How Appointments Are Scheduled

What you need to know...

  • Priority order of appointment is perfect matches, operator requests, supplier/DMO requests
  • Number of requests submitted, received and an early registration date can all influence the number of prescheduled appointments for suppliers and DMOs

How Appointments are Scheduled

To maximize Convention delegate appointments and ensure that potential business partners are paired correctly, the NTA appointment scheduling system has a hierarchy of importance when creating schedules. Appointments are scheduled in the following priority order:

Factors that Influence the Number of Appointments Scheduled

There are several factors that can influence the number of prescheduled appointments Convention delegates receive. They include:

1. Number of requests submitted by the delegate. Often, suppliers and DMOs do not submit the maximum number of requests (60 for suppliers and DMOs). For example, if someone only submits 20 out of 60 requests, they only have 20 chances for an appointment to be scheduled instead of 60.

2. Number of requests a company receives.  As an example, if a supplier or DMO does not receive a high number of operator requests, chances are they will have fewer appointments than the average.

3. Registration date. The matching program creates the schedules in order by registration date.  Submitting a late registration means that by the time that schedule is created, there are fewer open times to schedule an appointment.

Flexibility for Supplier Schedules

All suppliers will receive appointments in three of the four Supplier Exchange Sessions. New this year, tour suppliers may choose the session in which they do not have prescheduled appointments. In order to ensure the maximum number of appointments are scheduled, there will be a limit on the number of attendees who will be allowed to opt out of appointments during each session.  If you do not select a session, your open appointment session will be chosen at random. You may choose your open session by going to the Appointment Request Web site. After you login (using your name and registration number), click on "Create My Request List" and follow the instructions at the top.