Courier February Courier | Page 24

’17 RECAP People to meet means places to go Tour operator members met with their DMO and supplier counterparts across four days of appointments to develop new business and touch base with colleagues from across the globe. The quality of appointments at Travel Exchange was outstanding. As a small DMO from Alaska, attending Travel Exchange is a great opportunity to meet with key tour operators in one place. —CASEY RESSLER, MAT-SU CVB (PALMER, ALASKA) I thought DMOs and suppliers were ready with concise, pertinent information for tour operators. Many suppliers in particular overhauled their profile sheets to make it easy for tour operators to access programs and pricings quickly when customizing itineraries and providing pricings. —CHRISTEN M. ELIASON, THE GROUP TOUR COMPANY (WASHINGTON, D.C.) My appointments at NTA were, as always, invaluable. The amount of time spent with the operators, in addition to the intimate setting, allows a more personal connection. I believe NTA has the perfect amount of attendees to make it worth your while! —ELISE SWEARINGEN, PROVIDENCE WARWICK CVB (PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND) I had great appointments again this year with friends from the NTA family. I was encouraged to hear operators are looking outside of our popular summer season and are focused on creating itineraries that are unique and different from the norm. Our TREX ’17 meetings allowed me to support our current tour operator partners and to develop new relationships with a host of operators and new itineraries to our destination for 2019. —RYAN ELLIOTT, BANFF & LAKE LOUISE TOURISM (BANFF, ALBERTA) 22 February 2018