U.S. Travel Places to Encounter Faith – Part II

The latest story by Ruth Hill.....

In addition to cathedrals and churches, here's Part 2 of more sites around the country where Christian faith-based travelers may find faith on display.


The post U.S.Places to Encounter Faith – Part II appeared first on FaithTravel Focus.

Playing the Sports Travel Market

 Did you know one-third of NTA tour operators work with sports travel? Comprising a $600 billion industry, the sports travel market is divided into two categories.

The first is considered participatory sports travel, which includes the packaging of travel to participate in competitive, recreational, fitness, or leisure sporting events and activities. Examples include youth participating in soccer tournaments, high-school athletes traveling to compete, or a group of adults traveling together to run in a marathon.

The second category is called spectator sports travel, which is the packaging of travel for spectating at professional, competitive, recreational, fitness or leisure sporting games and events. Possibilities include visiting a sporting venue to view a professional or amateur game, attending a major sporting event such as the Super Bowl or Kentucky Derby, or the touring of a sports museum such as the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

"Sports travel is a very specialized niche market in the travel industry, and it always will be this way as the needs are very specific, individualized and need to be customized," said Eric McAleer, managing director of Excel International Sports, an NTA tour operator.

Want to learn more about making connections in the sports travel market? Check out NTA's Travel Market Guide featuring educational and business insights, statistics, Courier articles, media releases and more, or contact NTA at +1.859.264.6565. (Photo courtesy of Groupize.com).

Romance and the Mature Client: A Market Agents Shouldn't Overlook (by Travel Market Report)

Very fascinating article on this topic by Mimi Kmet with Travel Market Report. This is a market I haven't heard nor read much about until now.

Article link: http://www.travelmarketreport.com/content/publiccontent.aspx?pageid=1365&articleID=11192

NTA Appoints Pam Inman New President

NTA, the leading business-building association for professionals serving customers traveling to, from and within North America, has appointed Pam Inman, IOM, CAE, CMHS, president of the association. Inman brings decades of experience in travel, tourism and hospitality to the organization. She will split her time between Lexington and Washington, D.C., and officially assume her role as president in September. She also will attend Contact, NTA's tour operator retreat in Portland, Oregon, in August.

"Pam brings with her a wealth of tourism, government and association management skills to our association, and we are thrilled to have her join our NTA family," said Paul Nakamoto, NTA board chair and member of the search committee. "Pam is an innovator in our industry with a successful track record for spearheading change, and we are excited to have her lead our staff and organization."

Prior to joining NTA, Inman served for 10 years at the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the sole national association representing all segments of the 1.8 million-employee lodging industry, most recently as executive vice president and chief operating officer. During this time she spearheaded the three-year process of revitalizing AH&LA's governance, membership model and dues structure. Inman also worked in close collaboration with the organization's partner state associations and all levels of association membership, and she developed programs and strategies for membership retention and growth. She also directed AH&LA's marketing and communications, conventions and events, and business development departments and was instrumental in the creation of new revenue streams for the association.

"I am proud to lead NTA at such an exciting time in its history and to take the association into the next phase of its growth," said Inman. "I look forward to introducing new initiatives to the membership that will improve their ability to effectively operate and grow their businesses.  NTA is clearly a leader in the travel and tourism arena already, and I'm excited to have the opportunity to bring new ideas and a fresh perspective to the association and set it on a path of sustained growth."

Before AH&LA, Inman directed the Tennessee Hotel & Lodging Association and the Greater Nashville Hotel & Lodging Association, and she served for more than a decade in the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. Inman has held executive positions in the offices of two Tennessee governors and other levels of state government, and was responsible for the successful marketing and management of the state's resort parks, including inns, restaurants, golf courses and marinas.  She also has more than 25 years' experience in advocating on key industry policies and legislation at the state and federal levels.

Inman earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and communications from Tennessee State University. She also is a graduate of the Institute for Organizational Management at the University of Notre Dame, and she earned the designation of Certified Association Executive from the American Society of Association Executives and the Certified Master Hotel Supplier designation from the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute.

8 Tips for Building a Profitable Niche in the Travel Industry (by Maria Lenhart)

This article by Maria Lenhart of Travel Market Report provides some great insight into specializing in specific travel niches.

Article link:
http://www.travelmarketreport.com/content/publiccontent.aspx?pageid=1364&articleID=11159

U.S. Travel Destinations to Encounter Faith - Part 1 (by Ruth Hill)

You can view the above article from Ruth Hill at Faith Travel Focus by clicking here:

Article link: http://www.faithtravelfocus.com/u-s-places-faith-part-1

Learning the Student & Youth Travel Market

Did you know 51% of NTA tour operators work with student and youth travel? The majority of these members package travel product and services for age groups ranging from elementary school through college.

The global youth travel market currently is valued at $173 billion with almost 190 million international trips per year. The most common trips offered include educational outings, cultural experiences, musical performances and sporting events among others.

Ed Lattin, president of NTA-member Educational Tours, shared the following insight: "It's imperative that attractions be able to show how a visit to their site can enhance learning objectives. Standardized testing is a reality in public education, and tours that can help prepare students for these tests are going to be more marketable to schools."

Want to learn more about making connections in the student and youth travel market? Check out NTA's Travel Market Guide featuring educational and business insight, statistics, Courier articles, media releases and more, or contact NTA's Director of Growth Markets, Kevin J. Wright. (Photo courtesy of American Tours & Travel)

Multigenerational Travel Growing Up

Excellent article by The Group Travel Leader on the growing family and multigenerational travel market.

Opening line of the article:

One of the top travel trends in 2014 is multigenerational travel. Most tour companies report impressive increases in business in recent years from this niche market.

Article link: http://grouptravelleader.com/articles/multigenerational-travel-growing/

Faith-based Travel Planners an Important Segment of Group Travel

Article (published by Travel Mole):

http://www.travelmole.com/news_feature.php?news_id=2011444&c=setreg&region=3

Here's couple segments from the article:

Churches are making a big impact on the group travel market according to research conducted by Going On Faith, a national organization of faith based and religious travel planners.

A survey of the organization's members that plan group travel for their church shows that the average church is running six overnight tours per year with a load factor averaging 36 passengers per tour.

Turning a Personal Passion Into a Thriving Business (by Ana Figueroa)

Wonderful story by Travel Market Report about travel agent, Sophia Kulich, turning her passion into a thriving specialty niche market within travel. Kulich’s Palm Harbor, Fla.-based EMCO Travel sells Jewish heritage tours through its subsidiary, Jewish Travel Agency.  

Article link:
http://www.travelmarketreport.com/content/publiccontent.aspx?pageid=1364&articleID=11090