December 2012 NTA News
NTA News is a compilation of stories from Tuesday newsletter, which NTA members receive each week.
Questions about NTA? Contact us today. We'd love to have you join us.
December 2012 Top Stories
Industry & Association News
Are You Looking for New Business in 2013?
The Heart of Travel Exchange
Making News in Orlando
Hispanics in Travel Caucus to Showcase Growing Market
Two Successes, More to Come
Hao Shares China Market Insights at Massachusetts Workshop
Reach 20,000 Qualified Student Travel Planners
Tourism Cares Letter
Are You Looking for New Business in 2013?
Look no further—NTA's annual business-builder event, Travel Exchange, held January 20-24, 2013, in Orlando, Florida, is the show for companies and organizations looking for new business. Attendees at last year's NTA convention booked more than $78 million in new business alone.
- On average, tour operators booked more than $58,000 each in new business.
- Tour suppliers averaged close to $45,000 each in new bookings.
- DMOs averaged just under $40,000 each in new bookings.
And this month in Orlando, we expect an additional 600 tour product buyers to attend from the United Motorcoach Association.
That means lots of opportunities for all attendees to meet new buyers, sellers and partners:
- on the floor
- in appointments
- at social functions
- in seminars
How much business could you take home in 2013?
Become a member of our family so you can front load this new year with new product, new partners and new business at Travel Exchange 2013!
Travel Exchange, Jan. 20-24, 2013, in Orlando, is NTA's annual convention built for organizations looking for growth. Are you one of them? If so, then this is your opportunity to join thousands of others this month at the biggest show of the year. Not only will you be building business in Orlando, but you'll also have the opportunity to build a few bridges. Travel Exchange offers several ways to have a great time while giving back to the industry* Here are the heartfelt highlights:
Mentor: Share your knowledge of the industry with Tourism Cares scholarship students who are coming to Orlando to soak up insights and information. This year's record number of students needs a record number of mentors.
Rock: Wednesday night during Travel Exchange is Tourism Rocks!, a high-energy party that benefits Tourism Cares (NTA's official philanthropy).
Run: NTA is always looking out for your best interests in Washington, D.C. And you can support those efforts by joining the 5K Fun(d) Run/Walk/Sleep. The race is limited to 220 (actual) runners, so sign up ($25) on site or email NTA HQ once you've registered. You can also choose to ‘sleep in' for the cause!
Flip: After the annual Awards Dinner on Tuesday evening at Travel Exchange, Tourism Cares is hosting a Flip Flop tournament: Flip for Your Friends Affected by Hurricane Sandy. The game is limited to 100 players; follow this link for details.
Pitch: Pitch in, that is, as a volunteer at Travel Exchange. Earn your V Pin by helping greet, register and educate your fellow NTA colleagues. You'll be helping the greater good while you network and meet great people in the process.
And for a nice reminder about why NTA gets together as colleagues each year, see "The Heart" in the December 2012 issue of Courier.
*Speaking of having fun, take a look at the lineup of parties, music, dancing, games and rides we highlighted in Tuesday, our weekly e-newsletter, earlier in December.
Want to join in on all the fun? Become a member of NTA and register for Travel Exchange today! Call 859.264.6540 or 800.682.8886, e-mail us, or visit NTAonline.com. We hope to see you in Orlando!
For NTA members, Travel Exchange is a source of new business connections. But for the trade journalists who cover the event—and their readers—the event is a source of news.
"Travel Exchange is a superb opportunity for Travel Market Report on several fronts," said Robin Amster, contributing editor for the online publication. "Several of the sessions [listed below] promise to be good stories. It's also a chance to network and meet the industry's players because there's no substitute for that personal, face-to-face interaction."
Following the 2010 NTA Convention in Montréal, David Cogswell wrote in TravelPulse.com that he found the event to not only be beneficial for business, but for the industry, too. "I love the gigantic buzz that is generated by conferences, as well as the explosion of collective energy that is ignited when you gather large numbers of people together around a shared set of beliefs and objectives," Cogswell wrote. "That was certainly true of NTA's annual gathering."
