Trip Planner 2017-18 Trip Planner For Group Leaders | Page 8

Ask the Experts
them connect with their faith, our local guides point out religiously
significant places on the journey and offer unique insights and stories.
Many of our itineraries also include opportunities to join the local
religious services.
Additionally, on our Holy Land trips, we offer our travelers the chance
to get involved in our “Cosmos Community.” For this program we
partner with three organizations that invite our travelers to engage in
light volunteer work like preparing food baskets for those in need in
Jerusalem, helping locals in Nazareth Village or planting olive trees
in Madaba.
What emerging trends in faith travel have you seen
recently that impacted how you organize or operate
your tours?
Sites such as St. Mary’s Church in Wittenberg (pictured)
have welcomed many visitors this year to commemorate
the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
can volunteer during their tours. Another way to get to know another
community is to use local, specialist guides. In Prague, for instance,
we use a Jewish guide for the tour of the synagogues and Jewish
parts of the city.
Dyer: Travelers want to immerse themselves culturally in their
destinations, so our faith-based itineraries include VIP insight into the
cultural and historical relevance of each stop along the way. To help
First American city to be named a city of design by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Detroit has
always had a legacy of cultural and creative industries. The billions
invested in downtown have fueled resurgence in restaurants, hotels and
retail— including big names such as John Varvatos ™ , Moosejaw ® , Cahartt ® ,
Nike ® and Under Armour ® . Throughout The D, discover upscale malls,
walkable downtowns and premium outlet centers, making Detroit quite
the fashionable place.
DISCOVER DETROIT, AMERICA’S GREAT COMEBACK CITY.
Nike ® Detroit store and House of Pure Vin owners
Regina Gaines, Terry Mullins and Andrea Dunbar.
6
NTA Trip Planner for Group Leaders
Drinkhouse: We’re seeing country tourist boards recognize the wide
appeal of faith travel. Many tourist boards, such as Switzerland’s, have
special faith-based travel sections on their websites and resources for
travel professionals.
Another trend is event-based travel, a key trend in faith travel, and a
great hook to get people interested in joining a tour. Oberammergau is
a good example. This once-in-a-decade event is a passion play that
has been produced by villagers in a small town in Bavaria since 1633.
Dyer: The 500th anniversary of the Reformation was big this year
in Germany. Another example is Fatima, Portugal, which enjoyed
increased interest with the 100th Anniversary of the Apparitions of
Fatima in 2017. Both of those events helped make it a record-breaking
year, our best since our launch of faith-based itineraries in 2004.