Who’s Who at Travel Exchange? | Retail and Restaurant Council | New: Stage 1
December 11, 2012
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TODAY’S ARTICLES
Who’s Who at Travel Exchange?
NTA Introduces Retail and Restaurant Council
New at Travel Exchange: Stage 1
Let This Expert Refine Your Family-travel Focus
First Pre-Contact Fam Announced!
Reminder: Register for February PDT to the Holy Land
Board Voting Now Open
Two Successes, More to Come
New York City Post-Sandy Update
Meet the NTA Florida Scholar
NTA Corporate Partner Offers $500 Back with Sign-up
Industry News and Updates
Picture this: You arrive at Travel Exchange and you’re ready to walk the floor and start networking. But wait! With so many buyers and sellers from both NTA and UMA, how will you know who’s your next prospective business partner?
Simple. It’s all on the badge. And to get a jump on who’s who, we’ve created a colorful badge chart to help. The graphic illustrates each badge and color
designation for all Travel Exchange attendees; click on the image at right to get a better look. For example, all NTA tour operators will be wearing a blue Rhode Island badge holder with a white name badge insert. Here’s your badge breakdown:
NTA badges (blue Rhode Island badge holder)
- White: tour operators, NTA staff and Tourism Cares staff
- Yellow: tour suppliers, DMOs, associates and educators
- Green: guests and media
UMA badges (black Sardo badge holder)
- White: motorcoach operators, spouses, affiliates, staff and non-exhibiting suppliers
- White with yellow strip: motorcoach operators who package tours. (The yellow strip says: "We assist with planning tours.")
- Pastel blue: exhibitors
To see who will be wearing the badges, check the scrolling list of registrants on the Travel Exchange homepage. See you in Orlando! Not registered yet? It’s time! You can register for Travel Exchange here.
Reminder: The Appointment Request System for Travel Exchange closes this Friday, Dec. 14. Go here to start or complete your list of requests.
NTA Introduces Retail and Restaurant Council
Shopping and dining are two important components of packaged travel, and earlier this year, NTA created a Retail and Restaurant Council to tap its members’ expertise in these areas. The council, chaired by Kathy Anderson, tourism manager with America’s Premier Shopping Places General Growth Properties, has focused on how NTA’s shopping and dining establishments can better serve the NTA operator.
If you are an NTA retail outlet or restaurant member, be on the lookout for an email asking for your input to help the council create a product and services analysis. Also, the council hopes you will join them for a meet-up during the Wine and Cheese Reception at Travel Exchange on Monday, Jan. 21. The group will gather near the Tourism Cares booth.
Please join NTA in thanking these members for being part of the new Retail and Restaurant Council:
- Kathy Anderson, America’s Premier Shopping Places General Growth Properties
- Christine Poss, Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc.
- Teri Laursen, Fashion Outlets of Las Vegas, Niagara and Santa Fe
- Tara Hippensteel, Hard Rock International
- Carolyn Feimster, Historic Shopping & Dining Attractions
- Terry Wells, Macy’s Inc.
- Doug Killian, Mall of America
- Janice Porter, Pier Restaurants
- Rosemary McCormick, Shop America Alliance
- Pam Duigou, West Edmonton Mall
New at Travel Exchange: Stage 1
Members tell us every year how much they value the education sessions at conventions, and this year’s line-up promises to be just as informative and insightful 
as ever. But there’s more at Travel Exchange.
This year, NTA Presentations Stage 1 makes its debut on the convention floor, where NTA members and staff will share their expertise in quick-hitting presentations. From Monday through Thursday you can sharpen your skills and discover new opportunities through these 15-minute presentations. The schedule of these presentations will appear in the Travel Exchange Daily newsletter (TED) on site and (soon) on the Travel Exchange Web site and app.
Speaking of the app, that’s a great example of what you can learn during a quick presentation—right on Stage 1. Other topics include iPad tips, new markets, and getting the most from social media tools (Twitter, Pinterest and Facebook) and bloggers.
Let This Expert Refine Your Family-travel Focus
Travel Exchange offers a pool of diverse markets, and family travel is one you can dive into twice. On hand to provide market expertise in Orlando is Nancy Schretter,
managing editor of Family Travel Network. She’ll be moderating Tuesday’s Family Travel and Adventure Tourism Leaders Forum, followed by a seminar, "All in the Family." See more about the sessions here.
