Tuesday Newsletter
February 24, 2004
Feb. 24, 2004: Volume 24; Issue 4
Tourism Professionals Recognize Value in NTA Membership
 |
| The Gerry Lou team, from left: Jennifer Holden, Amélie Bonenfant, Lily Bhérer, Robert Gagnon, Teresa Wlodarczyk |
It may be true that "seeing is believing," but experiencing is really believing.
Just ask Teresa Wlodarczyk, operations manager of new NTA member Gerry Lou and Associes, out of Quebec City. This receptive operator was one of eight guests who took advantage of an invitation to the 2003 NTA Annual Convention in Charlotte, N.C., and one of six who liked what they saw so much that they decided to become members.
"Whether you’re a tour operator or destination management company, you can’t afford not to become a member," said Wlodarczyk. "This kind of exposure is important. The trends in the travel industry are changing, and word of mouth is no longer enough. We found that NTA really is going to give us some needed exposure."
NTA Guest Program attendees were selected from leads gathered at various industry events because they matched the profile of tour operators targeted in NTA’s strategic planning process, such as group tour operators, international inbound receptive operators, FIT operators and special interest operators. Through the Guest Program these attendees got to experience firsthand the benefits of being a member of NTA, including diverse networking opportunities, the wealth of NTA marketing and financial resources, and cutting-edge educational programs.
"I was already inclined to join NTA before Convention, but the Guest Program really solidified that," said Brent Kelly, owner of Lowee’s Group Tours and Receptive, out of Harrisburg, Penn. "I think an organization that offers a program for guests is proud of the program that they’re offering. It’s like they have nothing to hide; they know that if people come and see it that they’re going to want to be a part of it. I was already aware of NTA’s reputation as being a large, reputable business, and the Guest Program really proved it."
Like many members, Kelly has found that Convention was a perfect place to begin addressing his most important need connecting with industry peers.
"Networking is paramount," said Kelly. "To meet with like-minded individuals who have a common goal is so important in this industry. Even when you are competitors, you can still learn from each other."
"You can get stuck in your own world, but (as an NTA member) you are exposed to different cultures, different mentalities, different views," observed Wlodarczyk. "You have different resources, and you are able to do quite a bit of research. It broadens your horizons. We found that’s the only way to go."
National Tourism Foundation Announces 2004 Scholarships, Grants, Internships
The National Tourism Foundation announces the following scholarship, grant, internship and award opportunities available in 2004:
The Travelers Conservation Foundation Sustainable Tourism Scholarship Award is a new award that is administered in partnership with The Travelers Conservation Foundation. Candidates must submit an essay describing a small-to-medium-scale project they would like to see the tourism/hospitality industry undertake that supports the overall goals of sustainable tourism. One graduate student will be chosen to receive $1,000 toward study expenses. Application deadline: April 15
The Pat & Jim Host Scholarship will be awarded to a full-time student at a four-year college or university located in Kentucky. The recipient must have a degree emphasis in a travel- and tourism-related field (e.g. Hotel Management, Restaurant Management, Tourism, Recreation, Hospitality, etc.) The successful candidate will receive $2,000 per school year for up to four years during his/her undergraduate education. Application deadline: May 10
The Luray Caverns Graduate Research Grant is an annual $1,500 grant originally established by Luray Caverns in 1988. The purpose of the grant is to defray the educational costs incurred by a student conducting research on a thesis, dissertation or terminal project relating to travel and tourism. The grant recipient is required to submit an executive summary, in addition to the completed project, to the National Tourism Foundation. Application deadline: May 10
The National Tourism Foundation Travel Research Grant is administered in partnership with the Travel & Tourism Research Association. It is awarded to an individual or organization for development of a research technique or methodology. The recipient of this grant will receive $2,000 along with a $300 travel allowance and a complimentary registration to the 2004 TTRA Annual Conference. Application deadline: March 31
The National Tourism Foundation Internships will be awarded to two students pursuing travel and tourism-related degrees. The successful candidates will reside in Lexington, Ky., from August until December. Students will receive a $3,000 personal stipend to offset travel and lodging expenses and the opportunity to travel to the National Tour Association Annual Convention in November. Application deadline: May 10
The Patrick Murphy Internship is open to students pursuing a travel and tourism degree with emphasis in political science. The student selected to complete this internship will be assigned to work in the Washington, D.C., office of NTA Legislative Counsel James D. Santini. This opportunity includes a $2,000 personal stipend to offset travel and lodging expenses. Application deadline: May 10
For applications or additional information, visit the "Scholarships" section of http://www.ntfonline.org/.
