Tuesday Newsletter – Oct. 20, 2009
October 20, 2009
Volume 29, Issue 42
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
Appointment Schedules Available Oct. 26
What’s New in Travel News
Don’t Forget to Vote
Have Your Message Seen at Convention
See the Sights in Reno-Tahoe
Three Easy Steps to Social Media Marketing: Part 2
A Green Case Study: Rooted in the Past, Focused on the Future
Submit Your Questions in Advance for Three Convention Seminars
China Leisure Travel Summit
Get Your Fam Trips Posted at NTA Online
NTA’s U.S. Pavilion at the China Outbound Travel Tourism Market
Tourism Rocks!
Appointment Schedules Available Oct. 26
Your Convention ’09 appointment schedule will be posted Oct. 26 at noon EST. NTA’s Direct Request appointment system also will go live this day, allowing you to schedule even more appointments before you arrive in Reno.
Through the system, you can search for companies you want to meet with who aren’t on your appointment list, find a neutral time slot and request an appointment. If it is accepted, it will be automatically scheduled for you.
Direct Request provides an efficient way to add to your business meetings prior to Convention. Make sure to regularly check for messages from companies who are looking to schedule an appointment so you can respond in a timely fashion.
After your schedule is posted, consider signing up to be a Convention volunteer. By volunteering, you can help create that great Convention experience everyone has come to expect from NTA. You also can meet some new friends and business partners at the same time. Click here for more information on becoming a volunteer.
Here’s a look at the research, statistics and news that came out this week that may apply to you and your business:
- A new survey from American Express reports that 30 percent of U.S. consumers plan to adjust this year’s travel plans for Thanksgiving — historically one of the busiest travel days of the year — but only 21 percent expect those expenses to decrease compared to last year.
- The National Park Service has developed the Web site Plan Your Visit to America’s Best Idea (Your National Parks): Fall, Winter, Spring 2009-2010 to help travel planners and visitors find activities, events and commercial services at NPS areas during the fall, winter and spring months.
- The U.S. Department of Commerce announced in a new report that 5.1 million international visitors traveled to the United States in July 2009, a decrease of only six percent compared to July 2008.
The links in this article are not continually monitored by NTA staff. Any bad links, expired pages, etc. are due to the constantly changing nature of Web sites.
Electronic ballots for the 2010 NTA Board elections were sent out Oct. 9. The pre-convention voting period ends Nov. 9, then members will have the final opportunity to vote in Reno at their respective member category Talk Time and Election.
Have Your Message Seen at Convention
Make the most of your Convention ’09 experience and reach all tour operators in attendance. Take advantage of the following new marketing opportunities to ensure your message is seen in Reno, Nevada.
- Destination Pavilion Presentations — On Monday, Nov. 16, companies/destinations may showcase their property/destination on a mini-stage area, centrally located in the Destination Pavilion during open shopping time. Limited presentations are available at a cost of US$750 in 10-minute time slots. The presentation area includes guest chairs for buyers, a podium and a projector for your presentation. Presentation times will be posted in Monday’s Convention Daily newsletter as well as on signboards in the Destination Pavilion.
- Registration Bag Inserts — Do you have a unique gift item, or perhaps a marketing brochure you’d like to distribute to the tour operators? NTA is now offering the opportunity to include a marketing piece in the tour operator registration bags starting at only US$1,000 (size, item* and weight restrictions apply). You supply 400 items and NTA will do the rest (member is responsible for any shipping/delivery charges incurred).
To claim your marketing opportunity, please contact NTA Vice President of Sales and Sponsorship Karla DiNardo at 800.682.8886, ext. 4232 (U.S. and Canada) or +1.859.226.4232. Click here to see more information.
*Due to sponsored items, the following are excluded from Registration Bag Inserts: bags, sticky notes, pens, staplers, notebooks, luggage tags, key cards, business card portfolios and badge holders.
