DELIVERING BUSINESS ESSENTIALS TO NTA MEMBERS JUNE/JULY 2019 Utah rocks! Overarching coverage of North American national parks PAGE 20 SIDELESS AND SEAMLESS PAGE 13 PREVIEW TO TREX IN TEX PAGE 16 ‘THIS IS WHAT NTA IS FOR’ PAGE 10 Utah’s Arches National Park hillsanddales.org LaGrange, GA | 706-882-3242 IN LAGRANGE, HISTORY LIVES AND INSPIRES. Asheville 265 miles Chattanooga 181 miles Columbia Atlanta 273 miles Birmingham 68 miles 131 miles LaGrange Columbus 47 miles Montgomery Savannah 96 miles 300 miles Pensacola 257 miles Jacksonville 336 miles biblicalhistorycenter.com LaGrange, GA | 706-885-0363 Centrally located just southwest of Atlanta Questions on how to do LaGrange? Brittany Simmons, Director of Tourism [email protected] or 706-645-3543 visitlagrange.com June/July 2019 FEATURES DEPARTMENTS Get ready for TREX, Tex 4 From the Editor When Fort Worth hosts Travel Exchange ’19, members will find 6 Voices of Leadership new ways to connect and new sights to see in Cowtown. Business 8 InBrief Change at the top is coming for NTA, as President Pam Inman, CTP, will step down at the end of the year and Executive Vice 16 President Catherine Prather, CTP, will move into the position. Mission statement 10 ‘This is what NTA is for’ As they explore North America’s When Brian Tomaine of new NTA member Bella Italia Tours national parks, travelers can needed some business advice, he posted a heartfelt message experience the history and on the association’s Engage platform detailing his company’s natural beauty of more than 600 struggles and asking for help. He got plenty. sites across the U.S. and Canada. 12 Tangible Tucson NTA’s Contact event brought together more than 150 members, and Tucson provided just the right mix to help foster warm 20 friendships, cool ideas and energetic events. A high and mighty five 13 Sideless and seamless Courier’s Bob Rouse joined Brooke Hamlett, who has worked in Tucson for both a tour Southwest Adventure Tours’ swing operator company and the local DMO, details how Contact through southern Utah, taking offered a full-circle experience for her. photos and notes of spectacular national (and state) parks. 14 What’s On Girl power 26 On the trail of four legendary authors Community 52 Meet the Members COMPASS Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Best Western Plus Fillmore Inn Deep South Pinstripes Bistro, Bowling & Bocce 30 Alabama | Florida | Georgia | Louisiana | Mississippi | Fairfield Conference and Visitors Bureau South Carolina 54 Introducing ... Mid-Atlantic TopView Sightseeing NYC | Ameritas | French Side Travel | 37 Delaware | Maryland | New Jersey | New York | Visit Estes Park Pennsylvania 55 New Members/NTA Events Calendar Pacific Northwest 56 AfterWords 44 British Columbia | Oregon | Washington Mark Hoffmann reflects on how former NTA president Pete Anderson influenced his life, and how Pete’s impact is still being felt among many of the association’s current leaders. Germany and Switzerland 49 Courier has used images existing in the public domain or made available from sources including, but not limited to, Flickr and Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons Attribution Generic License. The full text of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License is available at bit.ly/1gDYjzM. Images used may have been altered by cropping or adjusted for contrast, saturation, size, color, clarity or otherwise digitally manipulated to meet design specifications. 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NTAcourier.com 1 AD INDEX Volume 46, Issue 5 June/July 2019 | ★ New advertisers Alaska Railroad Corporation.......................15 NTA President alaskarailroad.com Pam Inman, CTP [email protected] American Music Theatre .............................40 amtshows.com Editorial Campbell County Convention & Visitors Bureau .....................25 Editor in Chief Bob Rouse [email protected] visitgillettewright.com Cheekwood Estate & Gardens.......................8 Managing Editor Pat Henderson [email protected] cheekwood.org Writer Kendall Fletcher [email protected] ★Coos Bay-North Bend Visitor & Convention Bureau ......................45 Writer Kay Saffari [email protected] oregonsadventurecoast.com Contributors Brooke Hamlett, Mark Hoffmann, TJ Olmsted Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts, Inc....................................23 Graphic Design Jeff Quire niagarafallsstatepark.com Advertising Delta Air Lines ..............................Back Cover delta.com President, NTA Services Kami Risk [email protected] Fairbanks, Alaska–Explore Fairbanks .........10 explorefairbanks.com Director of Sales and Key Accounts Beth Engel, CTP [email protected] Graceland & Guest House at Graceland ......14 Senior Manager, Membership Sales June Calk, CTP [email protected] graceland.com Account Executive/Western U.S. Kelley Burchell [email protected] Hampton Inn & Suites Oceanfront ..............11 hamptoninnoceanfront.com Gina Martin [email protected] Account Executive/Central U.S. & Canada Harry & David .............................................47 Account Executive/Eastern U.S. TJ Olmsted [email protected] harryanddavid.com History Colorado ........................................21 Senior Manager, Marketing Ashley Fish [email protected] historycolorado.org Huntsville, Alabama Convention & Visitors Bureau .....................34 PLANNING AHEAD huntsville.org To view the 2019–20 editorial calendar, visit NTAonline.com/advertising. NTA members can submit tour Katarina Line–Incoming Croatia ...................9 product information or editorial queries to [email protected]. And for advertising information, katarina-line.com contact Kendall Fletcher at +1.859.264.6559 or [email protected]. LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce & Tourism ........Inside Front Cover OCTOBER ISSUE NOVEMBER ISSUE lagrangechamber.com Maid of the Mist ............................................5 DESTINATIONS DESTINATIONS maidofthemist.com New England America’s Historic East Maryland Office of Tourism Development ....43 Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C. visitmaryland.org/groups Rhode Island, Vermont Atlantic Canada Meet AC ........................................................7 South Central U.S. New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, meetac.com Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island ★Natchitoches Parish Tourist Commission....................................35 China, Nepal and Thailand Caribbean natchitoches.net India Egypt, Israel and Jordan ★NYC & Company ......................................19 nycgo.com SPECIAL COVERAGE SPECIAL COVERAGE Outer Banks Visitors Bureau .......................22 Music Destinations and Attractions Travel Exchange ’19 (Fort Worth) outerbanks.org Shopping DEADLINES Patriots Point: Guide: Theaters and Broadway Shows “Home of the USS Yorktown” .....................31 Space: Sept. 6 | Material: Sept. 16 patriotspoint.org DEADLINES Ronald Reagan Presidential Space: Aug. 2 | Material: Aug. 12 Library and Museum...................................29 reaganlibrary.com Savannah Riverboat Cruises ...............Inside Back Cover savannahriverboat.com PUBLISHED BY NTA SERVICES, INC. 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For a change of address, subscribers may notify Courier directly, by Tulalip Tribes/Quil Ceda Village ....................3 email or letter. tulalipresort.com COURIER’S MISSION STATEMENT U.S. Space & Rocket Center ........................36 Courier aims to facilitate member-to-member partnering by spotlighting member product and destinations worldwide, to spacecamp.com provide information on current industry trends and issues, and to inform members about NTA initiatives, events and benefits. Virginia Beach Convention & Visitor Bureau ......................41 visitvirginiabeach.com/grouptour