Tuesday Newsletter – Dec. 16, 2008
December 16, 2008
Volume 28, Issue 49
Tuesday’s title sponsor is the Austrian Tourism Office 
Interested in advertising in Tuesday? E-mail Kelley Burchell at kelley.burchell@NTAstaff.com.
TODAY’S ARTICLES
39 Travel and Tourism Organizations Part of Today’s Economic Summit
NTA Breaks Record at World’s Greenest Convention Center
Want to Learn More from Economist Dr. Peter Tarlow?
Sign Up for Webinar on Convention Format
See What Members are Saying about the Convention Format
2009 NTA Leadership Team Members Announced
Ballots Starts This Week for NTA Bylaw Vote
Three NTA Product Development Trips on Tap for 2009
Become a Tourism Caretaker this Holiday Season
Join NTA at the Grassroots Symposium Event
Send NTA Your Photos for the New NTA Online
April Courier Includes Preview to 2009 Convention
39 Travel and Tourism Organizations Part of Today’s Economic Summit
Organizational leaders of the travel and tourism sector of the national economy will gather for an Economic Summit in Washington, D.C., today. The meeting, organized by NTA, brings together 39 travel organizations to share ideas and prepare recommendations to assist President-elect Barack Obama in accelerating the economy through travel and tourism.
The summit will take place at the Capitol Visitors Center, making the group the first to meet at this new venue. John Bobo of AkinsCrisp Public Strategies will facilitate the meeting. Bobo has experience with preparing presidential planning documents and will guide the group in formulating and prioritizing recommendations. Following the meeting, results will go back to each participating organization for review by its board of directors or the appropriate committees.
The recommendations resulting from the Dec. 16 meeting, which will include longer term policy initiatives and specific elements of a travel stimulus package, will be distributed following the endorsement of the participating organizations and given to the incoming Obama Transition Team and others in Congress.
NTA Breaks Record at World’s Greenest Convention Center
Well, the numbers are in from NTA’s first green Convention and they are very exciting. In fact, NTA set a record for the amount of materials that were recycled from a single show at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
Officials at the convention center reported that everyone who attended the NTA Convention helped to recycle 9.435 tons of material. The figure includes nearly 3.465 tons of composted materials, 3 tons of cardboard and 2.97 tons of bottles, cans and loose paper. Additionally, 123,500 gallons of water was reclaimed. In addition to being the highest amount recycled from one event, the total represents 49 percent of all the recycling for the convention center.
Now, you’re probably wondering if that just means the NTA Convention created more trash to be recycled than other shows. The recycling gurus at the convention center said that wasn’t the case and instead attributed the record total to two factors. First, attendees were very conscious to place recyclable items in the bins around the center. And second, the composting total was much higher than other shows because NTA has more food events and larger ones than other shows.
"These numbers reflect a true partnership" says Mark J. Leahy, general manager of the convention center. "It is amazing what can be achieved when an association and a facility work so closely together to lessen the impact on the environment."
NTA appreciates all you did to help with recycling at the 2008 Convention and looks forward to your assistance to keep that up for future NTA events.
Want to Learn More from Economist Dr. Peter Tarlow?
Dr. Peter Tarlow, who spoke at the 2008 NTA Convention, received rave reviews for his two sessions on the economy and its impact on the travel industry. Many who attended his seminars said they were interested in hearing more from Tarlow, and here are some recommendations from his year-ending newsletter Tourism Tidbits:
- Go back to the basics of tourism
- Convince yourself that we live in a very different world
- Develop pre-relationships
- Be part of your community
- Develop credibility
- In a down economy, be up with a smile
- Be prepared for a possible rough 2009
- Let’s consider an international tourism and travel kindness day
- Information is a key
To see learn more about these topics and regarding how you can subscribe to Tarlow’s newsletter, click here.
Additionally, you will be hearing more from Tarlow in upcoming editions of Courier magazine. He will be contributing a series of columns on the economy and travel businesses starting with the January 2009 issue.
Sign Up for Webinar on Convention Format
The first of two Webinars designed to share information as well as seek input from members about the format modification for future Annual Conventions will take place this Thursday, Dec. 18, at 2 p.m. (ET). Webinar participants will hear the details about suggested changes to the Convention, just as it was presented to the delegates in Pittsburgh.
You can sign up to take part in the session by filling out this form. Once you fill out the form, you will be directed to the Vovici Web site and then a screen will pop up with information on accessing the Webinar that you need to print out. If you do not receive this information, please contact Andrea Richardson at andrea.richardson@NTAstaff.com.
NTA will offer the session again on Jan. 20, at 2 p.m. (ET).
See What Members are Saying about the Convention Format
In addition to taking part in the Webinar, another way you can learn more about the modified Convention format is by logging on to the NTA member forums. There, you can see what other members are saying or share your thoughts, ideas and questions. This will keep the dialogue going under the discussion that has already been started.
2009 NTA Leadership Team Members Announced
NTA Chairman and CEO Michele Michalewicz, CTP, has finalized assignments for the 2009 NTA Leadership Team. This group of 40-plus volunteers will serve as the link between the members and the NTA Board of Directors and serve as an advisory group on NTA programming and services.
