Tuesday Newsletter
March 21, 2006
Tuesday Newsletter, March 21, 2006
Volume 26: Issue 12
| Interested in becoming a sponsor for Tuesday? Contact Karla DiNardo at karla.dinardo@NTA.travel. |
Board Approves Less Demanding Convention Schedule
The NTA Board of Directors has approved revisions to the 2006 Annual Convention schedule that maintain the quality of appointments in the Tour & Travel Exchange, while offering delegates a less demanding schedule.
As a result of the revisions, the second Exchange session (formerly held all day on Monday) will now take place over two half days – Sunday and Monday mornings. No appointment times are lost, and the switch allows delegates to experience more of the great things the Convention has to offer. The Saturday and Tuesday Exchange Sessions remain unchanged.
"I would like to congratulate the Convention Committee on the revisions they have recommended," said NTA Chairman and CEO Judith Thomas, CTP. "They were able to respond to member feedback for a more flexible schedule while providing the same great business opportunities that NTA is known for throughout the packaged travel industry."
The complete Convention schedule will be available in its entirety on May 16, when the NTA Annual Convention Web site becomes available at http://convention.NTA.travel.
Benefit Basics: Trade Show Representation
Did you know that NTA is regularly out on the trade show circuit, promoting its members and increasing association awareness within the industry? In 2006, NTA will be represented at eight industry trade shows.
NTA’s purpose at trade shows is two-fold. First, we strive to create awareness within the industry for your company and for your association. The stronger and more recognizable the NTA name, the more credence we have as an organization. Also, NTA supports its members, by educating trade show attendees on all of its available resources. We accomplish these objectives through the following means:
Additionally, from time to time, NTA alliances afford members discounts on exhibit or registration fees at other industry trade shows. Watch Tuesday for details on such offers throughout the year.
Tourism Data for 2005 Reveals Growth
The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that receipts from international travel and tourism reached a record level of $104.8 billion in 2005, surpassing the $103.1 billion mark set in 2000. The 2005 amount spent in the U.S. represented a 12 percent increase ($11.5 billion) in travel-related tourism spending over 2004.
The number of international visitors (49.4 million) to the U.S. in 2005 was seven percent higher than the 2004 total. Statistics also revealed that 2005 marked the 17th consecutive year that the travel and tourism industry has generated a balance of trade surplus. The surplus gained $6 billion over 2004, an increase of 142 percent, marking the second-consecutive year the excess has more than doubled.
To access the 2005 reports on international arrivals to the United States, click here.
Virginia Product Development Trip On the Horizon
The cities of Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach invite you to join the 2006 NTA Student & Youth AIM Product Development Trip. From June 6-11, NTA tour operators will enjoy productive days of touring these cities on the Virginia waterfront.
The itinerary includes five full days in the area including:
The cost is $100, which includes lodging, sightseeing and most meals. Additionally, tour operators who sign up will get to meet with local suppliers and DMOs through a special "Putting It All Together" marketplace session.
In compliance with NTA guidelines, only one full-time employee per company may attend and guests or spouses are not permitted. For more information on the trip, click here, or contact Todd Swindell by calling 888.493.7386 or e-mailing him at tswindell@nngov.com.
Tourism Cares Gulf Coast Project a Huge Success
They flew in from Nevada and Providence, R.I., and many points in between. They took motorcoaches from Nashville and Mount Pleasant, Mich. They drove in from Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and upstate Mississippi. They slept in tents and military barracks. They ranged from CEOs of major travel companies to tourism students.
And, once they were gathered in the greater Biloxi/Gulfport area, these 330 industry professionals made a difference through this year’s Tourism – Caring for America project. The two-day event involved work at nine different tourism sites doing things like clearing debris at the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, searching for buried artifacts at the Maritime & Seafood Museum, rebuilding a tree house village at the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center, salvaging historic treasures and bricks at Beauvoir and laying sod at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
"There were a lot of cheers and a lot of tears," Bruce Beckham, CTP, executive director of Tourism Cares for Tomorrow said. "It was a great opportunity for the tourism and travel community to not only see what has happened, but also to help clean up tourism-related sites in Mississippi."
Volunteers got to work side-by-side with Gulf Coast residents and listen to their stories, in addition to going on driving tours of the hard-hit areas that were narrated by local industry members.
A big thanks goes to project organizers Lisa Schmiemann and Natalie King of the Tourism Cares staff for their hard work and tireless efforts, along with the staff at the Mississippi Gulf Coast CVB and the event sponsors.
A recap of the event already is posted on the Tourism Cares Web site and, within the next couple of weeks, photos and written reflections from volunteers about the project will be added.
NTA Seeks Additional Credit Card Processor
Your association endorses certain companies offering products or services to NTA members at discounted rates. Currently, NTA endorses Paymentech as the official corporate partner for credit card processing in North America. However, the Paymentech agreement is non-exclusive and, therefore, we are seeking additional referrals for companies offering discounted credit card processing services – specifically companies with an interest in the travel and tourism industry.
If you are currently working with a credit card processor at the national level and are pleased with the service and rates you receive, please share your information so that we may explore an arrangement for other NTA members. Please submit the company name, contact name and phone number via e-mail to Karla DiNardo at karla.dinardo@NTA.travel.
Other Ways to Help the Gulf Coast
There are still plenty of volunteer opportunities for groups to aid in the ongoing recovery efforts along the United States Gulf Coast, according to travel professionals in the Gulf Coast region. The following information was taken from a recent series of articles that ran in Tuesday, in which NTA members from affected areas were interviewed.
Here are the names of people in Mississippi and Louisiana who tour operators can contact to help them plan their volunteer groups’ trips:
For recent news on cleanup and recovery efforts, visit NTA’s Hurricane Update Web page.
Reserve Your June and July Courier Advertising Space Today
The June issue of Courier will feature Native American, First Nations and Western Heritage as well as Active Adventure Travel. The June trip planners will showcase the Canadian Maritimes & Quebec (New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Quebec) and the Gulf Coast (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas) and the travel guides will showcase Maryland/D.C., Pennsylvania and Virginia. The advertising space deadline for the June issue is March 31.
The July Courier promises to have an informative mix of editorial and advertisements, so don’t forget to reserve your space before the May 1 deadline. Music Destinations and Zoos & Aquariums will be featured, and the trip planners will highlight Coastal California & Baja, as well as Classic New England. The travel guides will include Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia.
For more detailed information, or to reserve your prime space now for either issue, call 800.682.8886, ext. 4238 (U.S. and Canada) or 859.226.4238 and talk to your account executive. Click here to view information on other upcoming issues of Courier.