Schretter said the definition of family travel is much broader than Mom and Dad taking their little kids to the beach. "Family travel includes multigenerational travel (grandparents traveling with kids and grandkids, or grandparents and grandkids traveling alone), large family reunions, single parents traveling with children and one-parent/one-child bonding trips."
Developing product for family travel can be simple or not, depending on where you’re starting and what segment of the market you’re going after, she said.
"The most important thing is to understand what family travelers are seeking, assess your capabilities and determine how you can develop products that fit niche segments," Schretter said. "Then you train your staff to deliver, and market what you have in ways that will resonate with decision makers."
And who are the decision makers? The answer, which might surprise you, is among the many tips and trends Schretter will deliver at Travel Exchange. To register for the Family Travel and Adventure Tourism Leaders Forum, email Kevin Wright, director of growth markets for NTA. Not registered for Travel Exchange yet? You can change that right now.
First Pre-Contact Fam Announced!
Norwegian Cruise Line is offering a pre-Contact ’13 fam cruise aboard Pride of America, Saturday, Aug. 10, through Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2013.
This four-day cruise will start in Honolulu on the island of Oahu and whisk you out to sea, sailing you through the tranquil Hawaiian waters towards Kona, on the Big Island. Onboard Pride of America, you’ll experience Freestyle Cruising firsthand and get the opportunity to learn more about it from Norwegian Cruise Lines.
Once you’ve disembarked in Kona, you’ll be transferred to the Hilton Waikoloa Village, where you’ll join your sightseeing tour and begin a full weekend of learning and intimate networking at Contact ’13!
Special price packages for this "Seminar at Sea" start at $908 per person for an inside cabin (regularly $1,399). Register today for Contact then RSVP for the Norwegian Cruise Line pre-Contact fam to reserve your spot! If you plan to arrive a few days before the cruise, there is an optional land package rate at the Marriot Waikiki Resort & Spa in Honolulu.
Click here to view your official invitation.
If you haven’t registered for Contact ’13, now is the time! Early Bird rates end Thursday, Jan. 24. Aloha!
Reminder: Register for February PDT to the Holy Land
The deadline for joining NTA’s product development trip to the Holy Land, Feb. 10-22, is this Thursday (Dec. 14). NTA’s first PDT focused on faith-based travel promises to be productive, said Paul Larsen, president of Ed-Ventures and chair of the NTA Faith Tourism Advisory Council.
The purpose of the trip is to assist tour operator members in developing and expanding their tour product and portfolios in the Holy Land," Larsen said. "It’s ideal for tour operator executives, product development managers and sales personnel."
Along with the trip’s faith components, you’ll discover the diversity of travel experiences the Holy Land offers, such as family travel, culinary, adventure, voluntourism, health/wellness and more. Space is limited, and you must send NTA your application to guarantee the special PDT airfare. To learn more about the Holy Land PDT, follow these links:
If you have questions, contact Kevin Wright, NTA’s director of growth markets.
Last Thursday NTA Headquarters emailed ballots for the 2013 NTA Board of Directors election, and each NTA member company is entitled to one vote to be cast
by its authorized representative. For a look at the slate of nominees, along with NTA’s requirements for service on the board, follow this link. Not on the ballot, but set to serve as NTA Chairman in 2013 by virtue of his chairman-elect status, is Mark Hoffmann of Sports Leisure Vacations.
The deadline for receiving nominations from the floor was Nov. 27, and none were received. You can cast your ballot by email (or postal mail) between now and Jan. 15, 2013, or at Travel Exchange during Election and Talk Time, held Monday, Jan. 21, from 9:15 to 11:15 a.m. Ballots will be accepted during the first 10 minutes of the session.
If you opened the link to your ballot but did not cast your vote, that ballot is no longer valid. We will, however, send a second email at the end of the week to members who have not voted. To get a complete copy of the NTA Election Policies and Procedures, email Beth Ward at NTA HQ.
NTA enjoyed its November in China, producing a pair of successful events marketing the United States as a destination for outbound Chinese tourists.
