Tuesday Newsletter – April 20, 2010
April 20, 2010
Volume 30, Issue 16
Interested in advertising in Tuesday? E-mail Kelley Burchell at kelley.burchell@NTAstaff.com.
TODAY’S ARTICLES
Convention Transportation Deals
The Future of NTA Meetings and Events
Senate Version of TRIP Act Introduced Monday
MONTAGE Review
Back by popular demand—The Tourism Cares Silent Auction!
Increase your Operator Business by Hosting a PDT
Things we Forget to Recycle in the Office
Ways to Celebrate National Parks Week and Earth Day
Connect with Members 24/7 for Free
Thank you to NTA Volunteers
How to Form a Public Relations Plan for your Business
What’s New in Travel News
Sales Manager Position Open with Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway
Convention Transportation Deals
If you fly directly into the Pierre Elliott Trudeau International airport (YUL) in Montreal, our host city will be providing complimentary shuttles to the official NTA Convention hotels. Click here to see the schedule.
Receive a 5 percent discount from jetBlue for flights Nov. 12-18, 2010, by using the special code (NTA2010) when you book your flight.
If you are looking for a unique and cost-effective way to get to Convention, consider flying into Burlington, Vermont, and traveling with other NTA members on a shuttle to Montreal. NTA member Sugar Tours in West Dover, Vermont, is offering members round trip door-to-door service from Vermont to Montreal for US$79. Visit the Sugar Tours Web site for details and to register for the service. Also, enjoy a hospitality lounge where Vermont delegates will have samples of Vermont’s great specialties including apple cider and Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. How much could this shuttle help you save? Click here for more information on logistics.
"I made so many business contacts and great potential partnerships at
Convention ’09. It was well worth the time and money. NTA is definitely an
association-of-choice for us."
Lily Tatafu Moore
Group Destination Planners, LLC
Member Since 2009
Convention sponsorships are available that will ensure you great visibility and benefits. Sponsor at the US$5,000 level and receive an exhibit booth on the exchange floor—the perfect way to stand out to the expected 650 buyers that will be in attendance. Click here for a complete list of sponsorships and benefits or contact Karla DiNardo to secure your spot today!
Convention ‘10 is just one of the many ways NTA expands buying and selling opportunities for our members. Register and find out where your membership can take you.
The Future of NTA Meetings and Events
NTA is listening to the requests of members and has developed a suite of business events to answer these needs. Mark your calendar and prepare your budget for the NTA events coming up in 2011.
- MONTAGE will be an annual international event and next year the conference will be held in Aberdeen, Scotland, April 13-16, in conjunction with the Visit Scotland Expo. The complete set of dates is still being finalized but based on the huge success of our inaugural conference, you will not want to miss Scotland!
- The newest NTA event is CONTACT—a tour operator event, which will always be held in North America. NTA member Jill Pongonis came up with the name CONTACT for this event. She was recently quoted saying that there is "no contact without NTA," which is the perfect name for this event where members will be reaching out and making contact with business partners. Next year NTA will hold the inaugural business and education conference in Rhode Island, in July or August (specific dates are being determined). The NTA Meetings and Events Committee developed a format for CONTACT where business will be combined with three educational tracks important to a tour company: CEO/owner, sales and marketing and operations.
- Rounding out the 2011 business events, Convention will be Dec. 5-9 in Las Vegas and will still be co-located with the World Religious Travel Association.
Looking further into the future, don’t forget that NTA is co-locating its Convention with the United Motorcoach Association’s Expo beginning in the first quarter of 2013. With NTA, UMA and WRTA coming together, this collaboration will bring more than 2,000 buyers to our Convention.
Senate Version of TRIP Act Introduced Monday
U.S. Senator Mark Begich (D-Alaska) introduced the Travel Regional Investment Partnership Act Monday. The TRIP Act creates a competitive matching grant program within the U.S. Department of Commerce to promote domestic tourism through local and regional partnerships. Grants would range from US$100,000 to US$1 million and would leverage matching funds and in-kind support from the private sector.
The visitor industry, for example, employs over 40,000 people in Alaska, about 15 percent of the state’s workforce, and brings nearly US$2 billion in direct expenditures to the state each year. The recent economic downturn has taken a toll on the travel and tourism industry nationwide. Tourism numbers decreased significantly across the nation in 2009, resulting in the loss of 400,000 American jobs and a US$100 billion decline in tourism output.
The TRIP Act will reinvigorate domestic tourism and create jobs. The legislation is considered the domestic counterpart to the recently enacted Travel Promotion Act, co-sponsored by Sen. Begich, and designed to increase visitor traffic from overseas.
