NTA’s Contact: Coming Back Strong

August 17, 2017

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 17, 2017) — The National Tour Association gave Contact, its annual tour operator retreat, the year off in 2017, but the event is back on the NTA calendar for 2018, as well as in 2019 and 2020.

“Contact is an enormously popular event—it’s intimate yet loaded with valuable networking and great education—but we just couldn’t fit it into 2017,” said Pam Inman, NTA president.

2017 saw the association double up on Travel Exchange, its all-member convention, shifting the signature event from first-quarter dates to the fourth quarter. That gave NTA two rounds of Travel Exchange ’17, St. Louis in February and San Antonio in December, which reduced the time or the need for Contact this year.

“Starting in 2018, we’ve got a fantastic lineup of host cities for Contact,” Inman said. “And we’re moving Contact from August to April or March, which is an ideal time for combining an industry event with a site visit.”

NTA’s Contact dates and sites are set for the next three years:

• Charleston, South Carolina: April 18–21, 2018
• Tucson, Arizona: March 27–30, 2019
• Anchorage, Alaska: March 18–21, 2020

Along with the change in timing, Contact’s format has also been improved. “We’re increasing member-to-member networking opportunities,” Inman said, “and we’ve created a unique education session that blends experiential learning with sightseeing.”

Registration for Contact ’18 in Charleston opens Oct. 31. To see the event schedule and get more details, visit NTAonline.com/contact.

NTA will soon announce the host city and convention dates for Travel Exchange ’19. For information about Travel Exchange ’17 in San Antonio, Dec. 14–18, or Travel Exchange ’18 in Milwaukee, Nov. 4–8, visit NTAonline.com/convention.

About NTA: Founded in 1951, the National Tour Association is the premiere global association of packaged-travel professionals serving travelers to, from and within North America. For more information, visit NTAonline.com.