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Following a debut in Los Angeles in February, NTA’s Travel Agent Program will bring agents to the January 18–22, 2015, Travel Exchange convention in New Orleans, the NTA reports. The conference includes the National Tour Association, the United Motorcoach Association and the Faith Travel Association.
Travel agents can attend the two-day program, January 19–20, 2015, that includes a networking session with tour operators, tour suppliers and destination offices; access to the show’s Destination Pavilion; a seat at their choice of professional development seminars; and a ticket to the Best of Broadway Luncheon, which is sponsored by Group Sales Box Office/Broadway.com.
Interacting with NTA members yields both immediate and long-term gains for travel agents, said Sherri Guiborat, vice president of sales, Mayflower Tours. Guiborat, a member of both NTA and ASTA, has led a number of seminars for travel agents in which she encouraged them to affiliate with NTA.
“Nearly two-thirds of NTA tour company members offer commissionable packages,” Guiborat said.
Agents will also be able to interact with operators and suppliers engaged in niche travel markets: student, active/adventure, culinary, multi-generation and others, said Pam Inman, NTA president.
Along with events designed to help agents add tour product to their portfolios and industry partners to contacts lists, there are also avenues for informal networking.
The cost for travel agents to participate in one or both days of the Travel Agent Program is $49.
