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April 2010 Chairman's Letter

Dear NTA member,

I just returned from MONTAGE in Seville, Spain, and as I reflect on the past week's adventures, I can't help but focus on the first night of MONTAGE. We stood in a room at the incredible Royal Alcazar Palace where Christopher Columbus laid out his plans for the future—his plans for exploring new worlds. It is so fitting that NTA members from 14 countries and our new Spanish friends came together in that very room to begin our discoveries of new business opportunities. NTA, like Columbus, is boldly looking beyond tomorrow to discover what the future holds for all of us. In that vein, I announced big news in Seville, and I wanted to share it with everyone.

Business is the number-one reason we all come together. I know we love the community of our NTA membership, but the bottom line is that we all need to improve our bottom lines. We need expanded market reach, growth and diversification. 

NTA is listening, and I'm very happy to announce that we have developed a suite of business events to answer these needs.

First, there's MONTAGE, which will become an annual international event. We had 150 attendees in Seville connecting on business to, from and within North America. There were educational sessions, there were business appointments and we were able to explore the wonders of Seville and other regions of Spain. 

We'll hold MONTAGE next year in Aberdeen, Scotland, April 13-16, in conjunction with the Visit Scotland Expo. We're finalizing the complete set of dates, and based on the huge success of our inaugural conference, you will not want to miss Scotland!

I also introduced CONTACT—our new tour operator event, which will always be held in North America. I want to give credit to NTA member Jill Pongonis for the name CONTACT. She recently told us that there is "no contact without NTA," and we thought that was the perfect name for this event where we will be reaching out and making contact with business partners.

Next year we'll hold this business and education conference in Rhode Island, in July or August (specific dates are being determined). Rhode Island has been a longtime supporter of NTA, and we're thrilled they are hosting this inaugural event. The NTA Meetings and Events Committee developed a format for CONTACT where business will be combined with three educational tracks important to a tour company: CEO/owner, sales and marketing and operations.

Rounding out our 2011 business events, we have the Convention Dec. 5-9 in Las Vegas where we'll continue to co-locate with the World Religious Travel Association. 

Looking further into the future, don't forget that NTA is co-locating its Convention with the United Motorcoach Association's Expo beginning in the first quarter of 2013. With NTA, UMA and WRTA coming together, this collaboration will bring more than 2,000 buyers to our Convention.  

NTA is listening ... and responding ... to your need for domestic and international business, new partners and opportunities to explore new worlds of travel. You tell us you need access to more business in an efficient, cost-effective way, and NTA is delivering.

Before I sign off, I wanted to share a few more updates:

• You suggested some modifications to the Convention, and this year we have ...
  
  
  • Added a half-day of 10-minute appointments—30 percent more, in fact—for DMOs and operators in the Destination Pavilion.
     
  • Taken the supplier/operator appointment length back to seven minutes, which offers a 43 percent increase in appointments for suppliers.
     
  • Reduced open shopping time in the Destination Pavilion (this allowed us to expand the appointment time).
     
  • Provided access to the WRTA Expo at no additional cost.
     
• NTA knows this is a very challenging time for destinations everywhere. Congressman Sam Farr (D-California) introduced H.R.4676, the Travel Regional Investment Partnership (TRIP) Act, to bring much needed domestic marketing funding to U.S. destinations. We expect a companion bill to be introduced in the Senate this week. This bill was a direct result of NTA's Economic Travel Summit in December 2008, where 40 travel organizations came together. NTA worked with Congressman Farr to craft the bill and continues to visit legislators to encourage their support. Please join us by contacting your representatives for support. 
   
• NTA will open its Tourism USA office in Shanghai June 1, helping the U.S. promote its great diversity to the China inbound market. NTA secured a Market Development Cooperator Award through the Department of Commerce, making this office a possibility.
  

We've made these changes, introduced these events and developed these opportunities based on what we've heard from you. What else do you want to see from NTA? It'll never happen if you don't let us know. This is our association, our NTA. What do you want it to be?
 

Hasta luego!

Cathy Greteman 
NTA Chairman and CEO