The 40th annual conference of the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) in Phoenix is taking place at a time when the industry is booming, according to CEO Terry Dale, speaking at the event. Dale and other speakers also highlighted the continuing importance of travel agents, who represent almost two-thirds of all USTOA business.
Dana Santucci, chairman of the association, said 212 countries are represented at the event, taking place at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa. Two new active members are Authentic Vacations, offering tours of the United Kingdom and Scandinavia; and Yankee Leisure Group, a specialist in rail tours. USTOA has 55 corporate members representing 165 brands. There are also 118 new associate members. Santucci said USTOA is "the most international" trade association in the U.S.
The organization's fourth annual study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) showed that members represent $19 billion in spending, up 26 percent in the last two years and more than $4.5 billion since 2015. That represents 9.5 million travelers, $13 billion spent in goods and services, 21 million hotel rooms nights and 5.8 million airline seats.
For the first time, 100 percent of members are forecasting an even better 2019 with more than half saying it will be a boom year and others saying there will be small to moderate increases.
Looking back at the past year, Dale said USTOA had done well in building its brand. One way was through a two-year marketing partnership with USA Today that generated significant media and social media exposure. The association's online marketplace now has 45,000 itineraries and 24,000 customer reviews.
On the advocacy front, USTOA is aiming to educate elected officials and will have its seventh annual congressional caucus next year. Among the issues: funding for national parks, travel to Cuba, travel infrastructure and Department of Transportation regulations.
Major research projects have been undertaken including a new one that is studying long-haul travelers. New for 2019, USTOA will partner with comedian Harrison Greenbaum on a series of videos to highlight what tour operators do.
On the education front, USTOA is building several platforms. Also, the second annual digital marketing academy is scheduled for January 23 in New York and there will be continuing "relevant" webinars.
As for travel agents, Dale said that there are now 2,600 graduates of USTOA training and 5,700 enrollees. There is also a quarterly newsletter and Travel Together Month, which is aimed at inspiring clients to book tours.
Also at the opening session, associate members asked active members questions. One was about travel agents and Elizabeth Crabill, CEO of CIE tours, said that agents will continue to be relevant long into the future. She said agents are crucial in three areas: knowledge of product, advice to clients and services after booking.
Crabill said agents make travelers aware of the tour product. She said when a client who has booked through an agent later tries to book direct with CIE, the booking will revert to the agent.
Scott Wiseman, CEO of Travel Impressions, said a new web platform was unveiled in September aimed at helping agents by offering more choice and enhancing commission opportunities.
On the subject of overtourism, Dan Mahar, CEO of Tauck, said there is great demand for lesser-known places and the operator is designing programs around them. It has also taken steps like making its river cruise vessels smaller.
At a USTOA press conference, a closer look at the PwC survey showed that the top three threats to the industry are terrorism, political instability and overtourism. However, the percentage of operators seeing the first two as major threats dropped dramatically.
Other results:
-The top 10 U.S. destinations as seen by USTOA members are California (replacing Hawaii at the top), Hawaii and New York.
-The top international destinations are Mexico, Italy and Germany. Two new countries on that list: the Netherlands and Switzerland.
-Looking ahead to 2019, the "hot" countries are seen as Italy, Iceland and Japan with Colombia, Cambodia and Portugal new to the list.
-The top off-the-beaten-path countries are Iceland, Cambodia and Croatia.
-New countries on an "emerging destinations" list were Portugal, Bhutan, Bolivia and Ethiopia.
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