Tuesday Newsletter – Sept. 8, 2009
September 8, 2009
Volume 29, Issue 36
Tuesday’s title sponsor is BusRates.com
Interested in advertising in Tuesday? E-mail Kelley Burchell at kelley.burchell@NTAstaff.com.
TODAY’S ARTICLES
Get To Know Your Convention Host City
Take Advantage of NTA’s One-time Only Rates
NYC Tax Update
Take Action on the United Merchant Account Proposal
Initiate YOUR Upturn
CTP Offers Competitive Edge and Professional Development
NTA Executive Program Helps Show Your ROI
Thanks for Tracking
Invitation for Operators to Experience Tour20
Tourism Cares for Let’s Go Africa Foundation
Reach Thousands of Student Planners through NTA
Get To Know Your Convention Host City
The Reno-Sparks CVA, host for Convention ’09, is excited to show delegates all of the exciting product options in the Biggest Little City in the World. Convention goers can take part in outstanding Fam and sightseeing options, and the CVA has a list of 10 must-do options while in Reno.
Here is a quick look at some of the highlights.
- Cultural connections: The Reno-Tahoe region is home to 31 museums, including the Nevada Museum of Art and the National Automobile Museum.
- Tour a ball park: A new $40 million baseball stadium opened this April in downtown Reno. It serves as the home of the Reno Aces, the Triple A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
- Hit the slopes: The region offers the largest concentration of ski and snowboard resorts in North America— 18 within an hour’s drive of Reno-Tahoe International Airport.
To see the complete list, which first appeared in the April issue of Courier, please click here.
Take Advantage of NTA’s One-time Only Rates
Until Sept. 15, your company can save 20 percent (net) on an advertisement in any of the following 2009 publications: December Courier (Post-Convention issue), Profile Form Notebook, Convention Catalog or NTA’s China Group Leisure Directory. Click here for net rates. Contact your account executive at 800.682.8886, ext. 4241 (U.S. and Canada) or +1.859.226.4241 or to reserve your space today!
Please note the following exclusions: This offer is not valid on previously booked insertions, on premium positions, cannot be combined with any other offer/discount including agency, and is not valid on 2010 orders or other 2009 publications.
NTA continues to monitor the information released by the New York City Department of Revenue regarding the New York City Hotel Remarketer Tax. NTA remains opposed to these updates to the tax and continues to seek clarity and answers.
The most recent document from the city offers guidance to tour and receptive operators in how to calculate the remarketer tax. In it, the Department of Revenue states:
- When a remarketer has put together or purchased a package for resale and the remarketer knows the price of the components, a "cost of components" method should be used to determine what part of the package represents taxable additional rent. The taxable additional rent would be based on the ratio of the wholesale cost of the hotel room to the wholesale cost of all the components of the package multiplied by the total mark-up for the package. However, many remarketers buy packages from other remarketers, who may have bought them from others, and so on. They frequently have no idea of the cost of some or all of the components. In that instance, a 15 percent markup on 70 percent of the average retail rate of a similar room may be used to compute additional rent.
- Effective date: The tax on net rent and additional rent will apply to hotel rooms in New York City booked on or after Sept. 1, which is the effective date of the local law
- If a remarketer purchases rooms from a hotel and sells them to a second remarketer that then sells to the occupant, each remarketer is responsible for collecting hotel tax on its own markup, and the hotel is responsible for the hotel tax on the discounted rate it charges the (first) remarketer.
According to the Aug. 14 memorandum from the New York City Department of Finance, a Registration Certificate is required for all NYC hotel remarketers, and this certificate was to be obtained by Thursday, Sept. 3. If you have any questions, contact NTA Director of Industry and Government Relations Matt Grayson at 800.682.8886, ext. 4250 (U.S. and Canada) or +1.859.226.4250.
Take Action on the United Merchant Account Proposal
NTA urges you to contact your member of Congress and ask them to conduct hearings on United’s proposal to eliminate merchant accounts for travel agents.
NTA is concerned that the policy will negatively impact small, travel-related businesses and, ultimately, the consumer. This new policy will shift the burden for the cost of non-operated or contested flight services from the carrier to travel agents and tour operators. In case of airline bankruptcy, small, travel-related companies would face a tremendous burden, since payments for tickets would go straight to the airlines, while consumer refunds would stay with the agents and tour operators.
Taking action is easy through NTA’s Legislative Action Center. Simply click here to send letters to your local members of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
If you have any questions, contact NTA Director of Industry and Government Relations Matt Grayson at 800.682.8886, ext. 4250 (U.S. and Canada) or +1.859.226.4250.
Are you looking for three quick ways to jumpstart your business? In a free podcast, NTA Convention ’09 speaker Catherine Heeg will help you explore concepts that you can use immediately to "Initiate YOUR Upturn."
Here’s a brief overview of what you will hear in the podcast:
- Ways to quickly refocus your attitude so that the upturn becomes visible to you and your clients
- Tips to stay in touch with your clients to pave the way for increased sales
- Social media marketing tips for you to begin your journey into this emerging and exciting new form of communication and sales.
You can listen to the podcast right from your computer, download it to your laptop or mp3 player and then listen to it at your leisure, listen while commuting or even use it in a staff training session.
The conversation on social media marketing will be continued at the NTA Convention in Reno. Heeg will be presenting "Harnessing the Power of Social Media for Effective PR and Brand Development" on Sunday, Nov. 15. For more information on this and other education al seminars, visit the Convention Web site. For more information on Catherine Heeg, international speaker and trainer, please click here.