NTA partnered with Brand USA to host the Discover America Pavilion at the China International Travel Mart in Shanghai, Nov. 15 to 18. The pre-show orientation attracted more than 70 attendees, including the general consul of Shanghai, the U.S. Commercial Service team and CITM organizers and participants. An onsite block party at CITM involved more than 200 Chinese key trade and media members.
Prior to CITM was a road show in the ancient capital city of Xi’an, organized by NTA and U.S. Commercial Service, and sponsored by Delta Air Lines. With Mark Lewis of USCS and Isabel Hill of the Office of Travel and Tourism Industries on hand, the Nov. 13 event had 10 U.S companies participating. More than 200 local trade and media representatives attended the high-energy event, and the 16 media members at the show produced numerous TV, radio, newspaper and online reports that were picked up by media outlets nationally.
In 2013, NTA is hosting the China Outbound Travel and Tourism Market in Beijing, April 9 to 11, along with a with a road show in a second-tier city. If you’re interested in marketing your destination to Chinese travelers, contact Haybina Hao, NTA’s director of international development.
New York City Post-Sandy Update
NYC and Company has released an update on areas and attractions of interest to tour operators. If you have tours planned or wish to update your itineraries, follow this link to NYC & Company’s latest communication, which includes information about the following Lower Manhattan sites and services:
- Transportation
- Hotels
- Harbor Cruises
- Museums and attractions
- Tours
- Shopping
- Dining
For additional information and links, visit NYC & Company’s Facebook page.
NTA members from Florida can be proud of this year’s recipient of the NTA Florida 
Scholarship, Brittany Cartwright. Out of 50-plus applicants from Florida, Cartwright was selected by Tourism Cares to receive this award. The merit-based scholarship, created in 1991 by NTA members from Florida, is offered to junior- and senior-year students from Florida studying travel, tourism or hospitality. Twenty-one students have received the award.
Cartwright is a senior at the University of Central Florida’s Rosen School of Hospitality Management and is pursuing her bachelor’s degree in event planning.
As part of her scholarship, Cartwright will be participating in the Tourism Cares mentoring program at Travel Exchange (and we need more mentors). Programs such as the NTA Florida Scholarship and the Tourism Cares mentoring program help pave the way for Cartwright and scores of other students to enter into the hospitality workforce. To help ensure these worthwhile programs are able to continue, click here.
NTA Corporate Partner Offers $500 Back with Sign-up
ADP, NTA’s Corporate Partner, offers discounted rates to all U.S. members on payroll processing. And if you sign up with ADP by Dec. 27, you can receive up to $500 cash back!
Choose from a range of right-sized payroll and employee management solutions to suit the needs of your business. Select the right fit for your business with: 
- Cash management tools that help you make smarter use of your financial resources
- Integrated solutions that help ensure compliance
- Optional employee benefits that can help you boost productivity by attracting and engaging team members
In addition, ADP payroll processing offers:
- A 20 percent discount on payroll-processing costs
- FREE month of payroll-processing services
- Waived one-time setup fee
Contact Jeremy Dyer by email or call 1.866.506.9447 to explore the possibilities for your business; make sure you identify yourself as an NTA member!
Click here to learn more about this exclusive member benefit and be sure to renew your NTA membership before Jan. 31, 2012, to take advantage of all NTA’s Corporate Partner discounts in 2013!
- By the end of 2012, a record 1 billion people (one out of seven people on the planet) will have traveled across an international border as a tourist this year. Reasons for the increase include prosperity in China and a perception of a more peaceful world.
- The U.S. Department of Commerce projects strong growth in international travel into the United States. By 2017, expanded travel would produce an increase of 18 million annual visitors (up 28 percent) over 2011 totals.
- Following two years of huge increases in spending on trips abroad (50 percent in 2010 and 30 percent in 2011), Brazilian travelers are forecast to spend $US16 billion more in 2012 than last year. Their top destinations are Europe and the United States.
- Which airline has the most economy seats that are considered comfortable? According to Routehappy, all of Virgin America and jetBlue’s seats on short-haul flights are "roomy." The report covers 18 U.S. airlines for short-haul and 13 for long-haul flights.
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