Tuesday Newsletter – March 9, 2010
March 9, 2010
Volume 30, Issue 10
Interested in advertising in Tuesday? E-mail Kelley Burchell at kelley.burchell@NTAstaff.com.
TODAY’S ARTICLES
MONTAGE Memo 11: Innovate / Innovar
Target your U.S. Inbound Marketing Using Free Reports
U.S.-Cuba Travel Summit—Why Now?
Registration Open for 2010 Tourism Cares for America Event
LinkedIn 101
Tourism Cares Scholarship Deadline Change
How Well Do You Know NTAOnline.com?
Act Now to Save America’s Treasures from Budget Cuts
Unite Urban and Rural on the Lancaster/Philly PDT
NTA Meets with U.S. Legislators, Potential Partners from Africa and Mexico
MONTAGE Memo 11: Innovate / Innovar 
Build Your Portfolio with Innovative Products in Spain!
DMOs/Suppliers: Take advantage of this intimate setting with tour operators and participate in the workshop or increase your promotional value through sponsorship! With buyers from nine countries, introduce your product to the world at MONTAGE.
Tour Operators: The best packaged trips are those you’ve experienced. So, attend MONTAGE, make connections with suppliers in Spain, and set yourself up to personally sell the experience of Spain to your clients. The buyer-to-seller ratio is 5-to-1 and expected to grow.
Don’t forget—new, LOWER, hotel rates have just been negotiated. You’ll find the details here.
MONTAGE 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.
No restrictions on attendance. No Boundaries to Selling. That’s MONTAGE.
Target your U.S. Inbound Marketing Using Free Reports
The U.S. Department of Commerce Commercial Service has compiled all of its latest research and events on the Travel & Tourism e-Market Express Web page.
Bookmark this page and use this resource to build tourism and business travel from international markets through targeted research reports, trade leads and information on international travel trade events. The spring 2010 edition of the e-Market Express includes research on some of the strongest markets for inbound tourists as well as new, emerging markets. This edition also covers 27 global travel events that are supported by international Commercial Service offices. To sign up for future travel alerts, e-mail Ken Walsh with the subject line “Subscribe to Travel Research.”
U.S.-Cuba Travel Summit—Why Now?
It is logical to ask why your company should attend a travel summit between the United States and Cuba if travel is not an option now. The same could have been said in the months and years prior to December 2001 in other industries like agricultural and food, in particular.
Because professionals, like you, engaged in business development efforts, attended U.S.-Cuba summits, made the effort to understand the business potential and established personal relationships with their Cuban counterparts, they were positioned to be the first doing business when the surprise announcement came in late 2001 to allow the sale of agricultural and food products between the United States and Cuba.
There is a new, low rate for NTA members to attend the U.S.-Cuba Travel Summit. Developing relationahips now with Cuban officials and travel specialists will increase your ability to book travel to Cuba in the future.
Register today and be part of this groundbreaking event!
Registration Open for 2010 Tourism Cares for America Event 
Register today and secure your spot at the annual Tourism Cares for America volunteer restoration event, scheduled for June 4, on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay.
Angel Island attracts thousands of visitors for its history and recreational activities and this picturesque California State Park overlooks the San Francisco skyline, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. Due to extreme budget cuts at California State Parks, Angel Island needs the travel industry’s help to clear and restore recreational areas and trails throughout the island.
Its rich and diverse history dates back nearly 3,000 years, first serving as hunting and fishing ground for the ancient Miwok Indians. The island has served as a Civil War encampment, an immigration station for thousands of Chinese immigrants from 1910-1940, a discharge depot and recruitment center during World War I, an embarkation station and Prisoner of War camp during World War II as well as a Nike missile base from 1955-1962.
Today, the island is visited by thousands of people who go to experience its history and recreational activities.
Find out how you can get involved at tourismcares.org.
Whether you are looking for a qualified employee or a new batch of customers, LinkedIn offers the network for you. LinkedIn has over 60 million members in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. A new member joins LinkedIn approximately every second.
If you want to become a member of one of the most popular social networks in the world, NTA has created an easy How To document to walk you through the basics of LinkedIn. This document is part of a series that includes other helpful How To resources for using NTAOnline.com and other e-business tools. Contact NTA e-Manager Kate Bunnell for more information on NTA’s How To documents.
Tourism Cares Scholarship Deadline Change 
The 2010 Academic Scholarship Application deadline has changed from Monday, March 22, at 5 p.m. Eastern Time to Thursday, April 15 at 5 p.m. Eastern time. For more information about the Tourism Cares Scholarships, click here. Questions about scholarships may be sent to the Tourism Cares Director of Grants and Scholarships Carolyn Viles.
How Well Do You Know NTAOnline.com?