Reduced Inbound Tourism Funds Now Targeted for UK
The U.S. Travel and Tourism Promotion Advisory Board has chosen to use its severely reduced funding to implement a multi-faceted tourism promotion campaign in the United Kingdom.
The UK "was chosen as the pilot for this program for several key reasons, most significantly that it is the United States’ top overseas market and is currently the most resilient of the five key markets," wrote Douglas B. Baker, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Service Industries, Tourism & Finance in a Feb. 19 letter to travel and tourism industry association partners.
The advisory board had planned to use its original $50 million appropriation to promote U.S. tourism in Canada, Mexico, Japan and Germany as well as the UK, but Congress rescinded the majority of the funds last month, reducing the campaign’s funding to approximately $6 million.
Last week, the U.S. Office of Travel and Tourism Industries reported growth in bookings to the United States from the UK for fourth quarter 2003 and year-end 2003, and predicted strong growth in the first half of 2004. In its latest UK Travel Barometer survey, nearly all respondents (active travel trade working in the UK to sell and promote travel to the United States) indicated that UK consumers consider the United States as a "good value for the money" in 2004, compared to 2003.
Get Ready to Celebrate National Tourism Week May 8-16, and Canadian Tourism Week June 20-26
In support of TIA’s 21st Annual National Tourism Week May 8-16, NTA encourages its members to host local events promoting travel and tourism within their respective states and across the country.
National Tourism Week was established in 1983 when, in a White House ceremony, President Ronald Reagan signed a Presidential Proclamation urging U.S. citizens to observe the week with "the appropriate ceremonies and activities."
NTA members may find resources to help promote National Tourism Week on the Travel Industry Association of America’s Web site, http://www.tia.org/. Go to the "tourism awareness" bar at the top of the home page and receive access to the National Tourism Week tool kit.
Further down the road, get ready for Canada’s own Tourism Week, held June 20 – 26. Organized by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) around the theme Tourism Makes Canada Smile, Tourism Week will provide a focal point for activities planned across the country by individual businesses, provincial, territorial and regional tourism industry associations, destination marketing organizations and others. They include open houses, contests, tours, parties and presentations.
Background information and Canadian tourism facts are available at the Tourism Industry Association of Canada’s new Web site, http://www.tiac-aitc.ca/.
Time is Running Out to Advertise in Directory
Tour suppliers and DMOs, time is running out for you to take advantage of a promotional opportunity that is sure to get your messages in the hands of and on the desks of tour operators.
March 3 is the deadline to schedule advertising in the 2004-2005 NTA Tour Supplier/DMO Directory, a primary planning resource for more than 1,100 NTA tour operators selling millions of dollars worth of packaged travel products each year.
The directory has a full one-year shelf life (June 2004-May 2005), and advertisers may take advantage of convenient billing in July. Advertisers will have ad placement in your state/province/country for no additional charge.
You can also increase your exposure in the directory by having your listing stand out. For $600, your directory listing will not only be bolded and highlighted, but will also include your company’s logo.
Don’t delay. For more information, contact John Miller at 800-682-8886, ext. 4350 or by e-mail at john.miller@hostcommunications.com.
Tour Operators can Post Itineraries on TIA Program Focused on National Parks
When was the last time someone helped to promote your business for free?
As surprising as this may sound, that is exactly what is being offered by the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA) and its partners as part of a new travel promotion, See America’s National Parks. The program, which kicks off in April 2004, will be a tremendous opportunity for NTA members to be part of the biggest travel promotion of the summer.
