NAJ News

Visit Fort Worth—Connect Travel’s Tour OperatorLand.com Partner of the Week

January 21, 2020 by Tom Berrigan

The beauty of Fort Worth and its geography provides many advantages to its visitors. Instead of spending hours driving to far destinations, spend that time learning how to be a cowboy or shopping-for example! Fort Worth has it all: Western Heritage, Ranches, Sophistication, Arts and even Tax-Free Shopping! Different and authentic, the destination is looking forward to seeing you soon!

Fort Worth Stockyards Cattle Drive

Amon Carter Museum of American Art

For more information, visit: https://www.touroperatorland.com/index.php/destinations/visit_fort_worth

Minimal Overlap between Operators Who Attend IPW and Those Who Take Part in Connect Travel/NAJ Events:

May 28, 2019 by Tom Berrigan

As IPW is about to launch this weekend in Anaheim, California, an analysis of the data show that—between tour operators who attend IPW and those who take part in the suite of Connect Travel Events including RTO Summits, Active America China, and Connect Travel Marketplace (CTM)—there is almost no overlap.

In fact, of the 1,300 or so international travel buyers who take part in IPW and the operators who meet face-to-face with U.S. travel suppliers and DMOs at Connect Travel Marketplace, there was an overlap of just 37 companies.

Commenting on the findings, Will Seccombe, president of Connect Travel, told INBOUND, “The combined portfolio provides our industry partners the opportunity to schedule more appointments and build meaningful relationships with more travel industry buyers that will lead to more business.”

Connect Travel two months ago acquired the assets of NAJ Events’ series of RTO (Receptive Tour Operator) Summits: the RTO Summit West in February in Los Angeles; RTO Summit East in April in New York City; and RTO Summit Florida in October. The acquisition also includes the Active America China Summit and the Active America China Receptive Edition, both of which target Chinese tour operators and receptive tour operators who sell USA product.

Suppliers and DMOs who want to know more about the unique base of operators who take part in the Connect Travel collection are encouraged to visit the Connect Travel booth (#2235) at IPW.

A Note from INBOUND’s Editor-in-Chief

April 3, 2019 by Tom Berrigan

A Letter from INBOUND’s editor-in-chief, Jake Steinman: Last week, we announced that the entire NAJ portfolio—Active America China, Active America China Receptive Edition, TourOperatorland.com, INBOUND, and the RTO Summits—was sold to Connect Travel as part of a plan that that will allow me gradually scale back to Chairman Emeritus status by the end of 2021. (Please see the news release below).

Many of you have had questions you have sent my way—questions that I’d like to try to address here:

Q: Why did you sell?

A: I’ve been working with Will Seccombe and his team at Connect Travel for the past year and found that we shared the same business values. The money didn’t hurt either as it will enable me to retire without drastically reducing my lifestyle.

Q: Does Connect Travel plan to close down any NAJ events?

A: Not at all. Their preference has been to use the events as “anchors” around which to add other events, similar to what they have done with Digital Marketing for Sports Travel and Thrive for LGBT travel running side by side by side with eTourism, which Connect Travel purchased last year. I’ve learned that we share the same values of creating value for our partners.

Q: What will happen to the NAJ staff?

A: Everyone on the NAJ staff has been offered, and has accepted, the same positions with Connect Travel to produce the products they purchased. Our attendees can still contact them directly about any questions they may have.

Q: What changes will be made to the NAJ portfolio of products?

A: Initially none, but there will be a transition that will be focused on delivering more appointments and more value for our attendees. Again, I want to stress, Connect Travel and my NAJ team will combine to insure that we are adding real value to our partners

Q: What will be your role?

A: I will continue full time work with Connect for the next twelve months while I build the TravelAbility Summit, a new b2b event designed to make travel easier for people with disabilities.

Q: What will happen to the NAJ brand?

A: It will be the umbrella brand that will own 80 percent of TravelAbility, a new event created to help make , while Connect Travel will own 20 percent.

And remember, our focus will be on integrating the teams and making sure that we are producing the type of events that generate business for our partners.

Will and I will be announcing a “town hall” type conference call where we will be available to answer any questions about the event.