Within the last year, NTAOnline.com has received updates and enhancements based on member needs and feedback. Are you familiar with all the new additions? There are enhancements to the member-only searches and new business applications. Be sure you log-in as a member to access member-only content.
- Find your right target market with our DMO, Supplier and Tour Operator searches. Our searches allow you to narrow the search field as you see needed, and the export to Excel button makes it easy to create a personalized marketing database. Connect with and look to NTA members first!
- With so many search opportunities, update your member profile so your company gets pulled in all the right search options. Keeping your information fresh will help members find you.
- The new Partner2Partner Web site is your 24/7 online business community connecting you to members year round. Search specially priced packages or last-minute deals from other members.
- Read daily our Headlines articles on the homepage to get breaking industry news updates, NTA news, or promotional offers from our corporate partners.
Visit www.NTAonline.com and see what’s new. Forgot your password? Contact Questions@NTAstaff.com or call 800.682.8886 (U.S. and Canada) or +1.859.226.4444 for assistance.
Act Now to Save America’s Treasures from Budget Cuts
President Obama released his Fiscal Year 2011 budget request that would eliminate funding for Save America’s Treasures and Preserve America and cut funding for National Heritage Areas by 50 percent. These critical historic preservation programs, many of which Tourism Cares, NTA’s official philanthropy, has helped to fund, matter now more than ever not only because they protect U.S. national heritage but also because they serve as economic development engines and job creators in the thousands of communities they serve. Save America’s Treasures alone has been responsible for more than 16,000 jobs since it was created just 10 years ago.
Use this easy online form to send a message to your members of Congress asking them to support the restoration of funding for Save America’s Treasures and other preservation programs as the House and Senate work on their respective budget bills. All you need to do is enter your zip code.
These places of cultural and historic significance are the very reasons many people travel—to see and experience these treasures of Americana. We need to give people MORE reasons to travel, not fewer. For a quick example of Save America’s Treasures sites, click here.
Unite Urban and Rural on the Lancaster/Philly PDT
Don’t miss your chance to explore Philadelphia, October 8-12. See Philadelphia’s urban side during a tour of the famous Sight and Sound Millennium Theater and a tour of historic neighborhoods during the mural arts tour, hosted by the Philadelphia CVB. Then, see what rural Lancaster has to offer on a visit to the Landis Valley Village & Museum, the Amish Experience VIP Tour, the evening Lamp Light Tour at the Amish Farm and House and traditional dinners at the Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre and Hershey Farm Restaurant and Inn, all hosted by the Pennsylvania Dutch CVB.
The cost of the trip, which is open to two people per company, is US$100, not including airfare to and from Philadelphia. Deadline to register is August 27. Visit NTAOnline.com for a detailed itinerary and registration form. Questions can be directed to Lisa Thompson in NTA’s marketing department.
NTA Meets with U.S. Legislators, Potential Partners from Africa and Mexico
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During recent events and congressional office visits in Washington, D.C., NTA representatives focused on U.S. domestic legislation, discussed issues to better serve international inbound travelers and further developed relationships to help members expand market reach to new destinations.
In meetings with legislative staff from Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Senator 
Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York), Representative Wally Herger (R-California), Representative Russ Carnahan (D-Missouri), Representative Kathy Dahlkemper (D-Pennsylvania) and Representative Frank Kratovil (D-Maryland), NTA Public Affairs Advocate Steve Richer, CTP, shared perspective on the association’s key issues. Richer emphasized the importance of having Congress define “in person” visa interviews so international travelers can more easily visit the United States. He also reiterated NTA’s long-standing support for national parks and public lands funding, as well as the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act. 
Additionally, Richer distributed copies of HR 4676, Representative Sam Farr’s Travel Regional Investment Partnership Act, to everyone on the House side, including Representatives Carnahan and Herger, who personally participated in part of their office meeting. NTA Vice President of Communications Catherine Prather joined Richer to discuss strategy on HR 4676 with Tom Tucker, assistant to Rep. Farr, at an additional meeting.
NTA strategic partner the Africa 
Travel Association held its third annual U.S.-Africa Tourism Seminar March 5 in D.C. Richer served on a panel to help delegates develop tourism business for the continent. During the conference, NTA met with three African ambassadors to the United States—Yvonne Tinyade Kalumo (Malawi), Cyrille I. Oguin (Benin) and Ombeni Y. Sefue (Tanzania)—as well as many potential partners for NTA members so they can more easily develop product to this intriguing destination.
NTA also attended a reception where Mexican Ambassador to the United States 
Arturo Sarukhan announced events in celebration of Mexico’s Bicentennial of its Independence and the Centennial of its Revolution. To commemorate these landmark anniversaries, the Embassy of Mexico and its Cultural Institute have partnered with various Washington D.C. institutions. One example is that Mexico plans to make a financial contribution to the U.S. efforts to restore the National Mall in D.C.
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