NTA Convention delegates will get a sense of the rich history of the Reno-Tahoe area Saturday, Nov. 14, during an afternoon of sightseeing tours organized by the Reno-Sparks CVA. All tours are offered on a complimentary first-received, first-registered basis and will depart from the Reno-Sparks Convention Center at 2 p.m. Participants will be returned to their hotels by 6 p.m. Click here to register online for one the following five sightseeing excursions:
- Virginia City: Step Back in Time — The mining boom in the mid-1800s turned Virginia City into one of the richest cities in the world. Learn about these miners turned millionaires at the Bucket of Blood Saloon, take a ride on the Virginia City Trolley and snack at the Fourth Ward School. Click here to view a welcome from Virginia City.
- Can You Believe It? — The first stop on this baseball and automotive themed tour is one of city’s newest venues, Aces Ballpark. Tour the home of minor league baseball’s Reno Aces, including the facility’s dugouts, locker rooms and club suites. Then stop at the National Automobile Museum to see vintage automobiles once owned by celebrities.
- The Biggest Little City in the World — Before Las Vegas ever had a name, Reno was a place where casinos and showrooms catered to the rich and famous. Hear stories of the city’s beginnings as you see the Lake Mansion, the Lear Theater and the historic courthouse.
- Carson City and the Nevada State Capitol: A Stroll through the 1800s — Take a walk back into the 1800s in Carson City. A costumed guide will lead an interpretive walk along the Kit Carson Trail, and you’ll be able to tour a few historic homes, the Nevada State Capitol and possibly the Governor’s Mansion in the city’s historic district.
- North Shore of Tahoe and Squaw Valley — Travel west to the northern shore of beautiful Lake Tahoe. The first stop is the Tahoe Maritime Museum, which houses a vast collection of photographs, objects and boats that span the lake’s maritime history. Next is a trip to Squaw Valley, home of the 1960 Winter Olympics, where you’ll enjoy wine tasting in the Sierra Nevada foothills. (TOUR IS FULL)
Three Easy Steps to Social Media Marketing: Part 2 
Are you still feeling overwhelmed by Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn? If so, here’s the solution! In this complimentary podcast we’ll walk through the first steps to becoming involved in these essential new marketing mediums. Catherine Heeg, NTA Convention ‘09 speaker, will provide some practical tools to get your company profile set up and ready to go.
Here’s a glimpse of what you can accomplish after listening:
- Use best practices when beginning your venture into social media
- Create a page for your business on Facebook
- Learn how to custom design a Twitter page
- Stay connected with business associates on LinkedIn.
Join the more than 500 fellow NTA members who listened to the first episode of this podcast. Take a couple of minutes to jumpstart your own knowledge as you listen right from your computer, download the podcast to your laptop or mp3 player, listen while commuting or even use it in a staff training session. You can subscribe to these podcasts using the RSS feed button so each new episode will be delivered directly to you.
This knowledge will provide you with a strong foundation to use in the workshop Harnessing the Power of Social Media for Effective PR and Brand Development. Please join Heeg at 10:30 on Sunday, Nov. 15, at Convention ‘09.
Heeg is also hosting an open webinar on branding on Oct. 22. It’s designed for travel consultants yet is broad enough that anyone in tourism who’s interested in re-creating a brand or developing a new brand for their business can find value. Click here to register and pay.
For complete information on the educational seminars at Convention, visit the NTA Convention Web site. For more information on Catherine Heeg, international speaker and trainer, click here. A list of further resources is available when you e-mail Catherine Heeg.
A Green Case Study: Rooted in the Past, Focused on the Future
The Red Lion Inn is an 1897 guesthouse on Main Street in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in the heart of the Berkshires. Although the 108-room inn is firmly rooted in the past, with its collection of Colonial- and Victorian-era furnishings and architecture, it is focusing upon careful preservation and commitment to its sustainability for future success.
