Tuesday Newsletter – Dec. 15, 2009
December 15, 2009
Volume 29, Issue 49
Tuesday’s title sponsor is Ripley’s New York
Interested in advertising in Tuesday? E-mail Kelley Burchell at kelley.burchell@NTAstaff.com.
TODAY’S ARTICLES
NTA Dues at Work for You
MONTAGE Memo #1: Connect/Conectar
Friends of the Great Smoky Mountains Receives Save Our Sites Grant
Top Reasons to be in Montréal, Québec
NTA Board Meets in Reno
New Opportunity to Connect to Indian Business
Prepare Your Calendar for 2010
Courier to feature Golf, Toronto, Niagara, Branson in MONTAGE issue
Where in the World is Courier?
Students Experienced the Industry at NTA Convention
What’s New in Travel News
This month, tucked in your mailbox amidst all of the holiday greetings, you’ll find your annual NTA membership renewal notice. Your membership dues are an important investment for your company providing access to many resources to help your company grow and prosper. Your dues payment is also vital to NTA to help the organization fund the day-to-day benefits you count on and allows for development of new and innovative ways to deliver more value to you. Here are some of the top new programs:
- Reach a global buyer/partner audience at MONTAGE, an all-member event.
- More opportunity for business online through the new Partner2Partner system and enhanced online member directories with greater functionality—delivering more access to prospective clients, product information and enabling more efficient research.
- Market development and expansion through ongoing efforts to forge new strategic partnerships, NTA oversight of the Visit USA Office in China, and accelerated membership recruitment geared to bring you more buyers, more product, more partners and more profits.
As you are finalizing your operating and marketing plans for 2010, we invite you to fully explore all of the programs, tools, resources and clients NTA delivers to you year after year. And, as you submit your dues payment, you can do so knowing just how wise your membership investment is. Please submit your payment by January 30, 2010.
MONTAGE Memo #1: Connect/Conectar
This is the first of many memos about the reasons to attend MONTAGE. 
#1: Connect/Conectar
There are many ways that you can connect at MONTAGE. One of the best ways for buyers from across the world to meet with the sellers they need is through a half-day business trade show. Taking place from 9 a.m.–1 p.m. on Thursday, April 15, 2010, this makes it easier than ever for buyers and sellers to come together.
How can you take advantage of this business workshop? As a seller, you can choose simply register to attend MONTAGE. Or, for only an additional US$1,500, you can purchase a stand for this trade show. If you’re a buyer, you need only register for the event for US$180 show up and shop!
You can purchase your stand for the business workshop when you register or, if you’ve already registered and would like to upgrade, contact NTA and let us know you’d like to add this business component to your registration.
For exposure throughout the entire event, become a MONTAGE sponsor and receive a variety of sponsor benefits including complimentary registration fees and sponsor promotions before, during and after the event. Contact NTA Sponsorship Manager Melisa-Beth Rooke to reserve your sponsorship today! No restrictions on attendance. No boundaries to selling. That’s MONTAGE.
Friends of the Great Smoky Mountains Receives Save Our Sites Grant
Tourism Cares has awarded Friends of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee a US$5,000 grant as part of the NTA initiated "Save Our Sites" program. The organization was chosen for this special grant in an online poll at www.tourismcares.org. The winner spread the word through social networking sites and local newspaper coverage.
The money raised for this grant was donated by tour operators who participated in the Save Our Sites program on their tours. Friends of the Smokies will use the grant to help repair and preserve historic buildings, hiking paths, and greenery in the park.
Seven sites competed in the six-week online competition including Grand Canyon Trust; South Florida Audubon Society; The Mount, the home of Edith Wharton (Massachusetts); National Civil Rights Museum Foundation (Tennessee); Tierra Nativa Community Ecotourism Program in Mexico; and the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre.
Top Reasons to be in Montréal, Québec 
NTA’s 2010 Convention will be held in the city of Montréal, Québec, Nov. 13–17. Here’s Tourism Montréal’s list of reasons not to stay home!
- Diet is a four-letter word — Good food isn’t a luxury but a necessity in Montréal with more restaurants per capita than anywhere else in North America.
- They know how to entertain — On any given night, you can have your pick of modern or classical dance, opera, symphony, theater, circus, rock concerts, cabaret, jazz . . .
- That certain je ne sais quoi — Is it the mix of French roots, British heritage and North American upbringing? Is it the ever-present joie de vivre around every street corner? Is it the food, the culture, the architecture or all of the above? You be the judge!
To see more reasons to be a part of NTA’s 2010 Convention in Montréal, click here to see the full Top 10 on pg. 74 in the October issue of Courier.
The NTA Board of Directors met Nov. 13 in Reno prior to the NTA Convention. The board conducted its final review of the 2010 budget, which was approved. Also, the board approved a recommendation from the Identity Task Force to use NTA as the name of the association. The task force decision was based on member feedback and input. To read more, please see the board update.
