Tuesday Newsletter – June 16, 2009
June 16, 2009
Volume 29, Issue 24
Tuesday’s title sponsor is FedEx
Interested in advertising in Tuesday? E-mail Kelley Burchell at kelley.burchell@NTAstaff.com.
TODAY’S ARTICLES
Members Share Positive Feedback on NTA Spring Meet
H1N1 Upgraded to Pandemic, but Threat to Travelers Remains Low
NTA’s Fast Pitch Session Serves Up More Business
New China Inbound Program Requirements Announced
NTA Board Meets Following Monterey Spring Meet
New Loan Program Could Help U.S. Small Businesses
Tour Operators Invited to Attend Special ASTA Webinar
NTA Adds a Facebook Fan Page
FedEx Corporate Partnership Provides Shipping Benefit
Courier to Feature Museums, Rail and Ski Resorts and Destinations
Members Share Positive Feedback on NTA Spring Meet
NTA’s Spring Meet offers member networking in a casual setting, dedicated time for education, opportunities for peer-to-peer discussion and a chance to explore the host destination. If the feedback from some of the tour operators, suppliers and DMOs in attendance at the 2009 event is any indication, NTA and host Monterey, California, hit all the right notes.
"It was an overall great experience at NTA Spring Meet," said Uday Marwah with Uday Tours & Travel, who said it was worth flying 21 hours from New Delhi, India, to attend. "Other than business relationships, I made some great new friends at the NTA. I am very positive and eagerly waiting for Reno in November and then followed by Spain in 2010 to explore more and more new clients for my business and more than that, to make many great new friends from different parts of the world all in one place."
"The NTA Spring Meet was an incredible opportunity to network with travel professionals from the United States and internationally," said the California Travel and Tourism Commission’s Glenda Taylor. "[The pre- and post-Fams] also provided an excellent platform for California destinations and products to showcase the abundance that California has to offer."
"I like going to the Spring Meet as it gives us time to meet new people and connect again with friends in a relaxed atmosphere," said Taunya Wolfe Finn, CTP, of Wolfe Adventures & Tours. "Going to the educational seminars is something I find important, too. I look forward to more chances to talk to other tour operators about the issues that affect us such as pricing tours, employee benefits and marketing as we did in the seminar that did it the ‘Tour 20 Group Way.’ "
"NTA is such an important organization for the businesses at PIER 39," said Jodi Cumming of PIER 39 in San Francisco. "Our sponsorship of the NTA Spring Meet allowed me additional face time with many of our tour operators and also allowed me to meet additional NACTA members that I would not have had the opportunity to meet. It was money well spent!"
The National Association of Career Travel Agents held its Western Regional meeting in conjunction with the NTA Spring Meet, which added another level of partnership development to the event. To see photos from Monterey, please visit NTA on Facebook.
H1N1 Upgraded to Pandemic, but Threat to Travelers Remains Low
Last week, the World Health Organization upgraded the H1N1 flu virus to phase 6 pandemic-alert status, which indicates to governments that there is swine flu in more than one region around the world. Although this move is significant, it doesn’t represent an increased threat over recent weeks and isn’t expected to have a major impact on travel.
When the WHO updated H1N1 to pandemic status, it did not issue any travel restrictions. Additionally, medical experts have offered no recommendations to restrict cross-border travel to prevent the spread of the virus.
The U.S. Travel Association continues to work with the media and U.S. government officials to ensure continued support for travel as the situation develops. Its H1N1 resources page features talking points and other helpful information geared to help travel professionals pass along accurate updates about the situation.
Other Web sites with current information on H1N1 include the Centers for Disease Control, United Nations World Tourism Organization’s Emergency Response Network and the Mexico Tourism Board.
NTA’s Fast Pitch Session Serves Up More Business
NTA has created a way for tour suppliers to meet with more tour operators and get even more appointments at its 2009 Convention in Reno, Nevada. The new Fast Pitch session gives tour suppliers exclusive time to pitch new business ideas to operators, and a tool to help suppliers work smarter.
In this session, suppliers will have five-minute prescheduled appointments with tour operators that they had requested but were not scheduled as part of the Tour & Travel Exchange. That means suppliers can reach more of the tour operators they requested than ever before.
After the Tour & Travel Exchange appointments have been scheduled in October, the system will automatically schedule remaining supplier requests for the NTA Fast Pitch session. So, it is critical that tour suppliers submit a complete list of appointment requests to maximize opportunities for both the Tour & Travel Exchange and the Fast Pitch.
You can learn more about Fast Pitch or ask questions and make comments on the latest blog post by Convention Chairman Suzanne Slavitter.
New China Inbound Program Requirements Announced
New requirements for the NTA China Inbound Program participants were unveiled at the Tour Operator Spring Meet. If you are an approved operator in the program you must reapply by June 25 to affirm that your company meets these new criteria, so that you can be on the next list of approved operators that NTA will submit to the China National Tourism Administration in mid-July.
Based on recent discussions with the CNTA and the U.S. Department of Commerce, these changes were made with consideration to the safety and quality of Chinese group leisure travelers to the United States. As well, these new requirements focus on the quality of the trip. The CNTA greatly supports these steps that NTA is taking to help improve the visitor experience.
