Yearly Forums in Los Angeles, New York and Orlando spotlight U.S. travel: Brand USA – the destination-marketing organization for the United States–has agreed to a sponsorship role for the RTO Summit, an annual travel-industry tradeshow presented by the North American Journeys Group (NAJ), a California-based research company that serves receptive tour operators (RTOs).
In addition to these meetings, this year’s event will feature eTourism International, an entire day filled with panel discussions providing digital tactics and tools especially useful to tourism sales professionals.
“Brand USA is a critical part of the marketing machinery that makes international travelers increasingly aware of the USA as a global-travel destination,” said Jake Steinman, CEO of the NAJ Group.
“Moreover, our three shows allow local RTOs to meet with representatives of U.S. suppliers and destinations in settings that tend to encourage more personal interaction than at the mega-sized shows,” he said.
Brand USA began its affiliation with the NAJ tradeshows series by sponsoring a closing luncheon at last month’s RTO Summit Orlando. The next two shows (in 2017) include RTO Summit West, Feb. 8-9 in Los Angeles, and RTO Summit East, May 15-16 in New York.
“Participating in the two-day NAJ summits advances our strategy for promoting U.S. travel opportunities among receptive tour operators, a sector of the tourism industry that continues to gain in significance,” said Brand USA’s Cathleen Domanico, vice president for Global Trade.
Brand USA representatives will have opportunities to convey research and pertinent travel information to the RTOs during the “eTourism International,” which takes place during the first day of each summit.
The three RTO tradeshows appeal to different international market sectors based largely on the gateways they serve, Steinman said. “RTO Summit West, has a substantial number of RTOs that serve Asian markets, RTO Summit East attracts RTO’s that cater to markets in Europe and a high percentage of RTOs who work with the South American travel trade, attend the Orlando show,” he said.
For more details on the 2017 RTO Summits and the programs for each, visit: www.rtosummit.com.
