The Coach Tourism & Transport Council of Ireland (CTTC), the leading private bus and coach representative body, has engaged Rockwood, a professional association management company to run the organisation on behalf of its membership. As and from 1 February, Rockwood, led by former Senator, Lorraine Higgins, has commenced its work in guiding the CTTC through a this challenging period as the passenger transport industry tries to get back on the road.
The moves indicates a bold move by the organisation towards raising the professionalism of the association as a national industry leader.
Rockwood has engaged with the CTTC since last Summer to provide public affairs, policy and public relations support and this move now marks an expansion of that role. Rockwood will also be responsible for engaging with Government and key stakeholders on behalf of the industry while developing opportunities to upgrade member services, improve programme offerings, strengthen membership engagement and expand collaboration with like-minded associations in adjacent industries.
More immediately, the CTTC’s focus will lie in providing support to the membership of the organisation which is confronting acute Covid-19 challenges while preparing commercial bus and coach operators for the next steps of recovery.
Commenting on the appointment, John Halpenny; Chairman of the CTTC, said: “With her strategic and innovative approach to the management of associations, as well as her proven track-record, we strongly believe that Lorraine Higgins and her team at Rockwood has the ability and understanding of our sector to ensure the continued success of the CTTC. The appointment of Rockwood to perform association management services represents a natural evolvement of the relationship between our two organisations and this restructuring will allow for the CTTC to be better equipped to scale up and strengthen its role as the leading representative body for the commercial bus and coach sector in Ireland.”
Lorraine Higgins; Managing Director of Rockwood, added: “With its crucial role in the provision of transport in Ireland and developing essential connectivity in communities throughout, the CTTC has the potential to increase the positive impact it has on the transport landscape while enhancing its benefits to the membership. This is an exciting development for us that compliments the work Rockwood does with other representative bodies and I am delighted to begin contributing to the success of the CTTC through the implementation of our agreed strategy.”