Amster, Cogswell and other journalists will find Travel Exchange to be a ripe with insights and information about travel trends, product development and specialty markets:
- Building on the success of last year's inaugural Faith Tourism Leaders Forum, NTA will again bring together a broad collection of professionals experienced in faith-based travel. The Sunday session already has more than 150 participants. (Click here to see an earlier Miami Herald story on this market.)
- New this year is a leaders forum that combines two markets. The Family Travel & Adventure Tourism Leaders Forum on Tuesday will be highlighted by Nancy Schretter of The Family Travel Network, who said that families are one of the fastest-growing parts of the adventure travel market. "I'll be discussing the demographics and psychographics of family travelers, how to connect with them, and what all of this means for product development," she said.
- Another Tuesday event that will generate news is the Hispanics in Travel Caucus, a result of the NTA-ASTA Hispanic Business Development Task Force (introduced at Convention '11.) To read about the program's first session, conducted at ASTA's annual conference, click here.
- Finally, another program making news is the NTA Young Professionals group, which will hold its first meeting in a town hall format on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 20, 2013. This important part of our industry's future already gained attention when the NTA Board of Directors hosted a group of young professionals at a recent meeting. Read about that session here, and follow NTA's new group on Twitter here: #NTAyp.
Want to make the news and be a part of history this January? Join NTA and then register for Travel Exchange. Call 859.264.6540 or 800.682.8886, e-mail us, or visit NTAonline.com. Hope to see you in Orlando.
Hispanics in Travel Caucus to Showcase Growing Market
The Hispanics in Travel Caucus at Travel Exchange will include a Café con Leche (informal discussion and networking) that will bring together key tourism professionals to discuss the growing U.S. Hispanic market. This session will feature Jorge Plasencia, chair of the National Council of La Raza, as keynote speaker on Tuesday, Jan. 22. Want to attend? It's not too late to become a member of NTA and register for Travel Exchange.
The caucus is the second such event created by the NTA-ASTA Hispanic Business Development Task Force, chaired by Olga Ramudo, president of Express Travel in Miami.
"The Hispanic community is thrilled to know that the tourism industry is looking at the potential and unique opportunities this market brings to our industry," said Ramudo, who also has a seat on the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board.
Travel professionals of Hispanic origin—or those actively involved in developing travel for the Hispanic market—are invited to attend. Please contact NTA Headquarters by email or call 1.859.264.6540 and join NTA today!
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, 2012. 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 road show in a second-tier city. If you're interested in marketing your destination to Chinese travelers, become a member of NTA and then contact Haybina Hao, NTA's director of international development to learn more about this fast-growing market.
Hao Shares China Market Insights at Massachusetts Workshop
Last week the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism held a Focus on China Workshop at the prestigious State House, Hall of Flags in Boston. Attendees received information about the China tourism market from several speakers, including Haybina Hao, NTA director of international development. Hao's session featured an analysis of the China inbound-to-U.S. market, characteristics of Chinese travelers and a description of NTA's work with this market.
If you want to organize a similar program or seek other assistance from NTA's in-house Chinese expertise, join NTA and then contact Hao by email.
Reach 20,000 Qualified Student Travel Planners
There's still time to reach 20,000 qualified student travel planners—while they're planning! Advertise in NTA's Trip Planner for Student Travel. Published in March, this publication will be distributed to 20,000 planners and NTA tour operators who coordinate trips for elementary- to college-age students. That audience includes science and social studies teachers, choral and music educators, principals and university music directors.
Check out last year's Trip Planner issue here and contact NTA Services Inc. or call +1.859.264.6559 to learn how you can be promoted in this publication. Space deadline is Jan. 18, so contact us today!
As 2012 draws to a close, take a minute to read this letter from Bruce Beckham, executive director of Tourism Cares. It's a poignant piece and a nice reminder of why Tourism Cares is NTA's official philanthropy.
Be a part of Tourism Cares and make a difference in the travel community. Call 1.859.264.6540 or contact NTA Headquarters by email and join today!
For more business information and tips like these delivered to your inbox weekly, call +1.859.264.6540 or 800.692.8886, e-mail us, or visit NTAonline.com to join NTA.