What Do NTA Members Have in Common with the Royals? | And the Winner Is …
December 14, 2010
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TODAY’S ARTICLES
What Do NTA Members Have in Common with the Royals?
And the Winner Is …
Join Us in Beijing at COTTM
Team Up on Bowl Game Packages with P2P
Happy Anniversary … to Us!
IGLTA Offers Discount to NTA Members for 2011 Convention
Tell Us What You Want to Know about China
There’s Value in Vegas, Baby!
Explore New Lands, New Product with 2011 PDTs
8 Simple Ways to Get Your Web Content Read
6 Tips for Holiday Family Flying
Industry News and Updates
NTA Job Center
What Do NTA Members Have in Common with the Royals?
Scotland. NTA is taking Montage to Scotland—where Prince William and Katherine (Kate) Middleton met at school—just 17 days before their wedding.
And what does that mean for NTA tour operators? Montage is your opportunity to experience and build partnerships in what is anticipated to be the new hot destination.
VisitScotland expects the wedding to have a big impact on Scottish tourism, says Linda McAllister, the organization’s trade marketing manager for North America and Australasia. "Prince William met Kate while they were students at St Andrews and they have enjoyed spending time at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, where the Royal family spends their summer holidays," she said. "We have already seen inquiries about the Royal couple increase at our VisitScotland Information Centre in St Andrews."
(By the way, University of St Andrews, founded in 1413, is Scotland’s first university and the third-oldest in the English-speaking world.)
"The Royal family loves Scotland," McAllister continued, "and many visitors follow in their footsteps by visiting Scotland’s Royal locations from the Palace of Holyrood House in Edinburgh [included in the Montage Product Development Trip] to the Castle of May, the late Queen Mother’s family home in Caithness."
Even without the recent engagement announcement and accompanying fascination in the Royal wedding, Scotland and the entire United Kingdom is a popular destination for U.S. travelers. In 2009:
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the UK ranked second on the list of top countries for U.S. travel spending.
- 2.7 million U.S. travelers visited the UK
- NTA membership surveys showed that 29 percent of NTA operators take tours to Scotland.
NTA will be at the right place at the right time next April. Will you? Register today for Montage. Casual networking. Serious business. And, a chance to walk in royal footsteps.
Tourism Cares is pleased to announce that the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum, in Hannibal, Missouri, topped the organization’s most recent Save Our Sites online poll. The winning project will restore the Becky Thatcher House, home of Laura Hawkins, the childhood sweetheart of Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain.
The competition featured four historic sites associated with great American writers. The other contestants were the Edgar Allen Poe Cottage in the Bronx, New York; the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in Hartford, Connecticut; and the F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum Association in Montgomery, Alabama. Each museum mounted marketing campaigns through both traditional and online media to encourage supporters to participate during the six-week poll.
"All four museums are worthy historical museums," said Bruce Beckham, executive director of Tourism Cares. "Tourism Cares encourages everyone who participated to continue to support their favorite museum through both donations and volunteer service."
Tourism Cares sends thanks to the 18 tour operators, destinations and restaurants (including several NTA members!) that participated in the Save Our Sites program this year.
The China Outbound Travel & Tourism Market, slated for April 13-15 in Beijing, is the only business-to-business exhibition in China dedicated to the China outbound travel market.
NTA will be there and you can, too.
For the third year, our association is assembling the U.S. Pavilion to host U.S. operators, suppliers, destinations and attractions interested in reaching the burgeoning Chinese outbound market. (During the first eight months of 2010, arrivals of Chinese tourists in the U.S. jumped 33 percent over the same period last year.)
In addition to a company booth, storage space and a central meeting area, Pavilion participants-up to 20 U.S. companies-will also have the opportunity to meet with the Chinese media, get listed in the Pavilion catalog for distribution and be included in a special NTA dinner.
Following COTTM, pavilion participants can opt for an additional program: a Road Show to Chongqing, a booming city of 32 million people in southwest China. The Road Show, which targets the Chinese travel trade, is organized in conjunction with U.S. Commercial Services.
To join NTA staff and member businesses at this well-established trade fair, contact Haybina Hao, NTA’s director of international development.