The bill is cosponsored by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) who is the chairwoman of the Competitiveness, Innovation and Export Promotion Subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee with jurisdiction over tourism issues. Congressman Sam Farr has sponsored companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Contact your state representatives and let them know that this bill is important to your state. Use NTA’s Legislative Action Center to ask your representative to co-sponsor the TRIP Act and make a difference in the travel industry.
This past week’s MONTAGE event in Seville, Spain, was a mix of valuable business, applicable education and intriguing culture. The event kicked off with a press conference in Seville, featuring MONTAGE Chair Larry Friedman and NTA President Lisa Simon. Click here to see footage of the press conference.
For details from the event, see the following Headlines from the NTAOnline.com homepage:
A Royal Welcome for NTA Attendees
A Full Day of Business at MONTAGE
MONTAGE Attendees Experience Seville
View photos from the event here. See the Future of NTA Meetings story in this issue for news on next year’s MONTAGE location.
NTA would like to thank the very generous sponsors of MONTAGE: The host city and their partners for the Team Building Activity, Icebreaker, Thursday Evening Dinner, Leisure Activities, Gala Dinner Event, Arrival/Departure Transportation and Pre- and Post-Tours—Seville Tourism Board, Andalusian Tourism Board, PRODETUR-Provincial Tourism Board of Seville and TOURSPAIN-Spanish Tourism Office of Chicago; Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises for the event pens; seminar sponsor Hotel Silken Al-Andalus Palace; convenience station sponsor Mohegan Sun; Rhode Island Tourism Division, sponsor of the badge holders; Theatre Direct & Broadway.com/Groups for sponsoring the notebooks; The Mills, A SIMON Company, for the registration bags; MONTAGE program center spread sponsors Tourisme Quebec & Tourisme Montreal; and VisitRochester for sponsoring the water bottles.
If you’re interested in sponsoring at next year’s MONTAGE event in Scotland, please contact Melisa-Beth Rooke for details.
Back by popular demand—The Tourism Cares Silent Auction!
NTA Convention delegates asked for it—so Tourism Cares brought it back! The Silent Auction is a great way to showcase your organization’s product or service. Your participation is an invaluable part of Tourism Cares’ fundraising efforts. By donating an item, travel package, cruise or service directly online, you’ll be helping to raise funds for NTA’s official philanthropy and you’ll receive great exposure on the Tourism Cares auction site including a link back to your own web page! 
Donate an item to this year’s auction to show your support!
To see all the ways you can give back at this year’s NTA Convention, click here.
See you in Montreal!
Increase your Operator Business by Hosting a PDT
NTA is accepting proposals for 2011 Product Development Trips. This tool offers NTA member destinations the opportunity to highlight new product in the area and increase visibility with operators who are looking for new ideas and destinations to market to their clients.
To be considered as a PDT host for 2011, please send a proposed itinerary with pricing and registration capacity to Lisa Thompson in NTA’s marketing department by August 31.
If you’d like a sample of the type of PDTs NTA has hosted in the past, visit NTAOnline.com for more information. NTA Product Development Trips are a unique opportunity to put yourself in front of serious tour operator buyers and offer them first hand experiences of what your destination has to offer. Put your destination in the spotlight today.
Things we Forget to Recycle in the Office
By finding creative ways to recycle and reuse in the office, you can save waste, and in most cases save money while you’re at it. Here are a few ideas from American Express OPEN that can jump start your recycling now during National Parks Week:.
- Office Supplies- Limit the availability your office has to new office supplies and see how resourceful you can be. Designate a central drop zone where supplies that one person no longer needs can be reused by a coworker.
- Paper- Try not to send paper to the recycling bin before you have printed on both sides of it. If you have a presentation or important document that needs printing, print as usual. For internal documents and rough drafts, use both sides of the paper before you reach for a new sheet.
- Cardboard- Repurpose cardboard from a notebook to stiffen envelopes that have important or delicate contents.
To see more tips on easy ways to make your office more environmentally friendly, click here.
Ways to Celebrate National Parks Week and Earth Day
This week is National Parks Week and this Thursday is Earth Day. Get personally involved in the celebration by pitching in. See below for ways to get into the spirit of conservation. For more ideas and information, click here. 
- Share a park, and shape a life—Go to www.nationalparkweek.org and download the brand new free resource for families: Parks for Play: 35 National Park Adventures for Kids of All Ages which features 35 great national parks for families with tykes, teens and everyone in between.
- Visit a National Park for Free—The National Park Service has waived entrance fees to all 392 national parks through Sunday, April 25, 2010. Need help locating your closest park? No problem. Visit www.nps.gov/npweek for all the resources and links you need.
