Register Now (Get Better Appointments), Pay Later | Norwegian Offers NTA Special
May 1, 2012
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TODAY’S ARTICLES
Register Now (Get Better Appointments), Pay Later for Travel Exchange
Norwegian Offers Special Tour Operator-only Cruise to NTA Members
What’s in Your Wallet? Could Be More Money!
Member-led Webinars Started Today!
Work with an NTA Tour Operator: Here’s Why
Are You Looking to Do Business this Summer?
NTA Member Joins Tourism Cares Board
4 Common (and Costly) Legal Mistakes Businesses Make
Industry News and Updates
Register Now (Get Better Appointments), Pay Later for Travel Exchange
Tour Suppliers and DMOs: Did you know the earlier you register the better-matched your appointments will be at Travel Exchange? If you have to wait for a fiscal year
budget to roll over before you can register, we may have a solution to help you get your best appointments plus Early Bird savings. By choosing the "Invoice me" option on the registration payment page, you can register now for Travel Exchange and pay later via invoice. You’ll save up to $200 with the Early Bird rate and secure your spot at the most diverse show in the travel industry: Travel Exchange, Jan. 20–24, in Orlando, Florida.
And, don’t forget: Sellers, you can bring your CEO/executive for free, too.
Norwegian Offers Special Tour Operator-only Cruise to NTA Members
Two representatives from Norwegian Cruise Line visited the NTA’s Lexington headquarters to invite NTA tour operators on a special Norwegian Jade Seminar at Sea.
Brandon Townsley, Norwegian’s national director, growth markets, and Jodi Danyluk, who recently became the cruise company’s program manager for emerging markets, are offering NTA tour operators the chance to experience Freestyle Cruising firsthand on Norwegian Jade, Saturday, Aug. 25 through Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012.
"We recognize that tour operators play an integral part in helping us fill our new ships," Danyluk said. "And we want to give them an opportunity to experience what they can sell to their customers."
The Seminar at Sea is a 7-day Mediterranean sailing from Venice. These deeply discounted rates, based on double occupancy, include all taxes and gratuities:
Balcony Cabin $862.66
Oceanview Cabin $757.66
Tour operators can find specifics and terms and register for the cruise here.
What’s in Your Wallet? Could Be More Money!
Are you making the best-possible profit when accepting credit or debit card payments? You can contact NTA Corporate Partner Capital One® to find out.
Capital One Bank offers a hassle-free credit card processing analysis at no charge. Their free analysis can help you identify specific ways to increase your profit, and show you how to reduce related expenses through Capital One’s Merchant Services Program.
Benefits include*:
- No underwriting fees
- Transparent and competitive rates
- Gift & Loyalty card programs to help increase your sales and repeat business
- Ability to utilize your existing equipment and interface with major point-of-sale systems
- No annual or monthly minimum fees
- 24-hour customer support
One of the nation’s top 10 largest banks, Capital One® can deposit settlements directly into your existing bank account. They also offer a 90-day risk-free trial with no set-up fees to try their service.
For complete details, contact Kimberly Bonzelaar at or call 936.524.7485. (Be sure to identify yourself as an NTA member.) You’ll find information on more NTA Corporate Partner programs here.
*Available to NTA members with a U.S.-based Tax I.D. number.
Member-led Webinars Started Today!
Join us for Travel Exchange: Explore, Expand, Excel—a series of free Webinars helping you have your best success at NTA’s convention in Orlando. Each session is tailored to a specific member category, and all are hosted by NTA members familiar with Travel Exchange.
The Webinars will dive into the details of Travel Exchange ’13, including a peek at the schedule, a glimpse at the layout of the floor and a review of the benefits of Travel Exchange: the NTA you love-with added business opportunities.
Tour operators were up this afternoon at 3. Here’s the lineup of Webinars for the rest of the week, with a registration link for each:
DMOs
Wednesday, May 2, at 2 p.m. ET
International members
Thursday, May 3, at 10 a.m. ET
Tour suppliers
Friday, May 4, at 2 p.m. ET
Join in the conversation and get ready for the best new show in the industry, Jan. 20–24, 2013, in Orlando!
Work with an NTA Tour Operator: Here’s Why
Anybody reading this already knows that NTA is the premier professional trade 
association for tour operators and other travel professionals, right? But in case you need to convince others about the benefits of working with NTA members, you can use this sheet (a page from NTA’s Student Travel Planner).
There are plenty of reasons to use a member operator, of course. Besides being insured, globally networked and passionate about their work, NTA operators provide:
- Volume pricing
- Networked knowledge
- Valuable experience
- Relief from planning
- Worldwide reach
If you want more reasons, find them on "Why Work with an NTA Tour Operator?"—and pass them along.
Are You Looking to Do Business this Summer?
Then you should attend NTA’s Contact ’12 event, being held August 16-18 in San Diego, California! Contact, the next generation of NTA’s Tour Operator Spring Meet,
is the professional travel industry event of the summer, and we invite you join us.
Tour suppliers and DMOs, this is your chance to do one-on-one business with 100-plus NTA tour operators in a relaxed and casual environment at places such as the San Diego Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari Park and Sea World San Diego, and at meal functions, educational sessions, etc. Because this is a tour operator-exclusive event, sellers must sponsor to attend but, trust us, you’ll love the ratio of buyers to sellers.
Interested in learning more about sponsoring to attend? Check out our new Contact ’12 Sponsorship Brochure and let Melisa-Beth Rooke (phone: 859.264.6561) know if you have any questions. She’ll be happy to help you! See you in San Diego!
NTA Member Joins Tourism Cares Board
Tourism Cares, NTA’s official charitable organization, added five travel and tourism industry leaders to its board of directors, including another NTA member: Fred Dixon of NYC & Company.
"There is no greater work that we can do as members of this great industry than to preserve the travel experience for future generations," Dixon said. "I was honored to be there for the first Tourism Cares volunteer project at Ellis Island some 10 years ago, and I look forward to contributing in new ways to its future."
Dixon joins other NTA members and friends on the Tourism Cares board, including Daniel Sullivan Jr., president of Collette Vacations and chairman of the Tourism Cares board; John Stachnik, CTP, president of Mayflower Tours and vice chairman of the board; and board members Ellen Lurz of Book My Group and Lisa Simon, CTP, president of NTA.
Besides Dixon, the other new members to the board are Carolyn A. Cauceglia, Amadeus North America, Inc.; John Lovell, Vacation.com; Betsy O’Rourke, Royal Caribbean International; and Arnie Weissmann, Travel Weekly.
Since 2003, Tourism Cares has helped restore sites across the United States through its Tourism Cares for America volunteer projects. Tourism Cares is also organizing a new program that replicates its programs overseas. The first event of its new Global Outreach program, GO Peru, will take place this week in Cusco and Machu Picchu.
4 Common (and Costly) Legal Mistakes Businesses Make
When you operate your own business, you’re constantly juggling details concerning
clients, staff, projects, technology, etc. And while you might turn over legal matters to your lawyer and accountant, you still need to be alert to common mistakes. SmallBizBee.com identifies several legalities often overlooked by business owners. Be sure you’re not making these missteps:
- No formal contract: Handshakes work well during introductions, but not for sealing a deal with clients and vendors. A contract will protect you and your business.
- Unregistered trademark: You can’t stop someone from trademark infringement if you failed to trademark your brand (name or slogan).
- Careless filing: Determining how your business operates-whether as an S corporation or an LLC, for example-should be left to an attorney.
- Unnecessary Incorporation: On the other hand, don’t assume your business must be incorporated. Get professional advice about the need to incorporate.
For details on these and other common mistakes, see the full article.
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