Team Up on Bowl Game Packages with P2P
‘Tis the season for college football fans to follow "their boys" to a bowl game. And NTA members can form their own teams through Partner2Partner, the association’s online business community.
During bowl season (Dec. 18 to Jan. 10) 64 sets of fans will travel to one of 27 U.S. cities that will host at least one game, and they will need help getting there. Travel packages can include air, hotel stay, game tickets, a tailgate or hotel party, and ground transportation. If you are offering bowl specials or packages, post that info on NTA’s P2P page.
Maybe an operator in a "team city" is looking for hotel rooms or motorcoaches in a "game city." They both go to P2P, meet, make a connection and say, "You … complete me."
And if you want to share a success story, post it on NTA’s Facebook page.
NTA turns 60 next year, and 2011 offers a chance for us all to look back—and look ahead. We want to hear it from you: What role has NTA played in the past as you’ve built your career? Or answer this: How does NTA set you up for the future?
With our two questions, you also get two avenues to reply. Post your comments—past or future—on our Facebook discussion board. Or e-mail us. From time to time throughout 2011, we’ll want member memories and forecasts, and with your help, we’ll have plenty of each to draw from.
And while we’re in the mood to celebrate, it’s not too late to grab a spot in the February Courier, the issue that commemorates our 60th anniversary. There’s no better way to highlight your brand while reaching thousands of top tour operators. To advertise, call +1.859.219.3533 or e-mail advertising@NTAstaff.com. But do it now: the deadline for ad space is this Thursday!
IGLTA Offers Discount to NTA Members for 2011 Convention
The International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association is gearing up for "Fort Lauderdale Unleashed," the association’s annual global convention, set for May 10–15 in Florida. Thanks to a partnership between the two organizations, NTA members can register for the event and use the IGLTA member rate—a savings of hundreds of dollars!
To save even more money, take advantage of the early registration rate through Dec 31. For complete pricing information, click here.
The 2011 convention promises to be the premier event in LGBT tourism and will include businesses from all over the world. Post-convention FAMS are already scheduled for Key West and St. Petersburg. Check here for more information.
Tell Us What You Want to Know about China
NTA has teamed with Travel Market Insights and Ivy Alliance to produce NTA’s China Travel Trade Barometer. You now have the opportunity, through sponsorship, to include two questions on the survey and get customized research on this important market.
The Barometer will be an instrumental research tool to anyone looking to increase their inbound business from China—one of the fastest-growing inbound markets. By sponsoring, you can ask the questions of the Chinese travel trade that will help your company or destination make specific plans to attract more Chinese inbound leisure travelers. Plus, you’ll get quarterly data on this market that isn’t available anywhere else.
To place your two tailored questions in the survey, sponsorship starts at US$15,000. With full sponsorship, priced at $20,000, your logo will be on every issue of Barometer—plus you can submit your two survey questions.
Want more information? Contact Scott Johnson with Travel Market Insights or Lisa Thompson at NTA before December 20. The work will begin on this project in the first quarter, so be the first to ensure your company or destination has the information you need to grow your share of this growing inbound market.
While Convention sponsors from this year have until December 31 to renew their contracts for Convention ’11 in Las Vegas, we are now accepting wait list requests. By sponsoring at the US$5,000 level or higher, you’re entitled to a 10′ x 10′ exhibit booth on the NTA floor for the entire Convention. And as a sponsor, your business will get promoted before, during and after the show through Courier, Convention pubs, on site and online. You’ll also receive a database of attending delegates.
To secure your spot on our wait list, simply call +1.859.226.4232 or e-mail Karla DiNardo. For more information on our sponsorship program for any of our Business Builder events (Montage, Contact or Convention), please click on the links or take a look at our 2011 Media Kit.
Explore New Lands, New Product with 2011 PDTs
Tour operators, pack your bags: The Product Development Trip calendar for 2011 is set! This year’s trips kick off Feb. 16–24 with the Splendid China PDT. Hosted by China Connection Tours, this trip is open to two registrants per company and costs $800 plus your flight. Better act now: The registration deadline is January 14!
The next trip, Explore Saskatchewan, features the outdoor beauty and urban vibrancy that is Saskatchewan. Hosted by Tourism Saskatchewan, the PDT will take place Aug. 30–Sept. 4 and is limited to the first six registrants (one per company, please) at a cost of $100 including round-trip air.