Many thanks to the following for their generous support of NTA and the NTA Board: Valley Forge Convention and Visitors Bureau for its long-time support in sponsoring the Board of Directors Dinner; Sports Leisure Vacations for hosting the Past Presidents/Chairmen Reception and Boston Duck Tours for sponsoring the Board Reception and Photo Shoot.
New Opportunity to Connect to Indian Business
Travel from India is on the upswing. Since 2001, there has been a 122 percent increase in Indians traveling to the U.S. The U.S. is expected to receive 10.2 percent of all Indian travelers by 2011.
If you are interested in tapping into this market, you have the chance to participate in "Destination USA: Virtual Matchmaker with India" on January 21, where you can virtually introduce your company, attraction, destination, etc. to a group of Indian tour operators, travel agents and travel industry representatives from Mumbai and New Delhi. This program does not require travel to India yet will offer you an opportunity to do a live presentation from your computer through a live Internet and telephone-based platform.
The U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce is organizing this unique virtual buyer-seller matchmaker.
Your participation fee is only US$195, a fraction of the cost of a plane ticket to India. You’ll receive the latest update on the trends and opportunities in the Indian market as well as access to follow-up assistance from a team of India-based U.S. Commercial Service travel industry experts.
Click here to register for this program or you may contact Tony Michalski at +1.909.466.4137.
Prepare Your Calendar for 2010
NTA has had a year full of events and new developments. 2010 is sure to be a year for the history books as well with MONTAGE taking place in Spain and new association developments to come.
- Feb. 8–10 — NTA Grassroots Symposium in Washington, D.C. All members have the chance to make a difference in the travel industry
- April 14–18 — MONTAGE in Seville, Spain
- Nov. 13–17 — 2010 NTA Convention in Montréal, Québec.
Be a part of the NTA Product Development Trips:
- San Diego Experience — April 29–May 3, hosted by the San Diego CVB
- Big Island of Hawaii — July 6–11, hosted by Fly Away Holidays Inc.
- Calgary Horsepower Tour — July 16–21, hosted by Tourism Calgary
- Discover Egypt — Sept. 2–10, hosted by Big Five Tours & Expeditions
- Lancaster and Philadelphia — Oct. 8–12, hosted by Pennsylvania Dutch CVB and Philadelphia CVB
Looking forward to another great year!
Courier to feature Golf, Toronto, Niagara, Branson in MONTAGE issue
The March 2010 issue of Courier will provide plenty of ways to have your company or destination directly in front of experienced tour operators.
This issue is our MONTAGE issue and will focus on the event coming up in April 2010 in Seville, Spain. It will also receive bonus distribution at the event. Other key features included in this edition are a focus on Golf Resorts and Destinations, trip planners that showcase Branson and Africa and travel guides that highlight Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.
Space deadline is Jan. 4. We are honoring 2009 rates for 2010 until Jan. 15th, so call today to lock-in your discounted rates. Don’t miss your chance to be included in the #1 valued magazine in the industry as rated by our operators.
To reach your account executive call 800.682.8886, ext. 4241 (U.S. and Canada) or +1.859.226.4241 for more information.
Where in the World is Courier?
NTA knows that many of you catch up on your Courier reading when you travel. It’s not just a great way to pass the time in an airport or on a plane, but it also allows you to stay on top of all the great product ideas, NTA information and industry updates included in the magazine.
NTA wants to know where you and your Courier have gone. Next time you’re traveling with the most recent issue, spot a landmark, grab a camera and send us a picture of you and your Courier! Who knows, you might see it in the next month’s issue.
Submit a high-resolution photo and a note about where in the world you were with your Courier to Managing Editor Doug Rentz. To check out the latest snapshot, click here and turn to page 6.
Students Experienced the Industry at NTA Convention
Nearly 80 NTA Convention delegates generously volunteered their time to help further the education and careers of 15 Tourism Cares scholarship winners. The students, all studying hospitality and tourism, spent two days shadowing DMOs, tour operators, and suppliers throughout the convention and gained hands-on experience. Mentors also shared "real-world" insights with the students during a two-hour roundtable session. These future professionals of the tourism industry have bright and promising careers ahead of them and Tourism Cares and NTA are proud to help them reach their goals.
Here’s a look at recent research, statistics and news that may apply to you and your business:
- British Airways’ cabin crew has announced a strike between December 22, 2009 and January 2, 2010, according to the official Web site.
- The U.S. Department of Commerce announces that 4.1 million international visitors traveled to the United States in September 2009, a decrease of one percent compared to September 2008. Click here for more travel statistics.
- FLO, a Registered Traveler services provider, will re-launch their biometric enrollment program with Cogent Systems, a biometric identification solutions provider, for frequent travelers at major airports in January under current TSA guidelines. The program was suspended on June 22, 2009, after the financial failure of Verified Identity Pass Inc.’s CLEAR program.
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.