10 Can’t-miss Features of Travel Exchange |NTA at DC | New Members
August 7, 2012
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TODAY’S ARTICLES
10 Can’t-miss Features of Travel Exchange
NTA Members among Tourism Leaders at DC Meeting
Not On P2P? You Should Be.
Two Fairs, Two Ways to Tap Growing China Market
Latest NTA Trip Planner Includes 175-plus Group Tour Options
Welcome these New Members
Market Focus: Ecotourism, Culinary, Family, Faith-based and Sports Tourism
Who Is Friend No. 200 for Courier?
Music and Motorcoaches
Tourism Cares Grantee Celebrates Bicentennial
Why Should Hotels Care About Online Reviews?
Industry News and Updates
10 Can’t-miss Features of Travel Exchange
Travel Exchange will be here sooner than you know it! (Can you believe it’s already August?!) Below are 10 things you don’t want to miss. Act now to get the best of Travel Exchange!
- Early Bird rates! Tour Suppliers and DMOs save $200, tour operators save $110 by registering by Aug. 24. Register now for a week’s worth of education, business development and networking. Don’t forget, you can register now to get the lower rates and pay later by choosing the "Bill me" payment option.
- Great business appointments. Appointment scheduling starts Sept. 12! Two steps to better business appointments: 1) Register (the sooner you register the better your appointments); 2) update your online profile. Remember, it’s your biggest marketing tool at Travel Exchange, so stand out and get noticed!
- A whole new trade show floor. We combined the NTA Convention with the UMA Expo to form Travel Exchange for one reason: to bring our members new business. This year the Travel Exchange floor will include everything you expect from NTA—the Destination Pavilion, Tour Supplier Exchange, and Mall—PLUS the UMA trade show floor. It’s two shows for one price and a world of opportunities.
- Fresh new faces and friendly familiar faces (recognize anyone?). Travel Exchange is your opportunity to spend time with business partners old and new and take home contracts, new business ideas and an expanded list of contacts.
- Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The Sunday night Icebreaker at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex will be an out-of-this-world experience that includes the Space Shuttle Atlantis Exhibit, a Shuttle Launch Experience, the IMAX Theaters, Rocket Garden and Exploration Space: Explorers Wanted!
- Former NASA Astronaut, Robert Springer, is our keynote speaker and will be kicking off the convention at our Opening Ceremony!
- Tourism Rocks! party for Tourism Cares. Hang out with friends, dance and network to support this great cause! Sponsors include: Hard Rock, Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority and Prevost.
- Sightseeing in Orlando. We’ve got nine opportunities for you to see the sights of Orlando this January. Don’t wait, seats are limited and filling up fast!
- The 5K Fun(d) Run. For just $25 you have the option to run, walk or sleep-in to support NTA’s Government Issues Fund on Tuesday morning. It’s a great way to start a day in Orlando.
- Broadway Luncheon, sponsored by Group Sales Box Office/Broadway.com. It’s on Monday, Jan. 21, so be sure you arrive in Orlando in time for this perennially popular lunch featuring real Broadway acts!
Don’t miss a minute of Travel Exchange, Jan. 20–24, 2013, in Orlando, Florida. Visit the Travel Exchange Web site for more information and to register. See you in January!
NTA Members among Tourism Leaders at DC Meeting
NTA was well represented at an Aug. 1 meeting of the White House Business Council, when travel and tourism were the focus of the first session of the American
Economic Competitiveness Series. Nearly 50 national tourism leaders attended the meeting, which included presentations by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank and NTA member Todd Davidson, CEO of Travel Oregon and chair of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.
"The awareness, recognition and resulting actions exhibited by the White House and the administration are unprecedented," Davidson said. "We stand at a threshold where we can state unequivocally and unapologetically that America’s travel and tourism industry is a primary driver of our nation’s economy."
Other items covered included visitation growth, the economic impact from international travel into the United States and the expansion of the Visa Waiver Program.
The group also discussed the progress in processing visa applications. "I am particularly pleased with the visa turnaround times in countries such as Brazil, facilitating more visitors to come to the United States," said Olga Ramudo, president of Express Travel in Miami, a member of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board and chair of the NTA-ASTA Hispanic Business Development Task Force.
