Tuesday Newsletter – Oct. 27, 2009
October 27, 2009
Volume 29, Issue 43
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
Direct Request Appointment Scheduling Now Available
NTA Receives Dept. of Commerce Award to Develop Visit USA Center in Shanghai
Vote to Save our Sites
What’s New in Travel News
Airlines to Phase in Secure Flight Requirements in Coming Months
First Look at The Trip Planner for Student Travel
Opportunities Still Available at Convention ’09
November Courier Preview
Direct Request Appointment Scheduling Now Available
Convention ’09 is less than three weeks away, and everybody’s thinking about the business to be conducted in Reno. With more buyers at this Convention than in 2008 and a strong set of appointments, everything points to success. The appointment schedules, which were posted Monday, report that on average DMOs received 21 appointments and suppliers received 25. On top of that, the Direct Request Appointment Scheduling system opened Monday and 400 appointments have already been scheduled.
Don’t miss the advantage of using Direct Request to create or add to your schedule of appointments before you ever hit the floor in Reno. Find partners you wanted to meet with that didn’t get scheduled, see what open time slots you have in common and request an appointment. Check back often to see if your requests have been accepted or if you have requests you need to answer.
New this year — appointments scheduled on Sunday will be in the Destination Pavilion. Please note the booth assignment on your final schedule. You can refer to the Convention Map & Schedule that you’ll receive on site for a detailed floor plan.
Other Convention Reminders:
- Once you receive your appointment schedule, feel free to sign up for a volunteer slot for Convention ‘09.
- If you registered for both the WRTA Expo and NTA Convention, you’ll receive your badge and event materials from the association you originally registered with, so head to that association’s registration desk.
If you have questions, please contact your Member Services team at 800.682.8886 (U.S. and Canada) or +1.859.226.4444. We look forward to seeing you in Reno!
NTA Receives Dept. of Commerce Award to Develop Visit USA Center in Shanghai
NTA has been awarded a Market Development Cooperator Program award to create a Visit USA center, to be co-located with the United States Commercial Service. The center, which will promote group leisure travel to the United States, will be located in Shanghai, China, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world and home to more than 20 million people.
Programs and services that will be available from the Visit USA center include distribution of information on U.S. destinations, development of a Chinese-language Web site to promote leisure group travel, and creation of mini-trade shows and road shows to promote the U.S. as a destination.
The establishment of the Visit USA center in Shanghai allows NTA to further its work with the U.S. incoming market from China. With its China Inbound Program, NTA facilitates group leisure travel inbound to the U.S. in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding established between the U.S. and Chinese governments in Dec. 2007. NTA maintains the only list of U.S. operators approved to work with Chinese travel agents to facilitate inbound travel.
The project funding period begins in January with the goal of an operational office by April 2010.
Tourism Cares is asking travelers and travel professionals to choose a site they feel is deserving of a Save Our Sites grant. The Tourism Cares new Web site voting page allows those who love to travel to vote for one of seven sites across North America — the Vancouver Aquarium “Aquavan”; the Grand Canyon Trust “Conversation Across Borders” project; the National Civil Rights Museum “Voice of Freedom Oral History” project; the South Florida Audubon Society “Everglades: River of Glass” project; Friends of the Smokies “Restoring the Elkmont Historic District” initiative; the Tierra Nativa “Tarahumara Community Ecotourism Program”; and the Edith Wharton Restoration Inc. “The Mount Restoration” project.
The voting will run from now until Nov. 13. The winner will be announced at the NTA Convention ’09 in Reno, Nevada, and will be posted on the Tourism Cares Web site.
Here’s a look at recent research, statistics and news that may apply to you and your business:
- A recent research study conducted by Mandala Research revealed that 78 percent of all U.S. leisure travelers participate in cultural and/or heritage activities while traveling, translating to 118.3 million adults each year. With cultural and heritage travelers spending an average of US$994 per trip, they contribute more than US$192 billion annually to the U.S. economy.
- Gay and lesbian travelers may be leading the rest of the nation out of the recession, at least in terms of travel spending, according to new data from Witeck-Combs Communications, a marketing consultancy focused on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender markets.