The calendar will close with the Exotic Land of Morocco PDT, Nov. 3–13. Hosted by Hospitality Marketing Services, Morocco Destination Management, this trip is open to two registrations per company and costs $1,595 with double occupancy, including flight.
To see full itineraries and access registration forms for any of the Product Development Trips, visit NTA online or e-mail Lisa Thompson at NTA headquarters.
8 Simple Ways to Get Your Web Content Read
Just because you’re posting information online—and linking it through every available social media connection—doesn’t mean you’re getting your message across. Pamela Wilson, on Copyblogger.com, says today’s Web readers are scanners, and you need to make your message quick-hitting and reader-friendly. Here’s what she recommends:
- Use short (three sentences or fewer) paragraphs that convey one idea.
- Plug in compelling subheads (mini-headlines) to keep your readers engaged.
- Use bulleted lists. They provide a visual break in your text and give readers easily digestible information.
- Use deep captions-two or three sentences long-to lure readers into your article.
- Add highly relevant links: internal ones to promote your best material and external ones to add value to your article.
- Use strategic formatting. Add emphasis to your copy by bolding or highlighting a few important concepts.
- Embrace the numbers. A numbered list might seem hokey, but … you’re reading this, aren’t you?
- Read your article-through a scanner’s eyes. Make sure you’ve called attention to the key elements of your post.
6 Tips for Holiday Family Flying
If you have clients on an intergenerational tour or FIT package who are flying with kids for the first time during the holidays, pass along these survival tips.
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Share the details: Tell kids what to expect, especially during the security check. Scanners are just fancy cameras, after all, and it’s fun to walk around in sock feet, right?
- Stay on track: Allow yourself two or three hours to check in at the airport, but don’t spend the day there. Print your boarding passes at home and check online for delays or cancellations. Many airlines even provide e-mail or text alerts.
- Pack snacks: Hungry toddlers are not happy toddlers. Take easy-to-eat travel foods such as Cheerios, crackers, string cheese and bananas. And pack a change of clothes and extra wipes for when a spill occurs.
- Charge ’em up: A portable DVD player or other electronic device can provide a needed diversion, but only if the batteries hold out.
- Mind the ears: Wake your little ones on takeoff and landing and give them a bottle or sippy cup. That should ease the pain of air-pressure changes and help you avoid a crying fit.
- Lower your expectations: As a parent, you’re traveling for two-or three or more. Let’s face it: You can’t pack as much stuff, do as many things or look as put-together as you used to.
- Starting Jan. 3, Tony Gonchar will become CEO of the American Society of Travel Agents.
- Brazil becomes the 101st U.S. Open-Skies Aviation partner, as the two countries have agreed to remove restrictions on pricing and routes.
- Beginning early next year, Delta will offer recharging stations at every gate in 19 U.S. airports, allowing passengers to recharge their electronic devices.
The links in this article are not monitored by NTA staff. Any bad links, expired pages, etc. are due to the constantly changing nature of Web sites.
Collette Vacations – Air Operations Supervisor
Collette Vacations currently is seeking an Air Operations Supervisor for our Pawtucket, Rhode Island, office. This person will be responsible for the supervising, scheduling and coordinating work of all air operations staff in an effort to increase revenue and maximize profit. The supervisor will act as liaison to the director for all operational functionality within the air department and collaborate with other departments. Additional responsibilities include strong time management skills with focus on operational efficiencies and customer retention. As well, they will be responsible for first tier air emergency response on and off hours, to the director’s second tier. To view a full job description and apply online please visit www.ColletteVacations.com/careers.cfm.
Wanderlust (Troy, New York) – Director of Business Development
Are you a competitive person? Are you a producer, not a manager? Can you work well within a system? Can you take direction but also operate with little supervision and without subordinates? Do you have prior experience selling conceptual or professional services to marketers? Do you possess a balanced mix of sales drive and problem-solving skills? Can you nurture and maintain positive relationships with prospects? Do you have the focus to only pursue business that’s a perfect fit?
Apply online at http://www.createwanderlust.com/hospitality-marketing-business-development.
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