PHOTO: Tip #1Become a USTOA Specialist. (Courtesy of USTOA/Travel Agent Academy)

In anticipation of Halloween, shockingly large bags of candy have been placed front and center at the drugstore, pumpkins are being carved into jack-o’-lanterns, haunted houses are popping up all over and kids are eagerly finishing up their costumes for the moment they can scream “trick or treat!”

At the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) we aren’t big fans of tricks, but we do love to provide tips and treats, so here are a handful of tips on how USTOA can help you, our valued travel agent partners, better meet your clients’ needs and build your businesses.

Tip #1 Become a USTOA Specialist: Visit www.travelagentacademy.com and enroll in the free USTOA Specialist Program under the “tours” category. This dynamic and robust education program, created in partnership with travAlliancemedia’s Travel Agent Academy, will help you build your business by providing you with essential information on how to work, source, and sell travel and vacation packages. If you complete the course, you’ll also be included on USTOA’s preferred Travel Agent Specialist listing on our consumer website.

The education program is designed to help you learn more about USTOA and the benefits of booking with a USTOA tour operator member. It provides a primer on the diverse range of tours and packages available from our members, informs you about the unique attributes of these products, and provides ways to overcome objections and misperceptions about tour products that may come up during the sales process. The training also can help you profile customers more effectively in order to match the right tour product for their particular needs.

Tip #2 Join USTOA’s Travel Together Campaign: As you may have already heard, over the past 18 months our intrepid travel expert Kelley Ferro and a team of ambassadors from AFAR Magazine have traveled the world to document “live like a local” experiences found only through our members’ tour programs. From Egypt to Taiwan, Cartagena to Australia’s Outback, Manitoba to Papua New Guinea and more, the video series and blogs capture exciting and enriching experiences with local guides, cooks, craftspeople, artists, naturalists, families and more. Our members make this kind of magic happen on each and every tour, making your clients’ travels all the more memorable and rewarding.

Tip #3 Sign up for USTOA’s e-Newsletter: This summer USTOA developed a new e-newsletter program to create a pipeline of information for agents. Everyone who graduates from the USTOA Specialist program is automatically enrolled. You also can choose to sign up individually.

Each newsletter includes news highlights, travel agent updates, and links to the latest Travel Together tools and resources. Through the end of 2015, stay tuned for videos and blog posts about travel to Brazil and China.

Tip #4 Take Advantage of USTOA’s Dream Vacation Finder: Searching for the perfect trip? Stop here. USTOA’s new “Find Your Dream Vacation” tour search tool brings a world of options for your clients, including trips to Cuba, the National Parks and beyond. This new capability navigates a database of our members’ tours to help you find the destination and travel options your clients want, showing trip highlights, length of trip, and price. The search tool also allows you to click through directly to the tour operator’s website for more in-depth details on the vacation package.

Additional search filters allow you to narrow the search by budget, trip duration and travel dates, making the tool a simple solution for finding a variety of tours that match a client’s desires. For tours and travel from trusted companies with on-the-ground expertise in destinations across the globe, visit www.ustoa.com/dream-vacation.

My favorite part of Halloween was always the treats, not the tricks, so before signing off I’ll leave you to think about my favorite travel treat: the Global Entry Trusted Traveler Program. I know I’ve written about this in the past, but as I frequently fly around the globe to meet with USTOA members and supporters, the Global Entry program is a savior, significantly decreasing my time and frustration in airports. I encourage all travel agents and travelers who leave the country frequently to seriously consider the program.

For more information about tours and packaged vacations, visit www.ustoa.com. And remember that when booking with USTOA Active Members, you also get the assurance of knowing that they are held to the highest standards in the industry with our $1 Million Travelers Assistance Program.