TIA has put together a partnership with the National Park Service, the National Park Foundation and the concessionaires to market the national park system this summer. There are several elements to the program that NTA members can tie into at little or no cost:
- The See America’s National Parks Web site at seeamerica.org. Launching in March 2004, this site will feature all 388 national parks, allowing travelers to search by state, park name, recreational activity and even zip code to find the parks in their back yard.
- Travel Deals. The seeamerica.org Web site also features special deals. If you are discounting any trips, regardless of whether or not they go to a national park, you can post them here for free. This is an ongoing feature of the SeeAmerica.org web site. Simply go to seeamerica.org, click on travel deals and at the bottom of the screen you will find the option to submit your own travel deals. Be sure to fill in the expiration date so it automatically rotates off the Web site when the deal expires.
- National Parks Poster. The first-ever See America’s National Parks poster is due out this spring and you can help promote the program by placing the poster in a bus window or even give one to your customers. The posters are free upon request. Contact Helen Maplesden at hmaplesden@tia.org.
- Pictorial e-mail. One of the most creative marketing components of the program is the free See America’s National Parks pictorial e-mail, a beautifully designed e-mail that depicts exquisite images of the United States set to lovely music that invites everyone to SeeAmerica. All you have to do is put your e-mail list together and forward the e-mail during the third week of April. In order to receive the e-mail, contact Helen Maplesden at hmaplesden@tia.org by March 21 and you will be added to the recipient list for distribution the first week in April.
- Public Relations. You can use the See America’s National Parks program to get the news media interested in your destination trips. The seeamerica.org Web site will include one of the most comprehensive National Parks media centers on the Internet. It will be filled with news releases about national parks, scenic roads that drive through national parks, destinations near national parks, events at national parks, attractions linked to the national parks and much, much more. E-mail your news release to Mike Pina at Mpina@tia.org.
- Bookmarks. While not exactly free, they are incredibly inexpensive and a great way to promote yourself. TIA offers the industry a common premium, a bookmark, with beautiful four-color images of urban and rural destinations and the back can be customized with your message to showcase your travel product. You can distribute them to your customers. One thousand bookmarks sell for as little as $60.00, including shipping. Go to www.tia.org/marketing and click on the bookmark order form before March 12.
The See America’s National Parks program will be an exciting, largely no-cost opportunity to catch the wave of popularity that will be rising this summer travel season when Americans take a renewed interest in their national parks. The Web site, e-mails, posters, bookmarks and PR will be supplemented by See America’s National Parks travel supplements in USA Today, National Geographic Traveler, Readers Digest, American Park Network, and The Sunday Times in London. See America’s National Parks will be the travel talk of the summer, so make sure travelers are talking about your travel product as well. If you are interested in participating in any of these special advertising opportunities, go to www.tia.org/marketing and you can see pricing and deadlines for all publications. But don’t wait; many deadlines are in February.
See America’s National Parks is supported by the National Park Service, the federal agency that manages America’s 388 National Parks, historic sites and other recreational areas, the National Park Foundation, the Proud Partners of the National Parks and the National Parks Concessionaires. Combined, the organizations are working to raise awareness of lesser known national parks and historic sites, as well as to increase the sales of park passes and boost attendance at locations throughout the park system.
For more information just log on to www.tia.org/marketing or send an e-mail to hmaplesden@tia.org.
WTM Leads Available to Tour Operators
Looking to make new international contacts? Leads from 30 companies with whom NTA representatives met at the 2003 World Travel Market in London are now available.
Leads are available to NTA tour operators for $25 and have been saved in a text format for easy conversion to any data management program. These international contacts are expecting to hear from NTA tour operators.
If you want to take advantage of these company profiles, contact Sara Morton at 800-682-8886, ext. 4418 or by e-mail at sara.morton@ntastaff.com.
Does Your Listing Have the Right Stuff?
Tour operators trying to contact tour supplier and DMO members don’t have the time to do extra research to find a correct phone number or e-mail address. They need accurate information at their fingertips.