Click here to see the complete list of criteria for the NTA China Inbound Program. If you have any questions or need additional information, contact NTA Director of Industry and Government Relations Matt Grayson after June 21.
In addition, NTA has prepared a Best Practices for the China Inbound Market document. These recommended practices include details in six areas of activity — tour operator and supplier qualifications; itineraries and visitor experience; tour pricing and tour advertising; payment, refunds and deposits; crisis management; and continuing education. Although these best practices are not part of the criteria to be an approved operator, these areas have been identified as important business practices to help ensure a quality visitor experiencee for this market.
NTA Board Meets Following Monterey Spring Meet
The NTA Board of Directors met June 7 in Monterey, California, following the NTA Spring Meet. Among the items on the agenda the board acted on, was approving two new strategic partners that will serve NTA members’ inbound and outbound business.
When seeking partnering organizations, one of the things NTA looks for is associations that will bring current members opportunities to expand and diversify their businesses. The board also hopes to find partners that will serve the needs of operators, suppliers and DMOs, and felt the Indian Association of Tour Operators and the Africa Travel Association could do that. To read the full board update, click here.
NTA is in final discussions with IATO and ATA to join the list of NTA’s strategic partners, which includes Destination Marketing Association International, the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association, National Association of Career Travel Agents, Sister Cities International, Sustainable Travel International, Travel Professionals of Color, the United Motorcoach Association and the World Religious Travel Association.
New Loan Program Could Help U.S. Small Businesses
Yesterday, the U.S. Small Business Administration began offering loans with generous repayment terms as part of a program created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which is designed to help businesses through the economic downturn.
Through the America’s Recovery Capital loan program, qualifying small businesses can apply for loans of up to $35,000. This capital infusion can allow owners to pay down other debts, such as high-interest loans, and reallocate funds for business expenses such as payroll, marketing or technological investments.
ARC loans are available through Sept. 30, 2010, or until Congressionally authorized funding runs out. The loans are interest-free, come with no SBA fees and carry a 100 percent guarantee from the SBA to the lender. Loan proceeds are provided over a six-month period and repayment of the ARC loan principal is deferred for 12 months after the last disbursement of the proceeds.
To learn more about the ARC loan program, including eligibility information, business owners should check with local SBA officials to obtain a list of participating lenders in your area. To find the closest SBA office, click here.
Tour Operators Invited to Attend Special ASTA Webinar
Earlier this year, NTA partnered with the American Society of Travel Agents, the United States Tour Operators Association and PhoCusWright to conduct a comprehensive study of the packaged travel industry and the relationship between tour operators and travel agents. The findings from that survey, titled the U.S. Packaged Travel Landscape 2006-2010, were released in New York last week.
Tour operators who are members of ASTA’s TOP program are invited to attend a special Webinar this Thursday, June 18, to hear a briefing on the results of the survey. The Webinar, which starts at 2 p.m. (ET), will provide forecasts for the growth of the industry, information on which tour segments are the strongest, comparisons of different distribution patterns (consumer direct vs. travel agents) and insights for tour operators on how to strategically increase revenue.
Tour operators who are part of ASTA’s TOP program wishing to participate in the Webinar should contact Mathew Bancroft, ASTA’s manager of membership sales. If you aren’t a member of TOP and want to join to take part in the Webinar, you also can contact Bancroft. NTA thanks its tour operator members who participated in this survey.
Many of you have already joined NTA’s group page on Facebook. Now, NTA has created a new page on the social media site to better communicate with you, and you can become an NTA fan at http://facebook.dj/nta/.
On the NTA Facebook Fan page, you can read quick updates and fun facts about the association and the industry. Also, you can access the new Convention blog, written by Convention Chairman Suzanne Slavitter, CTP. The blog helps members prepare for the new Convention format through weekly highlights on enhancements, business and networking events, and entertainment and sponsor information.
Become a fan of NTA and start discussions with your NTA colleagues. If you’re new to Facebook and need some help getting started, check out NTA’s How To guide.
FedEx Corporate Partnership Provides Shipping Benefit
If you are looking for reliable and cost-effective shipping, you can count on new NTA corporate partner FedEx. Association members in the United States can now save up to 26 percent on select FedEx shipping services, and there are no costs and no minimum shipping requirements to get those rates.
If you have questions or want to enroll in this program, click here and enter passcode 8S877C. Additional information is available if you call 800.636.2377 or visit the FedEx coporate partner page at NTAonline.com.
Courier to Feature Museums, Rail and Ski Resorts and Destinations
The September 2009 issue of Courier will include articles covering a mix of destinations and product types, and the magazine can help you get your company or destination in front of NTA tour operators.
The museum and sightseeing rail market segments are profiled, as is a new feature story topic — ski resorts and destinations. Destination articles for the month showcase Alaska and Western Canada; North America’s Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas); Germany, Switzerland and Austria; North Carolina; South Carolina; Georgia; and Florida.
The space deadline for the September Courier is July 1, 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 for more information, call 800.682.8886, ext. 4241 (U.S. and Canada) or +1.859.226.4241.