Tuesday Newsletter – Nov. 4, 2008
November 4, 2008
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| Interested in advertising in Tuesday? E-mail Kelley Burchell at kelley.burchell@NTAstaff.com. | |
Volume 28, Issue 44
Tuesday Archives
TODAY’S ARTICLES
NTA Board Approves 2009 Dues Decrease
Travel Industry Leaders to Gather for Economic Summit
WRTA Expo to be Co-located with 2009 NTA Convention
Everything’s Coming Up Green
New Networking Opportunity at Sunday Lunch in Pittsburgh
And in Other Convention Luncheon News…
Question of the Month: What Issues are Key the Next Four Years?
Plan Your Pittsburgh Dine-around Experience Now
Mail Books for NTA and Tourism Cares Give Back Event ASAP
Tickets Going Fast for The Capitol Steps
Student Mentors Needed for Tourism Cares Convention Program
Visit NTA Sales and Sponsorship Booth at Convention and Save
NTA Board Approves 2009 Dues Decrease
The NTA Board recently decided to lower dues, beginning in 2009, as part of the association’s efforts to help members get through the troublesome economic times. Starting next year, you will pay nearly 15 percent less in membership dues.
"We know that times are tough in today’s economy," said NTA Chairman and CEO Bob Hoelscher, CTP. "NTA wants to continue to be an affordable resource for our members and an available option to new travel companies looking for assistance in dealing with the challenges of running a business in today’s marketplace."
This reduction also is a reflection of the tremendous growth NTA has experienced in 2008. Your association has welcomed more than 150 tour operators this year, as well as more than 200 tour suppliers and DMOs. And NTA continues to get more calls from travel professionals looking to join an association that can offer support.
In response to last Wednesday’s announcement, Stefanie Gorder, CTP, senior vice president of Premier Alaska Tours said, "That is terrific news. It’s nice to partner with an association who understands the impact of the current economy and is willing to offer a little bit of relief."
Travel Industry Leaders to Gather for Economic Summit
NTA is bringing together executives from a cross-section of travel associations for an economic summit Dec. 16 in Washington, D.C. The event will focus on the industry’s response to the current economic downturn in the United States and what recommendations the group can make to the president-elect, his Transition Team, and key members of Congress.
Together, the group will develop recommendations to address the economic crisis including new national travel and tourism policies, as well as suggestions for a cooperative marketing effort and private sector initiatives.
"A unified approach will have the greatest impact," said NTA President Lisa Simon, CTP. "NTA believes it is critical to equip the next administration with the ways in which travel can fuel the U.S. economy. We know that travel and tourism is a way to quickly inject new jobs, new income and new tax revenues into our national economy. We simply need a unified plan to make it happen."
NTA also welcomes any ideas you would like to share. Please send your thoughts to NTA Public Affairs Advocate Steve Richer, CTP.
WRTA Expo to be Co-located with 2009 NTA Convention
Last week at the 2008 World Religious Travel Expo, NTA and WRTA announced that the organizations will co-locate their annual conventions next year, and NTA Chairman and CEO Bob Hoelscher, CTP, shared the news with NTA members in an e-mail last Thursday. While there are still many details to be hammered out, it is known that both shows will take place in Reno, Nevada, and that NTA’s original dates of Nov. 14-18, are firm.
"This was the icing on the cake for us," wrote Michael Neustadt, president of Coach Tours in an e-mail to NTA Headquarters following the announcement. "The WRTA news, along with the NTA China initiative and the 15 percent dues reduction, has hit right where it helps, in the pocketbook. In these uncertain times, Coach Tours has decided to react by looking for new markets — two of the most promising for us are inbound tourism from Asia and faith-based tourism. We’d just talked around the office about our disappointment of not being able to send someone to both WRTA and NTA and then this news comes along."
This new aspect of the NTA-WRTA partnership follows the cooperative agreement the two associations signed earlier in the fall. As part of that collaboration, NTA was responsible for managing the logistics of the inaugural World Religious Travel Expo, which ended last Saturday, and the associations agreed to work together to educate both memberships on the value of the $18 billion faith-based market and look at ways to bring all members new business opportunities.
More details on the co-location of the shows will be available in the coming months in Tuesday and at NTAonline.com.
Everything’s Coming Up Green
You’ve read and heard a lot about this year’s Annual Convention being NTA’s first green Convention. Some of the eco-friendly things that you’ll find at the event include recycling bins all over the convention center, staggered shuttle service during non-peak hours, no more tour operator brochures at the Research Center and replacing individual-serving bottled water with reusable water bottles that can be refilled at many water stations around the Mall floor.
NTA also strengthened its commitment to live into the green goal of its strategic plan by entering into a partnership with Sustainable Travel International and endorsing its eco-certification program. NTA members can receive many discounts on STI services and can learn more about STI by attending the two sessions that the company’s President Brian Mullis will lead at the Convention or by reading his monthly column in Tuesday.
In addition to the green focus of the NTA Convention, World Travel Market will call attention to a related issue, responsible travel, by including World Responsible Tourism Day (Nov. 12) as part of its upcoming event in London. The focus of the day, which is supported by the United Nations World Tourism Organization, is to remind travel professionals of the role they play in maintaining and preserving destinations and helping support local economies through responsible travel. NTA’s Director of Industry and Government Relations Matt Grayson will be representing the association at WTM.
New Networking Opportunity at Sunday Lunch in Pittsburgh
The Sunday luncheon (Nov. 16) at the NTA Convention is already primed to be an incredible event. First, it’s NTA’s Business Meeting Luncheon where you’ll get updated on everything that is going on with NTA and some exciting new announcements for the coming year. Then, you’ll be wowed by Animal Planet’s Jeff Corwin as he talks about his many adventures as one of the world’s leading conservationists.
