NTA WORKING FOR YOU
The owner became a true believer
NTA member proves value, ROI in attending Travel Exchange
My name is Nita Neasbitt, director of sales for Cliff Castle
Casino’s new luxury hotel in Camp Verde, Arizona. I’ve been
asked to share my experience as an NTA member, and it’s my
pleasure to let everyone know what NTA can do for you.
I worked at another hotel before coming to Cliff Castle, and
the property was valued at $3 million when I took it over. The
previous manager had no idea about attending the NTA show
to increase sales, nor did the owner. I had to do some really
tall convincing in order to even attend the convention.
But because of NTA, our annual occupancy went from 50
to 98 percent, and the net operating income was outstanding,
all due to the many bus tours we signed from attending NTA
every year. In six years of going to Travel Exchange, we went
from zero bus companies coming to our property to 41! The
owner became a true believer of what NTA can do for a busi-
ness, and the property sold for $8.5 million.
In your first year of attending convention, if you walk away
with two good accounts, it pays for your trip and is the start
of new business. When you get new clients, take good care of
them! If you make the guests happy—and the tour director’s
job easier—they will share that with other tour operators.
Moral to my story: It’s a win-win for everyone when you
attend Travel Exchange. I was a newbie when I joined and had
no idea what an impact NTA was going to play in my success
story, but it was amazing indeed.
Todd’s trifecta
NTA convention guru gives 3 tips for better appointments
Todd Probus, NTA’s member solutions manager, is the author-
ity on appointment scheduling and making the most of your
business meetings at Travel Exchange ’17. With appointment
scheduling set to open Wednesday, Oct. 11, Todd provides three
things you should do to maximize your time in San Antonio
this December.
1. Register early
The earlier you sign up, the better-matched your appointments will be. You can still
get a quality schedule later—and pick up more appointments on-site with our open
floor—but the date you register determines when your schedule is created. Being at
the front of the line positions you better to get the appointments you want.
Appointment scheduling for Travel
Exchange ’17 in San Antonio opens
Oct. 11.
2. Update your profile
Your NTA Online profile is what potential appointment partners see when they’re
determining who to add to their request list. So be sure that your profile is as accu-
rate and informative as possible. Remember that you can add social media links,
photos and a logo to your profile—each can help members determine who they
want to meet with in San Antonio.
3. More is better
The more appointment requests you make, the higher the number of prescheduled
appointments you’re likely to get. So try and make the maximum number of pos-
sible requests. For tour operators, the max is 40 DMOs and 80 suppliers, while DMOs
and suppliers should request the 60 tour operator maximum.
16
August/September 2017
TREX Checks
What: Travel Exchange ’17
Where: San Antonio, Texas
When: Dec. 14–18
Register: NTAonline.com/convention