Legislative Legend Jim Santini Wins Lifetime Achievement Award

November 11, 2005

Legislative Legend Jim Santini Wins Lifetime Achievement Award
Contact:
Sara Morton
sara.morton@ntastaff.com
800-682-8886
859-226-4418

Nov. 11, 2005

Legislative Legend Jim Santini Wins Lifetime Achievement Award

LEXINGTON, KY. – The National Tour Association is pleased to announce Jim Santini as the 2005 recipient of the Bob Everidge Lifetime Achievement Award. This award recognizes individuals who have made outstanding, ongoing contributions to the association, its members and the industry overall.

Santini, a former congressman from Nevada, has served as NTA’s Legislative Counsel in Washington, D.C., the past 22 years. He is the third person to receive this honor named after the late Bob Everidge, an NTA and industry pioneer who passed away in 2001. The inaugural award was given at the 2003 Convention to Lois Anderson, originator and president of Gadabout Tours in Palm Springs, Calif., while last year’s recipient was Bill Shepler of Shepler’s Mackinac Island Ferry Service and Mackinaw Crossings.

Sanitini responded to this acknowledgment by saying, "This recognition is the highlight of my professional life since I left Congress."

"Jim Santini has acted in the best interest of NTA and our members for more than twenty years," Immediate Past Chairman and CEO Ann Thomas, CTP, said. "His hard work, lobbying expertise and true professionalism on Capitol Hill have positively affected the way every one of us does business."

The Board of Directors established the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003 to honor Everidge, owner and president of Shenandoah Tours Inc., in Staunton, Va., for his commitment to the association and the industry. Everidge served as president of the association in 1996 and was an NTA member for 27 years.

The National Tour Association has a global membership of nearly 4,000 tourism professional members involved in the growth and development of the packaged travel industry. Its membership includes tour operators – group, independent, inbound and outbound – and the destinations and suppliers that partner with them. The association is committed to providing business results and information to its members, while offering a collaborative, caring environment in which to build relationships. For more information, please visit http://www.ntaonline.com/.

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