Connect Travel Expands Tourism Industry Offering with New Acquisitions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Connect Travel Expands Tourism Industry Offering With New Acquisitions

ATLANTA, March 29, 2019—Connect Travel, LLC, a division of Connect (a Tarsus Group company), has acquired multiple assets from North American Journeys, Inc. Connect Travel works with destinations, resorts, hotels and attractions to increase their domestic and international leisure travel business by connecting them with the right people, at the right time and in a format that will expedite the sales process and help them close business.

Three RTO Summits (East, West and Orlando), Active America China as well as the Inbound Report and TourOperatorLand.com will join the Connect Travel portfolio, which includes the Connect Travel Marketplace, Connect Tour and the Connect THRIVE Summit.

“North American Journeys has been an innovator in B2B tourism marketing since 1996,” said Will Seccombe, president of Connect Travel. “We look forward to working with Jake Steinman and his team to continue to deliver extraordinary opportunities for our travel industry partners.”

“I’ve enjoyed working with all of the tour operators, suppliers and destinations who helped us build the preeminent sources of inbound tour and travel information and most innovative boutique shows in the industry,” said Jake Steinman, founder of NAJ Group. “By teaming up with Will and Connect Travel, Sophia, Betsy, Liz, Tom and I will have additional resources to bring even more value to our incredible clients.”

Connect Travel, LLC, a division of Connect (a Tarsus Group company), has acquired multiple assets from North American Journeys, Inc. Connect Travel works with destinations, resorts, hotels and attractions to increase their domestic and international leisure travel business by connecting them with the right people, at the right time and in a format that will expedite the sales process and help them close business.

Three RTO Summits (East, West and Orlando), Active America China as well as the Inbound Report and TourOperatorLand.com will join the Connect Travel portfolio, which includes the Connect Travel Marketplace, Connect Tour and the Connect THRIVE Summit.

“North American Journeys has been an innovator in B2B tourism marketing since 1996,” said Will Seccombe, president of Connect Travel. “We look forward to working with Jake Steinman and his team to continue to deliver extraordinary opportunities for our travel industry partners.”

“I’ve enjoyed working with all of the tour operators, suppliers and destinations who helped us build the preeminent sources of inbound tour and travel information and most innovative boutique shows in the industry,” said Jake Steinman, founder of NAJ Group. “By teaming up with Will and Connect Travel, Sofia, Betsy, Liz, Tom and I will have additional resources to bring even more value to our incredible clients.”

—RTO Summits
Conference and marketplace bringing together receptive tour operators with destinations and suppliers. The summits are hosted in cities with the highest concentration of RTO offices: New York, Los Angeles and Orlando. rtosummit.com

—Active America China
An annual product development show that brings together top Chinese tour operators with invited suppliers and destinations to develop new tour opportunities. activeamericachina.net

—TourOperatorLand
The only travel site designed to be used by international, domestic and receptive tour operators, travel media and travel agents researching new ideas for products. touroperatorland.com

About Connect Travel
Connect Travel is the leisure travel division of Connect. Connect Travel creates efficient and effective environments to expedite the sales process by connecting tourism professionals with the products, services, people and ideas that allow them to thrive in a rapidly evolving and highly competitive global marketplace. For more information, visit connecttravel.com.

About Connect/Tarsus Group
Connect/Tarsus Group is a leader in the meetings, travel and tourism industry. Specializing in destination marketing, the company produces a full suite of digital programs, online and mobile solutions, meetings business and travel magazines, trade shows and consumer events, travel guides for newspapers and leisure magazines and destination information, which is distributed through broadcast and custom programs. More information about the company’s brands and services is available at connectmeetings.com. Connect is part of U.K.-based Tarsus Group, a business-to-business exhibition company with more than 150 events worldwide.

About North American Journeys
North American Journeys is the leading event and media company offering a suite of products for the tourism and travel industry. Visit northamericanjourneys.com for more information.

Contact: Director of Content Marketing Mindy Hylton, mhylton@connecttravel.com

TravelAbility Summit Update: Accessible Products—a Quick Inventory

November 6, 2018 by Tom Berrigan

As the NAJ Group (publisher of the INBOUND report) moves closer to a decision on a property in which to stage the first TravelAbility Summit, in October 2019 in San Francisco, we are assembling a range of products and tour operators that may be invited as examples that can be replicated and refined by others. “The advocacy landscape for accessible travel is already well served by events and organizations focused on compliance,” Commented Jake Steinman, founder and CEO of NAJ Group. “By bringing together DMO’s, attractions and suppliers so they can see diverse range of accessibility products that already exist, we hope to inspire creativity that will lead to even more products that will make it easier for those with physical or behavioral challenges to enjoy travel.”