A new aspect of the luncheon — setting aside two seats at each table for tour operators — is designed to provide a way for you to meet some delegates you don’t know. Tour operators are asked to sit at any of those specially marked seats, while the suppliers and DMOs can fill in the remaining spots at the table. This suggestion came from the Pittsburgh Convention "Wow" Task Force, which thought this might be a fun way to mix things up and help people make new contacts at the Convention.
Make sure to attend the luncheon, which is sponsored by Travel Oregon and Travel Portland, so you can get the latest information on your association, hear from Jeff Corwin and get to visit with even more colleagues and potential business partners.
And in Other Convention Luncheon News…
Motivational speaker Harry Beckwith has just been added to the program at the MTR Western Luncheon, Wednesday, Nov. 19, during the NTA Convention. Beckwith has presented his message, which typically focuses on developing deep relationships with clients and effective marketing and sales practices, to numerous Fortune 500 companies since he began his career as a speaker in the late 1990s.
To learn more about Beckwith and his company, click here.
Question of the Month: What Issues are Key the Next Four Years?
With today being election day in the United States and the ushering in of a new administration in 2009 right around the corner, NTA’s question of the month picks up on that theme — What issues related to travel and tourism do you think are most important during the next four years?
If you are interested in adding your thoughts to the conversation, log on to the member forums. To access the password-protected forums, you will need your member ID and password, which were included in the upper-right corner of the e-mail you received showing the headlines for this week’s Tuesday articles.
If you have suggestions for future questions to post, please e-mail them to NTA Vice President of Communications Catherine Prather.
Plan Your Pittsburgh Dine-around Experience Now
In keeping with NTA’s first green Convention, VisitPittsburgh will not be printing a Dine-around guide this year. Instead, you can go to the VisitPittsburgh Web site to look at all of the restaurants you’ll have to choose from the evening of Nov. 17.
Again this year, Captain’s Tables are being offered as a way to group delegates that don’t already have plans for Dine-around evening. The Captain’s Tables can help you have a great experience and meet some new colleagues at the same time, while enjoying some of Pittsburgh’s finest cuisine.
All reservations for Dine-around, including the Captain’s Tables, should be made during Convention at the VisitPittsburgh booth.
Mail Books for NTA and Tourism Cares Give Back Event ASAP
There is still time for you to send books for the NTA and Tourism Cares Give Back event at the 2008 NTA Convention. You can ship your new or gently used books (target audience is pre-school through middle schoolers) by Nov. 8 to Pittsburgh Cares, an organization who is the NTA and Tourism Cares’ local partner for the project, at this address:
- Pittsburgh Cares
c/o NTA and Tourism Cares Give Back
535 Smithfield St., Suite 744
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Pittsburgh Cares and members of NTA’s Charitable Event Task Force have provided a recommended book list to help you in choosing a book or books to donate. If you don’t have time to ship the books, you can bring them along with you to Pittsburgh. Also, if you aren’t able to attend the Convention, this is a great way for you to still be part of this project.
NTA and Tourism Cares would like to thank the Utah Office of Tourism, Luray Caverns and Sports Leisure Vacations for sponsoring this event. If you have any questions, please contact NTA Vice President of Business Development Cookie Callahan.
Tickets Going Fast for The Capitol Steps
With Americans going to the polls today, the U.S. Presidential election is dominating global headlines. The election has provided fertile fodder for The Capitol Steps, who will provide the best satirical review of the 2008 campaign season when they take the stage at the Issues Luncheon at the NTA Convention, Nov. 18.
The Steps are a regular at this event, but if you’ve never seen them before, go to www.capsteps.com to see and hear some of the group’s latest material such as "Subprime Mortgage Holders," "Green, Green Grass of Nome" and "Obama Mia." Funds raised during the event will go to support NTA’s government relations and advocacy efforts through the Government Issues Fund and TourPAC.
Tickets for the luncheon, sponsored by the State of Arkansas/Little Rock CVB, are $60 and can be purchased at the Government Relations booth during Convention. In addition to picking up your tickets at the booth, you can find out more travel issues NTA is working on, learn about the Grassroots Action Network and participate in the GR silent auction and purchase tickets for the Great Government Giveaway, which is sponsored by Golden Corral Corp. Nationwide.
Student Mentors Needed for Tourism Cares Convention Program
Tourism Cares needs your help to make its "Experience the Industry Student Program" at the upcoming NTA Convention in Pittsburgh a success. Tour operators and DMOs are needed to mentor students during the morning and afternoon sessions of the Sunday Tour & Travel Exchange and tour suppliers are needed for the Monday Exchange.
By participating, you’ll help enrich the Convention experience of the 24 travel, tourism, and hospitality students who will be in Pittsburgh as part of the reward for being Tourism Cares Academic Scholarship recipients. Even if you don’t have appointments, please spread the word to your colleagues who are taking them and could help.
Please contact Tourism Cares Program Director Carolyn Viles at 781.821.5990, ext. 208, as soon as possible to volunteer to mentor a student. The success of the "Experience the Industry Student Program" depends on your participation.
Visit NTA Sales and Sponsorship Booth at Convention and Save
The NTA Sales and Sponsorship team invites you to stop by its booth in NTA Central sometime during Convention week to register to win free advertising placement in the newly enhanced Tuesday newsletter. The winner will receive a side panel banner ad for three months in Tuesday, which is a $1,950 value.
Additional advertising specials, including the ability to lock in for 2009 advertising packages at 2008 rates are available if you book at Convention. So, make sure to visit the Sales and Sponsorship booth to learn more about these and other options to help you promote your product, destination or service.
| Don’t forget to register for the 2008 NTA Annual Convetion, to be held Nov. 15-19 in Pittsburgh. |