At its recent RTO Summit in Orlando, NAJ introduced a new concept that brought together receptive tour operators with suppliers, hoteliers and DMOs in Collaborative Product Development Roundtables—a sort of “meet-apalooza” format, in which eight receptive operators each had a roundtable at which they sat, with suppliers moving from table-to-table in 20-minute sessions during which they introduced themselves to the operator in preparation for one-on-one meetings the following day. “The format proved very useful, as it provided suppliers with an opportunity to introduce themselves to the operator and prepare both for additional meetings and networking opportunities during which they can get to know one another,” said NAJ founder and CEO Jake Steinman, who added, “we’ve received some suggestions for improvements in the format that will likely result in some tweaking here and there but, basically, it’s a ‘go’ for future NAJ events.”
“Both buyer and supplier enjoy what is more a less a preview of what operators are looking for and the collaborative possibilities that might not have developed in the absence of such a session,” he explained. Following are photos of the roundtable sessions.
Roundtable 1: Uri Argov (center), founder and CEO, Tourico Holidays
Roundtable 2: Jane Ritter (second from right), chief operating officer, Meeting Point North America
Roundtable 3: Peter van Berkel (upper left), president and CEO, Travalco
Roundtable 4: Eduardo Bittencourt (left), managing director of Orlando-based CH Travel
Roundtable 5: Radhika Tripurani (left), director, web portal operations, Tours Limited
Roundtable 6: Gisa Kusserow-Hanson (second from left), managing director, AlliedTPro
Roundtable 7: Izumi Goodwin (speaking), brand manager, Orlando, JTB International
Roundtable 8: Anthony Liu, president, American Holidays