Along with Davidson, Ramudo and other NTA members, the association was represented by Steve Richer, NTA public affairs advocate.
NTA’s Partner2Partner is an online business community where NTA members can buy and sell all day every day. If you haven’t checked in or uploaded a package,
here’s what you’re missing:
- Free NTA Online home page promotion: All packages posted on the P2P site appear in the P2P scroll box on the NTA Online home page. The NTA home page gets an average 35,000 views a month. Are your packages scrolling there?
- Filling Your Tours: Do you have a tour that needs just a few more spaces filled? P2P is great for connecting quickly with other operators to fill your space.
- Announcing Last-minute Deals: Operators check the P2P site for any deals from sellers. Sellers, post your last-minute deals for the operators.
The P2P program is FREE for members, so take advantage of your membership! It’s just one more way NTA can help get your name out there and drive potential business.
To log in to the P2P site, use your same login information (e-mail/password) for NTAOnline.com. If you have any questions or would like a demo, please call 800.682.8886 (U.S. & Canada) or 859.264.6540 or e-mail us.
Two Fairs, Two Ways to Tap Growing China Market 
Two trade fairs sanctioned by the China National Tourism Administration give NTA members an opportunity to develop or enhance their market reach in China, whose visitation numbers to the United States is projected to increase nearly 200 percent in the next five years.
The Northern China Tourism Fair is scheduled for Aug. 24 to 26 in Taiyuan, with one day devoted to B2B, and two days focused on consumers. All ten Northern provinces and cities with provincial status are co-hosting the event including top GDP producers Shandong and Beijing. This region holds 35 percent of the country’s population, produced 43 percent of China’s GDP in the first half of 2012, and has seen an 11.9 percent boost in consumer purchasing power compared to last year. Between 5,000 and 10,000 trade reps (and more than 40 journalists) will attend the show.
The NTA booth will help promote the American tourism industry, and for $150, NTA will help you distribute 150 copies of flyers/brochures to the Chinese travel trade and media. If you need assistance with translation or printing (in China, to save shipping), NTA can provide quick help. For further information contact Haybina Hao, NTA’s director of international development.
And space is filling up in the Discover America Pavilion, brought to you in partnership by Brand USA and NTA at the China International Travel Mart. CITM 2012, slated for Nov. 15 to 18, is the largest travel trade event in China. Participants in CITM come from all sectors of the travel industry, and organizers are inviting buyers from China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and other countries.
The Discover America Pavilion gives U.S. destinations and tour suppliers a unique opportunity. For details about securing space in the pavilion, follow this link (or contact Haybina Hao).
Latest NTA Trip Planner Includes 175-plus Group Tour Options
The 2012–13 edition of the NTA Trip Planner for Group Leaders showcases more than 175 great experiences that await groups at top attractions and destinations 
around the world. The publication includes feature stories on NTA-member museums, casinos, sightseeing tours and performance venues. Additional features profile members that cover tour basics such as shopping and lodging, and you can read up on what’s new at zoos and aquariums as well as historical homes and gardens.
The "I Want to Go There" section puts 21 top cities for groups under the microscope and passes along details on a range of one-of-a-kind options awaiting groups at each destination. You can find out more about 20 new plays and musicals that will be making their debut on Broadway during the 2012–13 season. The publication also includes the annual Tour Operator Directory and first-person updates from two NTA tour operators on the benefits group leaders will receive when they work with operators.
This 72-page magazine, designed specifically for group leaders, is one of two titles in the NTA Trip Planner series, which also includes an issue that focuses on student travel. Both magazines help educate these two types of travel buyers about the diverse products offered by NTA’s tour operator, tour supplier and DMO members.
For more information on advertising in the NTA Trip Planners, e-mail NTA Services, call +1.859.264.6559 or click here.
July brought 23 new members to NTA, including four tour operators, a DMO and 18 tour suppliers, including hotels, receptive operators, attractions, and transportation companies. To see your newest potential business partners, follow this link to the list of new NTA members.
Market Focus: Ecotourism, Culinary, Family, Faith-based and Sports Tourism
Market Focus connects you to articles about NTA members in specific industry segments, and with each article is a link to the member to contact for more information. If you have a news story or educational article about your organization’s involvement in a key market, send it for possible republication to Kevin Wright, NTA’s director of growth markets.