- Plant Native Species—Non-native plants can adversely impact native wildlife, wreak havoc on nearby natural areas and waters, and interfere with efforts to restore imperiled ecosystems like the Everglades.
- Help Support the Parks through Macy’s—If you can’t make it to a park, consider a gift of any amount and Macy’s will match your gift up to $1 million. Macy’s support of the National Park Foundation is helping bring more than 100,000 youth into parks this spring. You can help by visiting your nearest Macy’s store or online www.macys.com/giveback.
- Celebrate Earth Day in the Parks, and Leave Your Car Home—In Boston, on April 21st and 22nd (which is Earth Day) park rangers will be picking up park visitors at MBTA and offering rides to 12 area parks. Take the train through Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio or, carpool with friends to the park nearest you.
- Volunteer—Help pick up trash, mulch a trail, pull weeds or whatever else your local park needs. Find out how you can volunteer by visiting www.nationalparkweek.org.
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Help turn one of America’s best parks into one of America’s best classrooms—This spring, the National Park Foundation will bring Bryce Canyon National Park into classrooms across the country through their Electronic Field Trip. It’s absolutely free for teachers to register their classes for the live broadcast and interactive curriculum. Send any teachers you know this link to sign up for free: www.brycecanyoneft.org/.
Connect with Members 24/7 for Free 
Since its unveiling at Convention ’09, NTA’s Partner2Partner program participation has steadily grown-don’t get left out! Log in to connect with NTA members now and then re-connect with those members at Convention ’10.
New to the P2P online business community? Once logged in, click the orange access instructions button on the bottom left of the homepage or contact NTA Headquarters at +1.859.226.4444 with questions.
P2P Fast Facts
- No business transactions take place on P2P. NTA is simply facilitating the partnership and starting the communication of buying and selling between NTA members.
- P2P is a member benefit. Members receive a specified number of complimentary postings regardless of member category.
- Login and post today! Members use the same login information (e-mail/password) from NTAOnline.com to log into the P2P site. Your organization name will appear as the main contact for all primary and secondary members.
April is National Volunteer month and NTA wants to recognize the many volunteers that keep it going. NTA is governed by a 17-member volunteer board of directors, which is advised and assisted by a 40-member team of volunteer leaders. On top of that, NTA event volunteers are what make NTA events possible. A BIG thank you to everyone who has helped NTA through a leadership position or a volunteer role.
Click here to see our current volunteer Board of Directors.
Click here to see the 40 volunteer members of NTA’s leadership teams.
We want YOU as a convention volunteer this year. Keep your eyes open for information about volunteering at Convention ‘10 in upcoming Tuesday newsletters. We can’t do it without your help.
How to Form a Public Relations Plan for your Business
Crafting a public relations plan requires time, knowledge and understanding of your company’s needs. Here are 10 tips from Ashley Wirthlin at Ragan.com to help you produce a relevant, useful PR plan.
- Understand the company’s current situation.
- Know your resources, including budget and staff.
- Know your objectives and goals—This is essential. You must fully understand where the company wants to go.
- Know and define your target audience(s)—This includes your key media audience and your key client audience.
- List messages and strategies you will use to reach your target audiences.
- Define the tactics you will use to effect the strategies you’ve listed—Tactics are the basic steps to implement your strategy.
- Build a realistic but challenging timeline for implementation.
- Delegate obligations and responsibilities to your team. This ensures that no part of the plan is missed.
- Generate measurements of results/success. These should be in direct relation to the audiences, messages and strategies you have already defined.
- Review the plan after implementation and conclusion of the plan. This encourages group members to work for the company’s success and leads to future success in your PR plans.
Here’s a look at recent research, statistics and news that may apply to you and your business:
- British airspace will reopen at 5 p.m. EDT after nearly a week of closure. Click here to read more.
- The Himalayan mountains are now open to foreign travelers. Click here for the full story.
- The United States and Germany have launched a partnership to link their Trusted Travelers programs. Click here to read the official release from the Department of Homeland Security.
- The Massachusetts House of Representatives approved legislation to allow two casinos and up to 750 slot machines at each race track in the Bay State. Click here for more.
The links in this article are not monitored by NTA staff. Any bad links, expired pages, etc. are due to the constantly changing nature of Web sites.
Sales Manager Position Open with Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway
The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad is seeking an experienced sales and/or business development professional for the position of Sales Manager. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of successfully building business in the tourism / leisure-travel industry.
Qualifications: Degree in business, marketing, tourism or related field. Minimum three years experience in equivalent position with comparable company. Experience may be substituted for education.
For a full job description, please visit www.durangotrain.com/employment. To apply, please e-mail a cover letter with resume, including salary history, in confidence to bburton@durangotrain.com. Must be received by April 26.
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