Earlier this week, Alex Sharpe, president and CEO of Signature Travel Network became the recipient of the 2017 Paul M. Ruden Industry Ambassador Award, presented by the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA). ASTA is a non-profit advocacy organization for travel agents, the travel industry and the traveling public.
Paul Ruden himself presented the award to Sharpe during the Advocacy Dinner at ASTA’s Global Convention on August 28 in San Diego, CA. This is the second annual iteration of the award, which honored Sharpe this year for his commitment to supporting ASTA’s mission, organizational growth and policy work.
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The award is given annual to a member of ASTA who shows outstanding support for ASTA and its work to promote and defend the work of travel professionals. The award is named and inspired by ASTA’s former executive vice president of legal and industry affairs, Paul Ruden, who retired in 2015 after more than 25 years of service with ASTA.
Sharpe has served on ASTA’s national board of directors and on its consortia advisory committee. In June, Sharpe participated in ASTA’s Legislative Day and Premium Business Summit in Washington D.C, an event that brought travel industry representatives to Capitol Hill to discuss policy issues that impact travel agencies. In 2015, Sharpe announced that Signature, the travel network of which he is president and CEO would be the first consortium to mandate ASTA Membership; Signature has since been among ASTA’s roster of preferred supplier partners.
“ASTA is honored to present the second annual Paul Ruden Industry Ambassador Award to Alex Sharpe,” said Zane Kerby, ASTA president and CEO. “From supporting the growth of ASTA’s membership base to enlisting his network’s resources in critical federal and state policy fights to supporting ASTA’s political action committee to his service on our national Board of Directors, Alex has shown himself to be a visionary who understands intuitively the need for a strong national trade association for our industry. In short, there is no one more deserving of this award than Alex.”
For more information, visit asta.org.
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