That’s where the NTA Tour Supplier/DMO Directory comes in. An impressive 95 percent of NTA tour operators use this directory when planning itineraries. That’s why one of the most important items on your to-do list before Feb. 27 should be to update your company or destination listing for the 2004-2005 directory, which will be printed soon.
Updating is simple and can be done on NTA Online. You will need your NTA user name and administrator password to begin your update. Click here to update your information now.
For questions or assistance, e-mail questions@ntastaff.com or call 800-682-8886 (U.S. & Canada) or 859-226-4444 and ask for a member of the NTA Online Team.
UK Year-End 2003 Bookings Grew! Travel Demand Predicted to Continue to Grow for the First Half of 2004
The latest UK Travel Barometer program reported growth in bookings to the United States for fourth quarter 2003 and year-end 2003. The report also predicts strong growth in the first half of 2004.
UK Highlights:
- Eight out of 10 (81%) respondents indicated fourth quarter 2003 travel demand increased, with an average growth rate four to nine percent higher than a year ago.
- Approximately seven out of 10 (69%) respondents indicated 2003 year-end (January – December) travel demand increased, with an average growth rate between four to nine percent higher than a year ago.
- State and City Bookings: Bookings for U.S. destinations included in the survey were all reported to have had an increase in bookings on average, compared to year-end 2002. First half of 2004: Travel demand for U.S. destinations included in the survey were all predicted to increase or be about the same compared to first quarter 2003. Several destinations were predicted to have a marked improvement from last year.
- Just over eight out of 10 (82%) respondents indicated they were confident in recommending the U.S. as a holiday destination in 2004. Approximately six out of ten respondents (63%) indicated that UK consumers were confident or very confident in selecting the United States as a holiday destination in 2004, compared to 2003.
- The United States is a good value for the money in 2004! Nearly all respondents (94%) indicated that UK consumers consider the United States as a "good value for the money" in 2004, compared to 2003.
- Three quarters (75%) of the respondents predicted first and second quarter 2004 travel demand to be higher or much higher, compared to 2003. No respondents predicted demand to decrease. -Respondents predicted higher demand for travel to major cities and amusement parks for first and second quarter 2004, compared to the same travel periods last year.
- The top two barriers for travel in the first half of 2004 were perceived safety of traveling to the United States and entrance procedures to visit the United States. The other top barriers listed were the level of promotion by U.S. destinations and businesses and competitive promotions from other long-haul destinations.
- An improved exchange rate and an increase in promotions by U.S. destinations and businesses were listed as the top factors most likely to increase travel demand to the United States in first and second quarter 2004.
- A strong majority of respondents predicted long-haul travel will increase for the first half of 2004, compared to 2003.
- Travel to Oceania and the Caribbean were the top competitive destinations for travel in first quarter 2004. Travel within Western Europe was the strongest competitive destination listed for second quarter 2004.
The UK Travel Barometer is the most timely and reliable predictor for state and city travel demand for leisure travel to the United States. It is an invaluable tool for international destination marketing executives given the rapidly changing travel environment and the need for timely and reliable predictors.
The 2004 Travel Barometer Survey is a qualitative survey designed to collect input from active travel trade working in country to sell and promote travel to the United States. The goal is to provide a short-term forecast on travel demand to the United States and report on market conditions for travel from the UK to the United States. Results for this survey session were derived from surveying UK travel trade that promote and/or sell travel to the United States January 6 through January 29, 2004.
(Source: TI News)
NTA will exhibit at ITB in Berlin, Germany, March 12-16, 2004. ITB is one of the largest tourism trade fairs with over 7,000 exhibitors from more than 190 countries and regions. ITB is one of four international trade shows in which NTA will exhibit this year to promote travel to North America and its tour operators’ receptive services.
Attending and exhibiting NTA members are invited to stop by Stand 570 each morning at 10 a.m. for coffee and pastries. NTA member ribbons, table signs and copies of NTA’s Tour Operator Receptive Services in North America directory will be available.
For more information about NTA’s activities at ITB, contact Carla Carr, NTA’s manager of marketing projects, at 800-682-8886, ext. 4235, or via e-mail at carla.carr@ntastaff.com.