Recent renovations resulted in upgraded plumbing and electrical infrastructure that support water conservation and provide energy-efficient, individually climate-controlled guestrooms. Other new, energy-friendly features include modulating condensing boilers and retrofitting insulated windows that helped cut energy consumption by more than 15 percent. The staff also places a priority on purchasing supplies from local vendors, which reduces the inn’s carbon footprint and has helped funnel more than US$1 million into area businesses.
Some of the inn’s other environmental and social management practices include making donations to support the local arts; featuring locally sourced ingredients and products on restaurant menus year-round; monitoring water consumption; landscaping with native plants; educating maintenance staff on energy-saving and conservation; checking plumbing and appliances monthly; and using green cleaning products.
This is another installment in a series of case studies on NTA member companies that have implemented sustainable tourism strategies. If you would like to have your company or destination mentioned in an upcoming article, click here to see the type of information you should e-mail to Sustainable Travel International President Brian Mullis, who is compiling these case studies.
Submit Your Questions in Advance for Three Convention Seminars
Speakers and panelists for three Convention ’09 seminars encourage you to send questions in advance. This information will help them prepare for their sessions, and they will consider all submitted questions for the Q&A portion of the seminars. The sessions are:
- All Welcome! A Look at the Global Gay and Lesbian Market (Sunday, Nov. 15; 2–3:15 p.m.)
- Ask the Operator for Suppliers (Sunday, Nov. 15; 2–3:15 p.m.)
- Ask the Operator for DMOs (Tuesday, Nov. 17; 10:15–11:30 a.m.)
If you have questions for any of the following seminars, please submit them to NTA Vice President of Communications Catherine Prather. Click here for a complete list of the seminars offered in Reno, Nevada.
Noppen is hosting its 2009 China Leisure Travel Summit Dec. 10-11 at the Pullman Beijing South to provide an exclusive B2B platform for international outbound travel service providers and Chinese travel agencies. Prescheduled one-to-one business meetings provide the perfect way to meet new clients and discuss the changing needs of Chinese tourists with China outbound travel gurus. Advantages to attending are:
- The best opportunities to do business face-to-face
- The chance to discuss your future business with China outbound travel professionals
- Find tailor-made solutions to improve the quality and efficiencies of your travel operations
For more information on this NTA member special, click here.
Get Your Fam Trips Posted at NTA Online
Do you have an upcoming Fam trip that you need to promote? If so, send that information to NTA to be added to the Member Fam page of NTAonline.com, which includes line listings in bullet point form with details on upcoming Fams.
To get your trip posted, please e-mail the following information to fams@NTAstaff.com:
- Fam destination
- Dates of the trip
- Name of the sponsoring organization
- Contact person’s e-mail address
- Web link where more information is available
NTA’s U.S. Pavilion at the China Outbound Travel Tourism Market
Are you getting your share of the inbound Chinese leisure market? NTA can help you get that exposure through its U.S. Pavilion at the China Outbound Travel Tourism Market, April 28-30, at the World Trade Center, Beijing.
For more information on the limited number of spaces available in the NTA Pavilion at COTTM, contact NTA Director of Industry and Government Relations Matt Grayson at 800.682.8886, ext. 4250 (U.S. and Canada) or click here.
Put on your dancing shoes for this year’s Tourism Rocks dance party! Sponsored by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the Nevada Commission on Tourism and Hard Rock, Tourism Rocks is a night of fun and a great way to meet new people in an informal setting. The party will be on Monday, Nov. 16, at a European-inspired nightclub, 210 North, located in the heart of downtown Reno and is unlike any other setting in northern Nevada. Entertainment will be provided by The Cheeseballs, one of San Francisco’s most popular show bands.
Tour operators can pick up their complimentary tickets at the Nevada, Las Vegas or Hard Rock booths. Suppliers and DMOs can purchase their tickets for US$40 when registering for the Convention or at the Tourism Cares booth or at the door for US$50. All donations will help to further the mission of Tourism Cares.