NTA board ratifies revised Code of Ethics

September 13, 2024

The NTA Board of Directors unanimously ratified an updated version of the Code of Ethics, the latest move in the association’s commitment to fostering a diverse and equitable environment for travel professionals around the world.

NTA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Group led the efforts, meeting regularly with the objective of modernizing the document first written and approved in 2001. Members of the DEI Advisory Group believed that, with shifts in societal attitudes and views, it’s necessary to re-examine the standards that are the foundations of NTA—and not just the Code of Ethics. The group also revised the Mission Statement and Core Values and revealed the updated version in November 2022. This followed NTA’s board-approved sign-on of the Travel Industry Association DEI pledge, committing to taking purposeful action around related principles, in 2021.

The group, chaired by Coraggio Group’s Dawnielle Tehama and made up of NTA members of various membership categories, scrutinized the standards expressed in the association’s Code of Ethics not to upend them, but to reassess them through a lens of inclusion and make necessary adjustments. The group also sought to cut through the legalese of the older document and make the Code of Ethics more approachable and relatable. They first modified the Preamble with direct language, providing a clear purpose for the document, then restructured it by section, simplifying text and finalizing three fundamental codes: Professional Conduct, Business Practices, and Member Accountability.

“It’s important for associations to review foundational documents to check that they have evolved with the times, and the DEI Advisory Group—as directed by our board of directors—helped ensure NTA is doing just that,” says NTA President Catherine Prather. “The group dedicated itself to diligent, thoughtful, and thorough discussions that have spanned 12 months. These important, often complex conversations resulted in a document that is driven by NTA’s core values of integrity, inclusivity, sustainability, collaboration, and innovation, and we are proud of that.” The new Code of Ethics was ratified by the board at its August meeting. It can be found on NTA Online at https://ntaonline.com/about-us/.