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Exactly How Qualified Are NTA Tour Operators?

September 28, 2012

NTA tour operator members are the cream of the crop. How do we know? Because each tour operator applicant goes through a series of crucial steps to be considered for membership.

Tour operator applicants must:

  1. Provide a company brochure, tour itinerary and/or Web address, which we review to be sure that they are, indeed, a tour operator. (NTA’s definition of a tour operator is someone who packages travel, which means selling two or more travel components for an inclusive price.)
  2. Provide documents showing how they are registered to do business (indicating the state or country they do business in) and they must abide by all laws, rules and regulations.
  3. Have a minimum of three consecutive years in the business as a tour operator by actively engaging in the business of developing, packaging, promoting, selling and operating packaged travel.
  4. Maintain general public liability insurance coverage, providing a copy of the certificate with their application.

After meeting these minimum requirements, their information is posted on NTAonline for public viewing for five consecutive days. At this time any member has the opportunity to submit comments or concerns to the staff or to other members.

Once the five days have passed, the board of directors has the opportunity to cast their voteQualified 9.25.12s for approval. If accepted, the new tour operator is granted membership and will be published here so others can see the new additions to the NTA family!

It’s not over yet. When tour operator members renew their membership each subsequent year, they are required to resubmit their insurance information.

Of course, all members are expected to follow the association’s code of ethics and professional responsibility to maintain their memberships and credibility within the association. 

How can you meet these qualified buyers?

  1. If you’re not already a member, join NTA.
  2. Register for Travel Exchange to network with them and request sit-down business appointments with them. You can see who’s attending here.
  3. Conduct an NTA Online search and download a member leads list customized just for your needs.
  4. Post your deals on the Partner2Partner site. (More information here.)
  5. Sponsor and/or advertise at one of NTA’s Business Builder events and in NTA publications.
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