Agencies. This was evidenced by the Association’s power to convene when organizing and celebrating its first congresses. Furthermore, a foremost delegation of travel agents from Latin American countries paid a visit to the Association and exchanged ideas to build the structure of the current Confederation of Tourism Organizations of Latin America (Confederación de Organizaciones Turísticas de América Latina, COTAL).

The entire country was represented.

The Association operated until mid-1971; most of its associated were from the Capital City and a few other agencies were situated outside the metropolis.

However, on August 27, 1971, one of the most transcendental events in the lifetime of the Institution took place in San Nicolas: the meeting of the representative entities of the travel agencies from the interior of the country. Afterwards, the Regional Associations of Travel Agencies and Tourism comprising the AAAVYT were created.

Milestones in the expansion

The organization of the First Argentine Congress of Travel Agents arose as a need and, after a short period of time, the importance of such congresses to the Sector was obvious. The first meetings took place in Buenos Aires (in 1954/ 1960/ 1963) and in Cordoba (in 1962) but only as of 1972 were these meetings held on an annual basis, almost without interruptions to date.
Another milestone in the lifetime of the Institution was the creation of the International Hall of Tourism, which served as a basis for the International Tourism Fair of Latin America (FIT) The FIT’s first version officially took place in the Predio Ferial of La Rural, in Palermo, in October 1996, and since 1997 it has been successfully repeated.

Institutional Presence

The AAAVYT is highly respected among the International and Regional entities linked to the tourism sector.

• Among others, it was the founder of the current Confederation of Tourism Organizations of Latin America (COTAL).
• It was the host of the International Federation of Travel Agencies (Federación Internacional de Agencias de Viajes, FIAV), which provided the basis for the entity that afterwards became the World Tourism Organization.
• It participated in the foundation of the Universal Federation of Travel Agents’ Associations (Federación Universal de Asociaciones de Agencias de Viajes, FUAAV).
• At a national level, it founded the Argentine Chamber of Tourism (Cámara Argentina de Turismo, CAT).
• Moreover, it is part of the Service Associations Unions (Unión de Entidades de Servicios, UDES) and of the Argentine Chamber of Commerce (Cámara Argentina de Comercio, CAC).

Professionals working for the Institution

From the very beginning, the most prestigious professionals of the Sector worked together to carry out the tasks of the Institution. By mentioning those acting as Presidents, we are not minimizing the importance of many others who, from different positions, made the development of the current AAAVYT possible.
Thank you all.

• 1951/1952 Francisco Salvatierra q.e.p.d. (Reunión Constitutiva)
• 1952/1959 José Ventura Pérez q.e.p.d.
• 1959/1964 Sabet Abd El Jalil q.e.p.d.
• 1964/1966 José Ventura Pérez q.e.p.d.
• 1966/1968 Mario Zirolli q.e.p.d.
• 1968/1971 Miguel Geraghty q.e.p.d.
• 1971/1973 Francisco Verger
• 1973/1974 José Zelis Prati q.e.p.d.
• 1974/1975 Camilo Asis q.e.p.d.
• 1975/1980 Roberto Raúl Rezzio
• 1980/1983 Carlos Alberto Pérez
• 1983/1985 Santiago David Taranto
• 1985/1987 Sabet Abd El Jalil q.e.p.d.
• 1987/1988 Roberto Raúl Rezzio
• 1988/1991 Pedro Bachrach
• 1991/1995 Ramón S. Di Giambattista
• 1995/1999 Hugo Emiliano Copertari
• 1999/2003 Marco A. Palacios
• 2003/2006 Tomas Patricio Ryan
• 2006 Alejandro Sans
• 2006/2011 Ricardo Roza
• Actual Fabricio Di Giambattista