National Tour Association Opens Doors to Agents

What’s the benefit? The National Tour Association  (opens in a new tab) announced that it is inviting travel agents to join its ranks  (opens in a new tab) under the new “Travel Planner” membership category. While agents have previously been invited to participate in the NTA’s annual convention, Travel Exchange  (opens in a new tab), they have not had the opportunity to officially join the organization. In May, after two years of deliberation, NTA decided to offer membership to  (opens in a new tab) “retail travel agents at for-profit companies whose primary business is selling the tours and packages of a tour operator or third party.”

Why it works: One of the biggest benefits of the new Travel Planner membership is the opportunity for agents to offer more options to clients, according to NTA President Pam Inman. “We’re eager to get travel planners into the mix at Travel Exchange,” she said in a statement  (opens in a new tab). “Those new members—retail travel agents—can increase their revenue by tapping into trending tour product our operators have created, which, in turn, will give our suppliers and destinations a boost.”

Other benefits: In addition to a more extensive destination list, planners will have full access to NTA’s member resources. This includes weekly industry reports  (opens in a new tab), professional development seminars  (opens in a new tab), and exclusive advertising opportunities  (opens in a new tab) in NTA’s monthly magazine, Courier  (opens in a new tab).

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