Tuesday Newsletter
January 2, 2007
Tuesday Newsletter Jan. 2, 2007
Volume 27: Issue 1
 |
This issue of Tuesday is sponsored by Tourism Montréal.
Millions of destinations. One city.
|
| Interested in becoming a sponsor for Tuesday? Contact Karla DiNardo at karla.dinardo@NTA.travel. | |
Remember, Passport Needed for Air Travel to U.S. Starting Jan. 23
The implementation date for the air portion of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative is just three weeks away. By Jan. 23, all passengers arriving via air transportation must have a passport to enter the United States, while the land and sea portions of the initiative cannot take effect earlier than Jan. 1, 2008, and no later than June 1, 2009.
As a resource for those who are seeking more details regarding acquiring passports to meet the upcoming air provision, a new Web site, http://www.getapassportnow.com/, launched recently. In addition to providing an overview of the WHTI requirements, the site gives extensive information on what people from the United States, Canada and Mexico need to do to apply for passports.
U.S. residents who need to expedite getting a passport can visit one of the 13 regional passport agencies or the one Gateway City Agency (Washington, D.C.), which serve customers who are traveling within two weeks and those in need of foreign visas for travel. This must be done in person and appointments are required in such cases. To see a list of these 14 locations, click here.
NTA Event Sites Listed as "Standout Destinations" by Frommer’s
The Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, site of the 2007 NTA Tour Operator Spring Meet, and Krakow, Poland, which will be part of one of NTA’s Product Development Trips this year, were recognized as standout destinations for 2007 by Frommer’s. The renowned travel guidebook publishing company compiles the list, which includes 12 destinations annually based on recommendations from its staff and corps of contributing editors and writers.
The other 10 hot destinations for 2007 are Tokyo; Zurich, Switzerland; Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands; Panama; Ethiopia; Minneapolis; Asheville, North Carolina; Portland, Oregon; Glen Canyon, Utah; and Portland, Maine. To read the full article, click here.
You Can Help Redesign the CTP Program
At the 2006 Annual Convention, NTA announced that it is teaming with Temple University and its School of Hospitality Management to revamp the Certified Tour Professional program. One of the first steps in this process is to gather a better understanding of NTA’s members and what your continuing education needs are. To that end, NTA needs 100 to 150 NTA members to volunteer to take a survey that will be sent out by Temple University to help in this first step of program development.
To make this survey most successful, volunteers from all member categories with varying responsibilities and preferably at least four years of packaged travel industry experience are needed. You do not have to be a CTP – in fact, it is better to have a mix of CTPs and non-CTPs for the survey. If you’d be willing to participate in this survey and help with the development of the new program, e-mail NTA’s Vice President of Marketing Lisa Thompson by Friday, Jan. 19.
Hey Tour Suppliers and DMOs, What’s New for 2007 and 2008?
Tour suppliers and DMOs – the Courier editorial staff needs your help. We want to know what you have coming up in mid- to late-2007 and 2008 for possible use in upcoming articles.
So, if you are a city, state/provincial or country DMO, or a museum, theater, railroad, hotel/resort, restaurant or other type of tour supplier, please send your information to us via e-mail at editorial@NTA.travel. This is also the address you should use for any press releases you currently send to NTA via e-mail. NOTE – Please do not send e-mails with attachments that are larger than 500 KB to this address. This includes high resolution photos or large PDFs.
Additionally, please take a couple of minutes to update your mailing list and switch all names you currently have on file for NTA so that mailed items come to:
Doug Rentz, Courier Managing Editor
546 East Main Street
Lexington, KY 40508
If you have any questions, please contact Rentz at 800.682.8886, ext. 4235 (U.S. and Canada) or 859.226.4235.
Tour Operators: Get Acquainted with Kelowna
The 2007 NTA Tour Operator Spring Meet, April 26-28, may introduce tour operators to an area of Western Canada with which they are unfamiliar. Join us in Kelowna for business and education and get acquainted with Kelowna and the beautiful Okanagan Valley, recently named by Frommer’s as one of its 12 "Top Travel Destinations for 2007."
During your stay in Kelowna, British Columbia, you’ll partake in myriad leisure options that this city offers – from world-class golfing to art and cuisine. The city of just more than 100,000 residents offers culture and outdoor leisure activities to suit even the most discriminating taste. Spring Meet delegates will have the opportunity to explore both the city and region firsthand during complimentary leisure excursions, sightseeing tours and Familiarization tours.
Registration for the 2007 Spring Meet will be available online starting Monday, Jan. 8. For more information about the event, click here to visit the official Spring Meet Web site or you can contact your NTA Member Services team at 800.682.8886 (U.S. and Canada) or 859.226.4444.
Accurate Information Translates into Potential Business
One of the ways you can help pinpoint NTA-member companies you want to explore business relationships with is by having access to accurate and current information. With that in mind, members need to make sure their company profile stays updated at NTA.travel.
Updating your information is easy. Just click on the "Update Your Company Information" link under "What’s New" on the right side of the NTA.travel home page, then enter your ID and password. Your current company profile will appear on the screen. Click through the screens to confirm that your information is correct, making sure you click submit when you are done.
Call your Member Services Team at 800.682.8886 (U.S. and Canada) or 859.226.4444 if you have forgotten your login information.
2006 U.S. Summer Travel to Europe Sets Record
Americans made a record 6.81 million visits to Europe last summer, according to final air traffic numbers from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The total for the 2006 summer travel season, which runs from May to September, was up 5.9 percent over those months in 2005 and 1.5 percent above the previous record, set in 2000.
The strong summer numbers for U.S. travel to Europe were bolstered by record-setting individual-month totals in May, July and September. While data for the final three months of 2006 will not be available until March, it is possible that 2006 will break the record for most outbound travelers to Europe in a single year, which is 13.12 million and was set in 2000.
Sign Up Now to Help With Tourism Cares Work Project
Registrations for the 2007 Tourism Cares for America cleanup project in historic Virginia City, Nevada, are starting to roll in. What better way to start the new year than by adding your name to the list and joining your industry colleagues May 17-19 to help with this worthy effort.
Volunteers will be assisting with the restoration and rejuvenation of multiple tourism-related sites of this historic mining town, located just west of the Reno-Lake Tahoe area. The work sites include Piper’s Opera House, the Storey County Court House and the 1866 First Presbyterian Church.
To register for the Virginia City cleanup event, click here, or for more information call Tourism Cares at 781.821.5990 or e-mail tcfa@tourismcares.org.
It’s Membership Directory Time Again
The new year is here and, once again, it’s time to think of the annual NTA Membership Directory. This 500-plus-page publication, which includes valuable contact information for your industry partners, will be delivered to all of the association’s members.
Advertising space is available for 1/6-page to full-page ads, and the directory provides a great way to put your company in front of many tourism professionals. In addition to your company’s ad, choose to upgrade your membership listing. An enhanced listing will highlight and bold your contact information with space for your company’s color logo. The space deadline for advertising in the Membership Directory is March 1, but reserve your ad space by this Friday, Jan. 5 and receive 2006 rate protection.
Click here to learn more, or for additional details call your account executive at 800.682.8886, ext. 4232 (U.S. and Canada) or 859.226.4232 or contact them via e-mail at advertising@NTA.travel.