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Covering the Inbound Tourism Industry Since 1996

A Look Back at Active America China 2018 in Atlanta—Part One

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Here are some images from the 10th anniversary edition of the NAJ Group’s unique, boutique conference and business appointment program designed to serve the Chinese market. On Sunday, the first day of the three-day event, the program went from an afternoon of educational programs, including a “How to WeChat” session and an enjoyed an evening reception hosted by the Shops of Buckhead.

 

A pre-fam tour of Chinese tour operators received a special underwater greeting at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta awed the group that witnessed the event prior to the official launch of the 10 th anniversary edition of NAJ’s Active America China Summit.

 

Sally Berry, tourism sales and marketing manager, Corning Museum of Glass

 

Daniel Crain, managing director, BRIC Marketing Group

 

Lian Lu, managing director, Hippo International

 

 

Jeff Fish (left), co-founder, The Momentum Group; and Louis Lu, international sales manager, Destination DC

 

Lisa Catron (left), international sales manager, Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau; and Carrie Baulwin, director of sales, Vallejo Convention & Visitors Bureau

 

Scott McCrea, director of tourism, Explore Fairbanks

 

Patricia Denny, international tourism development manager, Port of Seattle

 

Mindy Shea, director of tour and travel sales, Visit Savannah

 

Sabine Chilton (left), international sales manager, The Florida Keys & Key West; and “Mama” Jane Chang, global account director, Asian market specialist, Millennium Hotels and Resorts

 

Kristin Brecht Baker, founder of Jeenie, a new, real-time translation service that uses cellphones

 

Stella Xu (left), director, Greater China Region Initiatives, Global Commerce and Tourism, Georgia Department of Economic Development, with intern, preparing for Sunday night event.

 

Chilly night for reception at the Shops of Buckhead in Atlanta—trying to get warm are Z.J. Tong (left), president, China Pro Marketing Partners; and Daniel Shen, president, East West Marketing Corp.

 

(AAS #13) Kevin Priger (left), Explore Gwinnett; and Kevin Streit, managing director, Kevin Streit & Associates

 

(Left-to-right) Catherine Li, business development specialist—China Initiatives, Travel South USA; Yinglu Tian, Experience Kissimmee; and Denny Zia, general manager, East West Marketing Corp.

 

Jesus Gracia (left), manager, international sales, Atlanta CVB; and Brandon Barnes, director, international sales and marketing, Atlanta CVB

 

Silei Li (Left), manager, marketing, China market, Atlanta CVB; and Emily Pan, a graphic designer

 

Maritza Cerrato, marketing and tourism specialist, the Farmers Market, Los Angeles

 

(Left-to-right) Claudia Alex, Duty Free Americas; Harry Wade, tourism marketing manager,  Duty Free Americas; and Doug Hall, director of sales, Boston Harbor Cruises

 

Z. J. Tong, president, China Pro Partners Marketing, addresses those attending the opening function at The Shops of Buckhead.

 

(Left-to-right) Kathy Anderson, president and director, Luxury Shopping Consortium; Art Jimenez, executive director of tourism sales, Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority; and Carolyn Feimster, travel and tourism manager, Shop•Dine•Play•USA

 

Luisa Mendoza-Chavez, senior director, tourism market development, Latin America & USA Hispanic Market, New York City & Company; and Jake Steinman, founder and CEO of the NAJ Group

 

Monday morning featured a breakfast featuring the Atlanta and Georgia officials who worked to make this year’s Active America a success, as well as a morning program highlighted by a “smackdown” in which agencies that market to China were asked to explain and defend themselves.

 

Atlanta CVB president and CEO William Pate addresses breakfast gathering.

 

Kevin Langston, deputy commissioner for tourism, Georgia Department of Economic Development

 

On the occasion of the 10th Active America China, (Left-to-right) Kevin Langston, deputy commissioner for tourism, Georgia Department of Economic Development and Jake Steinman, founder and CEO of the NAJ Group, sponsor of Active America China, honor two individuals who helped organize the first edition: Daniel Shen, East West Marketing Corp.; and “Mama” Jane Chang, global account director, Asian market specialist, Millennium Hotels and Resorts.

 

Listening as an interpreter translates their presentation into Chinese are team members from South Dakota, which sponsored the Monday morning breakfast: (left-to-right) Alexa Dorn, global travel and trade representative; Amanda Allcock, director of sales, Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation.

 

Atlanta CVB president and CEO William Pate (right), with Mark Vaughan, vice president and chief sales officer, Atlanta CVB

 

Altogether now for the Georgia and Atlanta team at AAC (left-to-right): Kevin Langston, deputy commissioner for tourism, Georgia Department of Economic Development; Stella Xu, director for greater China region initiatives, Georgia Department of Economic Development; Atlanta CVB president and CEO William Pate; and Brandon Barnes, director, international tourism sales, Atlanta CVB.

 

Making a point in his presentation is David Becker, CEO of Attract China.

 

Danny Xia, general manager, East West Marketing Corp.

 

 

“Smackdown” judge and inquisitor Estelle Miller, business development manager, Hornblower Cruise

 

wo more “Smackdown” judges/inquisitors: Cynthia Schmitt, director of international tourism sales, Citadel Outlets; and Louis Lu, international sales manager, Destination DC

 

Daniel Shen, president, East West Marketing Corp.

 

With a raffle prize of a gift basket from Travel Portland is Fu Yu, marketing manager, China—Hung & Kit

 

Aki Lu, sales manager for JBS Hotels, holds the $500 raffle prize she received from Travel Oregon during AAC’s Monday luncheon.

 

On the 10th anniversary of Active America Chinas, Jake Steinman (left), founder and CEO, NAJ Group, and Kevin Langston (right), deputy commissioner for tourism, Georgia Department of Economic Development, honor three individuals who helped organize the first edition of Active America China (left-to-right): Oliver Yang, tourism marketing specialist Office of the (Texas) Governor, Economic Development and Tourism; Stella Xu, director for greater China region initiatives, Georgia Department of Economic Development; and Rolland Cheng, sales manager/leisure-Asia, Best Western International.

 

(More images from Active America China in the next issue of INBOUND)

Receptive Tour Operator of the Month

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Jane Rutter, Chief Operating Officer

Meeting Point North America

 

 

 

The 25-year-old Meeting Point North America is a full service receptive tour operator for USA & Canada, offering a complete range of hotels, attractions, fly-drives and motor-coach itineraries for both FIT and group clients.  We pride ourselves on delivering top notch customer service to both large and small clients.

The TourOperatorLand.com website by the NAJ Group (it also publishes the Inbound Report) has introduced both receptive tour operators, U.S. tour operators and international tour operators to travel product and services of U.S. travel suppliers and DMOs. Visitors to the website can use its exclusive Receptive Finder™ to find the right RTO.  It is designed to help both the travel trade and travel suppliers find the right U.S. based receptive tour operator to sell their products on the international travel market place.

The receptive operators, who are vetted and qualified by the NAJ Group also take part in at least one of NAJ’s RTO Summits series. The Summits take place annually in Los Angeles (It was held Feb. 21-22, 2018), New York City (April 17-18) and Orlando (October 24-25, 2018). You can connect with Meeting Point North America at next month’s RTO Summit in New York.

For more information, visit www.TourOperatorLand.com

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Tom Berrigan, Managing Editor/Producer
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