Following is a brief list of individuals or organizations and products that they have available for travelers with disabilities. Please let us know if you have a product and would like to be added to the list. (Last updated Nov. 3, 2018). If you have knowledge of other products or services that we might include, please contact jake@visitnaj.com.

Eric Lipp, founder and executive director of the Open DoorsOrganization, has developed an accessible taxi service in Chicago.
Filmmaker Noam Argov created an app that turns into a voice activated Waze-GPS-functionality for blind people when a building’s architectural plans are uploaded onto the app.
Ablethrive.comis a one stop site for resources/products for those with disabilities.
NYC & Co.has developed an accessibility guide for all of the city’s five boroughs using an outside consultant.
Visit Indy has an Accessible travel guide spurred on by its CEO Leonard Hoops.
The U.S. National Park Servicehas an accessible section for each park on each park’s website.
Sesame Place, Langhorne Pennsylvania has been designated as a Certified Autism Center.
Morgan’s Wonderland, a water park in San Antonio. was designed with accessibility in mind.
Taylor’s Dream Boundless Playground in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, is the state’s first accessible playground.
Sheraton Park Anaheim, has partnered with local autism community to train its staff to ensure that all families have fun.
Airbnb: Srin Madipaili, Director of Accessible Product, which helps hosts develop more accessible homes and rooms for travelers with disabilities.
The Blue Man Group in Orlando now offers an autism-friendly show.
Eugene, Oregon has an “adaptive” recreational services manager that regularly inventories and promotes their accessibility products.
The Hilton Harrisburg, Pennsylvania was developed as an accessible-friendly hotel from the ground up.
Aira combines AI + Google Glass technology to help blind people navigate airports.
TraxFamily.com makes GPS tracking bands that include augmented reality for autistic kids.
State of Tennessee has developed viewfinders so that color blind travelers can see fall foliage.
The Greater Rochester, NY airport unveiled “hearing and counter loops” to make it easier for travelers with hearing issues to hear announcements.
Gatorland in Florida offers wheelchair-accessible zip lines over alligator habitats.
Space Center Houston, offers “Sensory Friendly” evenings for guests who are on different levels on the autism spectrum.
The French medical equipment maker Hippocampe has developed an all-terrain wheelchair for the beach, hiking trails or snow.
An Eau Claire, Wisconsin man created an app that helps people with disabilities travel.
The Rome airport has launched a “Care to Fly”program offering disabled travelers the opportunity to book “Door to flight”(and vice versa) care assistance.
Autism Family Vacations, a new travel agency specializing in Autism travel, has opened in Wisconsin.
The Henry Ford (Museum) outside Detroit, Michigan offers “tactile” tours for three types of disabilities.
Simpleview, which has developed websites and CRM software for over 500 destinations has partnered with Audioeye to make DMO websites more accessible friendly.
Smarter Travel magazine has published a list of the Top 10 Most Accessible friendly Attractions in the world.
Austin, Minnesota, the town that gave the world Spam, has an autistic greetermeeting people at the Spam Museum.
Italian Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, is the first to create a series of shore excursions for those with impaired mobility.
Wings for Autismhelps families and kids rehearse simulated air travel in 15 airports.
Four UK rail companies are conducting a Passenger Assist trial by Transreport—an app designed to make rail journeys for disabled users easier. The app will allow disabled users to share their exact location with station staff in real-time.
Audio Description Projecttrains “audio describers” who assist the blind to understand what is before them.
Mobility Ventures, manufacturers of MV-1, a wheelchair accessible SUV that can be customized from their website.
Map’s Voice. A new App created by Puntodis, a Spanish company, that creates destination maps and itineraries in 12 languages using haptic technology that generate speaking descriptions.
Personalize tours owner “Pierre Margot-Cattin, offers “Build Your Dreams” tours for people with guide dogs. Buying home on beach in N. Carolina retrofitted for disabled people with service dogs.
Michele Erwin, founder of All Wheels Up is working with Airbus to create tie-down wheelchairs and accessible restrooms for disabled.
Axsol Location, is a French company that rents wheelchairs, portable vertical elevators, beach chairs, ramps on an as-needed bases for hotels and events.