Just two weeks from today you can participate in a weekend travel show with an estimated 26,000 potential travelers in attendance. Sound interesting? The New York Times Travel Show, presented by American Express, will take place at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York, Feb. 23-25. We helped to program the official trade day, which will take place on Friday, Feb. 23, just before those hordes of potential customers descend on the trade show over the weekend.
The trade day includes a travel industry conference with seminars and workshops featuring some of the top leaders of the travel industry. Performance Media Group, parent of ModernAgent.com and ModernAgent's Travel Pulse Daily, helped develop the seminars for the trade day and is publicizing the event to the agent community.
The trade day focuses specifically on ways to help you build your business, with essential seminar panels and workshops on everything from technology to how to better sell tours and cruises and more. The day kicks off at 8:30 a.m. with three workshops designed to help you improve certain specific skills. Scott Koepf, CTC, MCC, general manager of consortium Jurni Network and host agency Nexion, will deliver "The Ultimate Selling Workshop," offering specific tools to improve your sales.
In another session at the same time, Bernie Blomquist, manager-training development for Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), will offer an interactive seminar with dozens of strategies to reach and satisfy niche clients. The session will explore how both mainstream and specialized cruise products can satisfy your customers' needs. The third opening session will feature our own Mark Murphy, president, and Scott Whitley, vice president and associate publisher for Performance Media Group. Mark and Scott will provide you with ways to better use the web to reach consumers. They will also offer advice on how you can better use the web from a business-to-business perspective.
From 10:15 to 11:15 a.m., three seminar panels are scheduled concurrently that will explore travel technology, selling cruises, and how the home-based agent market is evolving. During "The Essential Technology for Travel Agents," top travel technology experts will discuss what you need to know about technology in today's fast-changing market. Confirmed panelists include Performance Media Group's Mark Murphy; Dan Westbrook, vice president-merchandise strategy & innovation for SABRE; Bob LaCroix, senior vice president-sales and marketing for Trisept Solutions (VAX VacationAccess); Dave Menzel, chief operating officer for G2 SwitchWorks; Michael Ihle, vice president, product development for Galileo; and Scott Ahlsmith, vice president-global network solutions for Virtuoso. The session will be moderated by our own Kate Rice, executive editor-travel technology for Performance Media Group.
Another panel titled "Finding a Cruise for Every Customer" will discuss how the cruise product is evolving and how agents can better position themselves to sell more cruises to a wider range of customers. Confirmed speakers include Ken Muskat, vice president-East Coast Region for Royal Caribbean; Jeff Drew, CTC, senior vice president-sales for Oceania Cruises; Terri Burke, MCC, CTC, vice president-business development for Norwegian Cruise Line; Hans Rood, president of Norwegian Coastal Voyage; Karin Viera, vice president of sales-Eastern Region for Carnival Cruise Lines; and Jeff O'Rourke, director of sales-Eastern Region for Viking River Cruises. The session will be moderated by our own Theresa Norton Masek, editor in chief of Vacation Agent magazine, and a veteran cruise journalist.
Also in the same time slot, "How the Home-Based Agent Market is Evolving" will feature a panel of top host agencies and at-home agents. It will examine how the at-home agent market is changing and what that means for the future of the distribution system. Confirmed speakers include Nexion's Scott Koepf; Bill Alverson, president and CEO of Joystar Travel Network; Jeff Anderson, vice president-marketing for America's Vacation Center; Steve Byrne, group managing director for Travel Counsellors; and home-based agent Stacy Small, president of Elite Travel International, who also writes a regular column for our own Agent @ Home. The session will be moderated by Gary Fee, president of the Outside Sales Support Network (OSSN).
A second seminar session will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. During a panel entitled "The Keys to Understanding the New Luxury Market," several top industry experts will examine the changes that have occurred in the luxury travel market, how to better target potential clients, and how to understand what constitutes luxury travel for a new breed of customer. Confirmed panelists include Susie Ellis, president of Spa Finder; Jerre Fuqua, president of First Choice Expeditions/Travcoa; Larry Pimentel, president & CEO of SeaDream Yacht Club; Kim Wilson-Wetty, vice president of Valerie Wilson Travel; Chris Austin, vice president-global customer partnerships, leisure and luxury sales for Starwood Hotels & Resorts; and Jean Marie Healy, vice president of strategic partnerships at American Express Consumer Travel. The session will be moderated by Elite Travel International's Stacy Small.
During that same time period, I'll be moderating my own session on "The Evolution of the New Tour Product -- and How to Sell It." This panel of tour experts will examine how the tour product -- both escorted and FIT -- has evolved, as well as how agents can find better ways to sell tour programs. Confirmed speakers include Marc Kazlauskas, president of Insight Vacations; Dennis Pinto, president of Micato Safaris; John Severini, president of Trafalgar Tours; Navin Sawhney, senior vice president-sales and marketing for Tauck World Discovery; and Steve Gorga, president of Travel Impressions. I can promise you a highly interactive session that you won't want to miss!
From 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. there will be luncheon for all travel industry professionals. Bruce Beckham, executive director of Tourism Cares, will speak on giving back through travel. He'll be followed by the luncheon keynote speaker, J. Stephen Perry, president & CEO, of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau, who will speak on how New Orleans' tourism product is recovering from Hurricane Katrina. We've all heard a lot about what is going on down there, but hopefully Steve will provide the essential information we need to keep selling this still-amazing destination.
Then from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. the giant trade show floor, featuring more than 500 booths, will be open for travel professionals only. During that same time, you can also take advantage of several dedicated seminars by Travel Impressions, Mark Travel/Trisept Solutions, and Tauck World Discovery, among others. Allow me put in a little plug for Tauck's seminar, presented by my good friend Rick Baron CTC, DS, director of worldwide accounts at Tauck World Discovery, who will speak on "Turning Groups into Gold with Tauck." Rick's an excellent speaker and his presentations are full of great information, not just about how to sell groups on Tauck but all group travel.
Finally, if you're not too tired after all that, from 5 to 7 p.m. there will be an opening reception for all travel professionals -- agents and suppliers.
So register now for the New York Times Travel Show trade day -- and stay on through the weekend to mix with 26,000 consumers who obviously want to travel just by the mere fact they are attending the show. So bring your business cards! The consumer trade show is open to the public Saturday, Feb. 24, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 24, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Registration for travel agents is $15. For more information or to register, visit www.nytimes.com/travelshow. You can also email info@nyttravelshow.com. I look forward to seeing you at the show!
James Shillinglaw, CTC
Editor in Chief
jshillinglaw@pmgemail.com