Bylaw Amendment Information
June 14, 2009
Two bylaw amendments proposed by the NTA Board of Directors are up for a vote. All NTA tour opreator members were either mailed or e-mailed a ballot at the end of May.
The first proposed amendment would allow arts and cultural organizations with nonprofit status to share a single membership in NTA. For instance, while an orchestra, ballet and art museum might not independently have the funds to join NTA, through this proposed amendment, they could combine funding and align themselves to join as one tour supplier membership.
This issue was put to an operator vote in January 2009. The NTA Board recognized that there were questions as to the scope of the issue and the number of nonprofits able to share a single membership. This bylaw amendment proposal has addressed these questions by placing numerical and geographical restrictions on nonprofits sharing a single membership. The proposed language will limit the number of nonprofits joining under a single membership to 10 and they must be located within "an area of dominant influence" as defined in the amendment.
The second proposed amendment concerns the tour operator application process. In its April meeting, the NTA Board discussed the current bylaws and the mandate that the Board of Directors has to approve companies for membership. To be placed on the board approval ballot, all tour operators must satisfy NTA’s membership standards, so the board questioned the necessity of this process. Therefore, the second question for vote would eliminate the board approval ballot for tour operators.
Questions regarding voting procedures can be directed to NTA Government Relations Director Matt Grayson at 800.682.8886, ext. 4250 (U.S. and Canada) or +1.859.226.4250.