For 2009, the Leadership Team comprises the following eight committees or task forces:
- Meetings & Events Committee
- NTA Think Tank Committee
- Public Affairs Committee
- Best Practices Committee
- Members First Committee
- Technology Committee
- China Inbound Task Force
- Identity Task Force
A list of the 2009 Leadership Team members, is available on the Leadership Team page at NTAonline.com.
The NTA Board and Leadership Team will hold its first meeting Feb. 6-7 in Savannah, Georgia.
Balloting Starts This Week for NTA Bylaw Vote
Ballots will be mailed or e-mailed to all NTA tour operator member companies soon regarding a bylaw vote on a proposal from the association’s Member Growth Committee. The proposal, if passed, would allow nonprofit organizations to share one tour supplier membership.
The current NTA bylaws prohibit separate legal entities from sharing a membership, but the recommendation would make it possible for arts organizations, such as symphonies, operas, ballets, museums and dance companies, to combine funding and join as a shared entity. In addition to the bylaw vote on this issue, minor grammatical and language cleanup of the bylaws also will be conducted. The voting will conclude in mid-January, 30 days after the ballots are distributed.
Three NTA Product Development Trips on Tap for 2009
NTA has added a Product Development Trip to Idaho to its lineup for 2009 that includes The Best of Britain and Mecklenburg, Germany, trips.
The Idaho trip, which will take place Sept. 10-15, will feature both the adventure and culture sides of the state. Participants will gather in Boise before heading out to see some of the state’s museums, take a jet boat ride in Hells Canyon and go rafting on the Salmon River. It concludes in Spokane, Washington. Hosted by the Idaho Division of Tourism, this trip is open to the first 20 registrants (two per company allowed) and the registration deadline is Aug. 14.
The first trip of the year, The Best of Britain, will be hosted by VisitBritain and partners. The March 22-29 trip will include stops in breathtaking Scotland, the English countryside of Canterbury and cosmopolitan London. In London, participants will take part in the Best of Britain & Ireland Travel Trade Forum where they will have one-on-one appointments with key British suppliers, networking, entertainment and more. This trip is open to one registration per company with a deadline of Feb. 16 to register.
Registration for the Idaho and Best of Britain trips is available at NTAonline.com. More information on the trip to Germany, which will be held in conjunction with the American Tourism Society conference, will be online soon.
Become a Tourism Caretaker this Holiday Season
One way to show your commitment and support of the travel industry is by becoming a Tourism Caretaker this holiday season. In exchange for a $25 donation, Tourism Caretaker supporters will receive a Tourism Cares lapel pin, a personalized newsletter, as well as use of the Tourism Cares logo on their business card.
By becoming a Tourism Caretaker, you can assist Tourism Cares in its efforts to conserve natural resources, preserve national treasures and rejuvenate significant tourism-related sites through volunteer restoration events. Additionally, NTA’s official philanthropy provides grants to non-profits around the world and awards scholarships for students pursuing degrees in travel and tourism.
To find out more about how to become a Tourism Caretaker, click here.
Join NTA at the Grassroots Symposium
Sponsoring at NTA’s 2009 Grassroots Symposium gives you a unique way to reach attendees at this important industry event, which will take place Feb. 25-27, in Washington, D.C. Not only can you reach those NTA members present at this exclusive event, but you also receive complimentary registration and can join attendees as they reach out to the new U.S. administration and Congress.
Contact Karla DiNardo, vice president of sales, at karla.dinardo@NTAstaff.com or by phone at 800.682.8886, ext. 4232 (U.S. and Canada) or 859.226.4232 for event sponsorship information.
Send NTA Your Photos for the New NTA Online
NTA Online is getting a makeover. Next month, NTA will launch its redesigned Web site with a new look and fresh content. Among the enhancements, there will be a special section for member photos.
NTA wants to see your cool pictures from the road, from shots of your travelers at an attraction or destination to pictures of yourself as you travel across the globe. Please send a jpeg image along with one to two sentences that describes the scene to NTA Public Relations Manager Sara Spencer at sara.spencer@NTAstaff.com.
April Courier Includes Preview to 2009 Convention
With features stories including the 2009 NTA Annual Convention preview and historic homes and gardens, the April issue of Courier will allow you to get your company’s or destination’s message in front of NTA’s more than 700 tour operators. The issue also will highlight New York City, France, the Antebellum South (Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee), Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Mexico.
The space deadline for April Courier is Jan. 28, so there is plenty of time to get in the magazine read by 86 percent of NTA tour operators monthly. To reach your account executive, call 800.682.8886, ext. 4241 or 859.226.4241 for more information.
NTA Job Center: Experience Columbus
Position Available – Senior Tourism Sales Manager
Position Summary: The Senior Tourism Sales Manager promotes and sells Columbus as a leisure destination for group tours to tour operators, bus companies and wholesalers; achieves specific individual and team sales quotas; works on product development in response to current industry trends.
Qualifications: Minimum of five years experience in hotel or convention bureau sales preferred; sales account management experience; degree from an accredited institution in hospitality management or marketing preferred. Strong verbal and written communication skills; ability to handle multiple projects; well organized; detail oriented, excellent customer service skills; professional and personable manner. Ability to travel, attend local, regional, national events on evenings and/or weekends.
Submit your resume and cover letter to:
Vice President, Finance & Administration
Experience Columbus
277 W. Nationwide Blvd., Suite 125
Columbus, OH 43215
614.222.6143 (fax)
Resumes@ExperienceColumbus.com