CTP Offers Competitive Edge and Professional Development
Everyone is looking for a competitive edge, as well as cost-effective opportunities for professional development. NTA offers a solution with its Certified Tour Professional program, a worthy investment and valuable asset in enhancing your knowledge and credibility.
The CTP program focuses on three distinct subject areas: leadership, sales and marketing, and financial management. The curriculum was created by Temple University’s School of Tourism and Hospitality Management along with input of NTA members.
Through this program, which was designed for busy professionals, you can earn your designation within a year. All materials needed are available online or you can attend seminars in Reno at Convention ’09 to earn credit. NTA will honor several new CTP graduates this November.
Enroll today in the CTP program and you’re on the way to being honored as a new CTP graduate at the 2010 Convention in Montréal.
NTA Executive Program Helps Show Your ROI
This year, NTA has enhanced its Executive Program to enable you to bring your CEO to Convention for free. Having your boss in Reno will enable him or her to see the kind of business the NTA Convention produces and what PhoCusWright’s recent packaged travel study pegged as an $18.3 billion industry.
Register your boss for free so they can be on the floor to see firsthand the business taking place in the Destination Pavilion and at the Tour & Travel Exchange. They also can attend special CEO forums and educational sessions designed with them in mind. With the hotel rates starting at just $58, there’s never been a better time to show your company’s CEO what your presence at NTA does for your company.
For more information on the Executive Program, please click here or contact NTA Headquarters at 800.682.8886 (U.S. & Canada) or +1.859.226.4444.
NTA’s Tracking Task Force would like to thank the following tour operator companies for using the Online ROI/Tracking System:
AFC Tours & Cruises
Alyson Adventures/Hanns Ebensten Travel
Carroll Travel
Cruises & Tours Worldwide
Dan Dipert Tours
Destinations Unlimited
Ed-Ventures Inc.
Heritage Tours Inc.
Landmark Tours & Cruises
Rail Source International
National Events
Progressive Travel
Prudent Tours
Setness Tours
Sports Travel & Tours
Star Destinations
Sun Fun Tours
Sun Tours Ltd.
Time of My Life Tours
Time Lines
Tye’s Top Tour & Travel
U.S. China Travel Service
Wells Gray Tours
Western Discovery LLC
Western Leisure
Witte Travel & Tours
By tracking, you can be a hero to your DMO colleagues. Log on today and let them know when you came and for how many room nights. It’s that simple. Use the NTA Online ROI/Tracking System before the end of October and you could win a front row seat to the Theatre Direct/Broadway.com/groups Luncheon on Monday, Nov. 16, during Convention.
Invitation for Operators to Experience Tour20
NTA’s Tour20 Group would like to extend an open invitation to all NTA tour operators to experience the networking, brainstorming, money-making and saving ideas that come from being a part of this unique NTA program.
"The kind of information I come out of a Tour20 meeting with is invaluable to running my company more efficiently," said NTA Chairman and CEO and Tour20 member Michele Michalewicz, CTP. "I can’t tell you how much money I’ve saved just by taking a simple human resources idea I heard and using it in my company."
If you’d like to see what a Tour20 meeting is like, the group is inviting you to attend its Oct. 16 meeting in Downers Grove, Illinois. The meeting will take place at the offices of Tour20 member Mayflower Tours. There will be no Tour20 fee for joining this one meeting; your only expenses will be travel to get there.
If you’d like more information or would like to attend, contact NTA Vice President of Marketing Lisa Thompson at 800.682.8886, ext. 4215 (U.S. and Canada) or +1.859.226.4215.
Tourism Cares for Let’s Go Africa Foundation
Tourism Cares awarded US$7,500 to the Let’s Go Africa Foundation in Maryland for a project in Ghana as part of its summer 2009 Worldwide Grant Program. The foundation is among six global recipients this season to receive one of the prestigious Tourism Cares grants, which are presented to worthy tourism-related nonprofits through two grant cycles each year.
"The Tourism Cares Worldwide Grant will promote sustainable tourism development in the Cape Coast, Elimina and other slave forts and castles in Central and Western Ghana," said Kwasi Bosompem, founder and executive director of the Let’s Go Africa Foundation. "It will also make visitors aware of the historic sites and increase tourist traffic from the United States to Ghana."
The Let’s Go Africa Foundation’s mission is to promote educational tourism and programs for Americans to places of interest in Africa. Twenty-seven slave castles and monuments, which were built from the 15th to the 18th century, have exceptional cultural and historic significance, and some have been classified as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The aim of the project is to increase knowledge and understanding of the history of slavery between Ghana and the United States. The project has the support of the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board.
The Tourism Cares Worldwide Grant funding will help to rehabilitate the sites in Ghana and also help to develop and publish an interpretive guide of the sites for Americans. For more on this grantee or to learn more about Tourism Cares grants, click here.
Reach Thousands of Student Planners through NTA
NTA is working on its third edition of the NTA Trip Planner for student travel. Now is your chance to reach 20,000 individuals, including active student travel planners and all NTA operators, through NTA’s only officially endorsed publication for the student market. Currently, more than 50 percent of NTA tour operator member companies offer tours in the student market.
Listings in the Trip Planner for student travel are available to tour operators for only US$250, and suppliers and DMOs can take advantage of display advertising opportunities. The magazine will be mailed February 2010 and the space deadline is Oct. 1 so call today to reserve your space.
For more information, or to receive a copy of last year’s publication for review, simply call 800.682.8886, ext. 4241 (U.S. and Canada) or +1.859.226.4241 or e-mail advertising@NTAstaff.com.