- The latest data compiled by the Indian tourism ministry indicates that North America and West Asia constitute the strongest growth for tourism to India. The number of foreign tourists visiting India increased from 7.99 million in 2007 to 8.27 million in 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.
Airlines to Phase in Secure Flight Requirements in Coming Months
Secure Flight is a program developed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in response to a key 9/11 Commission recommendation: uniform watch list matching by the Transportation Security Administration. Secure Flight will be phased-in and each airline will be incorporating the necessary changes into their systems over the coming months.
Secure Flight matches the name, date of birth and gender information for each passenger against government watch lists to:
- Identify known and suspected terrorists
- Prevent individuals on the No Fly List from boarding an aircraft
- Identify individuals on the Selectee List for enhanced screening
- Facilitate passenger air travel
- Protect individuals’ privacy
Secure Flight does NOT assign a score to individuals, use commercial data or predict behavior. By requiring all passengers to provide date of birth and gender, the DHS hopes to greatly reduce the number of passengers misidentified as a match to the watch list.
First Look at The Trip Planner for Student Travel
NTA is working on the third edition of the The Trip Planner for student travel, which will be released in February 2010. This year’s publication will include a DMO-focused section highlighting a number of North American and international destinations and their offerings for the student market. Feature articles will cover student-oriented product at museums, theaters, zoos and aquariums, as well as destinations, attractions and services that are part of historical trails (Civil War, civil rights, Colonial America, Revolutionary War, music heritage, etc.). Restaurants also will be covered.
This publication offers members a chance to have their product, destination or service in front of 20,000 student travel planners and NTA tour operators.
Nearly 13,000 student travel planners are band and orchestra directors in middle schools, high schools and selected colleges. Over 5,000 members of the National Association for Music Educators and 5,000 history and science educators of all levels in the United States and Canada will receive this publication. NTA-member readers include more than 700 tour operators, who collectively move nearly 12 million people each year. Sixty-two percent of NTA tour companies serve the student market in some capacity, representing 3 million youth travelers served annually.
Don’t miss your chance to reach this key audience. Deadline to reserve space in The Trip Planner for student travel planners is Nov.1. Contact an account executive at 800.682.8886, ext. 4241 or +1.859.226.4241 for more information or to reserve your space.
Opportunities Still Available at Convention ’09
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.
The feature stories in the November issue of Courier cover two essential elements of any trip — shopping and dining. In the shopping story you can read about outlet centers that have helped consumers save money during these difficult economic times. The annual dining feature focuses on NTA-member restaurants across North America and has tips from tour operators on what they look for in a restaurant. In addition to the dining story, the issue includes articles on a pair of popular culinary and wine hot spots — Italy and the San Francisco Bay Area. Destinations along North America’s Eastern seaboard like Atlantic Canada, Québec, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and the Mid-Atlantic region also are covered.
UPCOMING DEADLINES:
February Issue – Ad Space: Nov. 25; Editorial: PAST
Casinos and Gaming; Atlantic Coast (Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia); Caribbean; Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan; British Columbia; Idaho; Montana; North Dakota; South Dakota; Wyoming.
March Issue – Ad Space: Jan. 4; Editorial: Dec. 4 2010
MONTAGE (NTA’s New Event) Preview Issue; Golf Resorts and Destinations; Toronto and Niagara Region (New York and Canada); Branson; Africa; Arizona; Colorado; New Mexico; Utah.
April Issue- Ad Space: Jan. 27; Editorial: Jan. 4
Historic Homes; Gardens; New York City; Antebellum South (Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee); France; Arkansas; Mexico; Oklahoma; Texas.
The Berkely Group (TPP) — Callaway Gardens — Cracker Barrel, Old Country Stores, Inc. — EIS-European Incoming Services — Empire State Building Observatory — John G. Shedd Aquarium — Metropolis at Metrotown — NY SKYRIDE — Planet Hollywood International — Tourisme Montréal —Tulalip Resort Casino and Spa — Yankee Candle Company
The 2010 Editorial Calendar is available if you click here.