Ecotourism
Florida’s Emerald Coast Ripe for Ecotourism
NTA member to contact: Emerald Coast CVB
Culinary Tourism
Vermont Tourism Showcases Food and Farm Experiences
NTA member to contact: Vermont Tourism Network
Family Travel
Tweens Define Another Segment of Family Travel
NTA tour operators RSVP for Family Travel & Adventure Tourism Leaders Forum at Travel Exchange
Faith-based Travel
A Century of Strength: Branson Still Rooted in Faith
NTA member to contact: Branson Tourism Center, Branson/Lakes Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
Sports Tourism
Wilmington (N.C.) Officials Attempt to Beef Up Sports Tourism
NTA member to contact: Wilmington and Beaches CVB
Who Is Friend No. 200 for Courier? 
Courier magazine congratulates Betsay Painter, director of sales at Low Country Hotels in Charleston, South Carolina, who recently became the 200th member to "like" NTA’s official publication on Facebook. To join this online community, simply type "Courier magazine" in your Facebook search bar, select the cover graphic and once on the page, click the "Like" button at the top.
October’s Courier is featuring some fabulous topics! The monthly special section is "Music, Music, Music," and the monthly guide will be motorcoach companies. Don’t miss your chance to be included!
October’s exciting destinations include Asia, Great Plains (Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, North Dakota and South Dakota), Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and Hawaii.
Call us today to reserve your space in NTA’s official monthly magazine: 859.264.6559 or e-mail advertising@ntaservicesinc.com.
P.S. Be sure to check out our online offerings: NTAonline.com banners get over 37,000 views each month! Click here to view.
Tourism Cares Grantee Celebrates Bicentennial
During the War of 1812 the USS Constitution earned her greatest fame and her nickname, "Old Ironsides," by defeating five British warships. The USS Constitution Museum, a 2011 Tourism Cares grantee, recently celebrated the bicentennial of the War of 1812 and the vital role this historic ship played during the conflict.
This heritage site, home of the nation’s oldest commissioned warship afloat, is
situated in Boston’s historic Charlestown Naval Yard and is one of the most visited sites in the city. On July 2, 2012, Anne Grimes Rand, president of the museum, welcomed Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick for the celebration. Carolyn Viles, director of grant programs, represented Tourism Cares.
The USS Constitution Museum has been a Boston landmark since 1972. Through its hands-on, interactive programming, the museum provides generations of visitors with an enjoyable and relevant educational experience. Last year, a Tourism Cares Worldwide Grant supported the creation of the "Old Ironsides War of 1812 Discovery Center," which includes a stage and family area.
The Tourism Cares Worldwide Grant Blue Ribbon Panel is composed of U.S. experts in the fields of conservation, preservation, restoration and tourism. The Tourism Cares Academic and Professional Development Scholarship Selection Committees consist of travel, tourism, and hospitality educators and industry professionals from across the United States. Their role is to evaluate suitable applications and select recipients, and to advise and support Tourism Cares.
Why Should Hotels Care About Online Reviews?
Here’s your answer. This infographic on Mashable.com makes it clear that with the dramatic increase in hotel reviews comes increased reliance by consumers. According to a report from Olery.com, four out of five travelers find user reviews important, and nearly half won’t book a property that has no reviews.
Among the Top 10 Web sites, TripAdvisor.com has more reviews (60 million) than the other nine combined. More than half of all reviews are from leisure-only travelers, while 36 percent are posted by travelers combining leisure and business.
- Motorcoach access to the 9/11 Memorial will change on Aug. 13, when work begins at Trinity Church. Tour bus loading and unloading will be limited to segments of Trinity Place where no work is taking place and at the BM1/BM2/BM3 bus stop on Trinity Place.
- Compared to the same period last year, group-committed room nights at North American hotels are up 5.7 percent for the third quarter of 2012 through the second quarter of 2013, according to TravelClick.
- After a summertime low on July 2, U.S. gas prices took a big jump in July but are expected to stay flat through August and then decline after Labor Day.
- Asked by GO Airport Express, flying travelers said they would pay extra for (in order of popularity) more leg room, Wi-Fi, and a designated child-free area.
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