Tour Operators: How Do You Compare? | San Diego Trivia | Thanks so Much!
June 5, 2012
Interested in advertising in Tuesday? E-mail Karla DiNardo.
TODAY’S ARTICLES
Tour Operators: How Do You Compare?
Want a Prize? Brush Up on Your San Diego Trivia.
Thanks so Much!
NTA Partners with Brand USA at CITM: Registration Now Open
26 U.S. Bus Operations Shut Down
NTA in the News
Courier Reaches Facebook Milestone
Topics Chosen for NTA’s 2012–2013 Trip Planner for Group Leaders
Survey Reveals Airfare "Tipping Point" for American Travelers
Industry News and Updates
Tour Operators: How Do You Compare?
By completing one 15-minute survey, you’ll help every NTA operator run their 
business better-including yours! In today’s e-mail from the NTA Owners Network is a survey created to establish benchmarks for your business practices. After operator members provide (confidentially, of course) information about salaries, benefits, policies and gross sales, the information will be compiled into peer standards, sorted by location, staff size and annual sales.
The resulting report will have the information you’ve wanted and needed on wage and benefits practices among your peers, but it’s got to include input from you. Every company that participates will receive access to the full report at no cost. And if you come to Contact in San Diego, you’ll be the first to see the results at the seminar, Setting the Bar: How Do You Compare?
If you have questions about the survey—or didn’t receive the survey intended for all NTA operators—contact Jason Terwilliger, research and education manager, by e-mail or by calling +1.859.264.6546.
Want a Prize? Brush Up on Your San Diego Trivia.
If you love the idea of getting away for a retreat at Contact ’12 in San Diego and like us on Facebook, then you’ll want to pay close attention to the NTA Facebook page over the next few weeks. (If you don’t ‘like’ our page yet, this is the time to do it!)
Jigger Abendano of the San Diego CVB will be posting a trivia question each Wednesday in June (beginning tomorrow!) on the NTA Facebook page. Be the first NTA member to answer correctly, and you’ll win an awesome gift basket—courtesy of San Diego and California—shipped directly to your home.
So, brush up on your San Diego trivia and keep an eye on Facebook for your chance to win!
As NTA has taken to the road to visit and share a meal or drink with our members around North America, we’ve been hosted and helped and warmly welcomed by the following. Thanks so much. We couldn’t have done it without you.
Alabama Theatre; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Avista Resort; North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 
Dollywood; Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
The Inn at Christmas Place; Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
NYC & Company, New York City
Heartland Brewery, New York City
Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing; Branson, Missouri
Dave & Busters; Nashville, Tennessee
Graceland; Memphis, Tennessee
Rhode Island Tourism Division, Providence, R.I., and their partners:
- Bristol Harbor Inn at Thames Street Landing
- City of Warwick Tourism, Culture and Development
- Blithewold Mansion, Gardens & Arboretum
- Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau
- Discover Newport
- Blackstone Valley Tourism Council
- South County Tourism Council
- Buskers
- Bird’s Eye View Helicopters
- Flagship Trailways
- The Village Inn Hotel & Conference Center
- Hotel Providence
River Street Riverboat Company / Savannah Riverboat Cruises, Savannah, Georgia
NTA Partners with Brand USA at CITM: Registration Now Open
Registration is now open for the Brand USA Pavilion, in partnership with NTA, at the China International Travel Mart. CITM 2012 is the largest travel trade event in China, and it’s the only one sanctioned by the China National Tourism Administration.
The Brand USA Pavilion gives U.S. destinations and tour suppliers a unique 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. In 2011 alone, Chinese visitors spent US$5.7 billion in the United States.
For details about securing space in the pavilion, follow this link to B-FOR, the company handling exhibit services. B-FOR can handle questions about booth space, while Haybina Hao, NTA’s director of international development, can help NTA members determine the benefits of participating at CITM.
26 U.S. Bus Operations Shut Down
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shut down 26 bus operations last week, declaring them imminent hazards to public safety. The action was the largest single safety crackdown in the agency’s history. FMCSA shut down three primary companies—Apex Bus, I-95 Coach and New Century Travel—that oversaw a broad network of other bus companies. None of the three or its subsidiaries are NTA (or UMA) members. For details about the investigations and violations, see the FMCSA release.
And there’s a great resource for checking motorcoach carrier companies: FMCSA offers SaferBus, a free mobile application that provides safety information about the nearly 6,000 interstate commercial passenger carriers registered with the U.S. Department of Transportation. Designed for the Apple iPhone and iPad, the app can be downloaded for free by visiting the Apple iTunes App Store or by going to FMCSA’s "Look Before You Book" Web page
Group Tour Magazine features an expansive Q&A with NTA President Lisa Simon, CTP, which covers many facets of Travel Exchange: member benefits, format, expectations and opportunities.
And in Travel Market Report, reporter Nick Verrastro revisits NTA’s first-ever Faith-based Tourism Leaders Forum, held in December at Convention in Las Vegas, in an article about the faith-based travel niche.
Also in the trades is a story about Mark Hoffmann, CTP, receiving the James D. Santini Award during the Grassroots Congressional Travel Summit.
Courier Reaches Facebook Milestone
Congratulations to Chantal Lavoux-Guy, director of sales and marketing at Southern California’s Martin Resorts-an NTA member since 2008-for being Courier magazine’s 100th Facebook fan. To be a part of this new online community, simply type "Courier magazine" in your Facebook search bar, then click the "Like" button at the top of the page.
Topics Chosen for NTA’s 2012–2013 Trip Planner for Group Leaders
The NTA Trip Planner for Group Leaders promotes partnering with NTA members to more than 20,000 qualified group leaders and NTA tour operators. The 2012-2013 edition will include 21 top cities for group travel in the Where to Go section, and group leaders can browse the enormous wealth of NTA product possibilities in sections focusing on lodging, dining, shopping, performance, museums, national parks, sightseeing and casinos.
Interested in advertising in this publication and reaching 20,000 group leaders? Deadline to reserve space is June 15, so call 859.264.6559 or e-mail NTA Services today!
Survey Reveals Airfare "Tipping Point" for American Travelers
The majority of U.S. consumers polled (82 percent) said the "tipping point" for purchasing a domestic airline ticket is somewhere between $200 and $500; for
international travel, 43 percent consider the tipping point to be between $1,000 and $1,500. Beyond those points, consumers are unlikely to view value in the price of a ticket and are less likely to purchase.
The survey was conducted by Travel Leaders, the travel agency franchise group. More results from the study:
- When asked what could change their tipping point for domestic airfare, respondents said funerals (66 percent), medical needs (45 percent) and weddings (33 percent).
- Nearly 94 percent indicate they will be taking at least one leisure trip this year, up from 89 percent last year.
- Respondents are more likely to travel within their own state or to a bordering state this year.
- Nearly two-thirds of respondents (64 percent) will take land-based leisure trips, while 34 percent will combine a land and cruise vacation, a big increase from last year’s 21 percent.
This is the fourth year for Travel Leaders‘ survey.
- International air travel to and from the United States totaled 55.4 million passengers from January to April 2012. That’s a 10 percent increase over 2011.
- The Los Angeles Times details the highlights of San Diego, host city for Contact 2012. The article says San Diego is "kid-friendlier than San Francisco, cooler than the desert and healthier than just about any place." Tour operators, want to go? Join us at Contact, Aug. 16–18, in San Diego!.
- To counter a lack of consumer confidence in cleanliness among midscale hotels, Best Western International is equipping housekeepers with UV black lights to detect particles on highly touched areas such as telephones, bathroom fixtures and light switches.
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