NTA to conduct first study of group travel's economic impact
Nashville, Tenn. -- The National Tour Association appears to have pulled off the first industry-wide economic impact study of package travel for the upcoming year and beyond. Such research, which would define the economic impact of group and package travel as an industry, has never been successfully measured before.
State and local destinations that seek to justify expenditures for group travel promotion stand to gain significantly from the completion of the analysis.
After spending the better part of this year enlisting the financial support of members and travel industry groups, the association announced at its annual convention in Nashville that the project will get underway in 2000.
NTA past president Robert Brennan made the announcement at a press conference on Nov. 8.
"This study is critical to our industry because there is currently no similar data on the packaged travel segment," Brennan told the gathering.
Carl Little of the Salt Lake City Convention and Visitors Bureau, the current Destination Marketing Organization representative on the NTA Board of Directors, told the group the study is critical to offices such as his.
"This research is of utmost importance to all DMOs," said Little. "We depend on this for our existence."
Bob Stewart, state travel director for Kentucky, confirmed Little's statement.
Nationally known firms
The research will be undertaken by Dean Runyan Associates and Longwoods International, two nationally known firms that work extensively in the travel industry.
The data will be collected from 200,000 households in the United States and another 21,000 in Canada that will yield a sample large enough for accurate reporting on the financial impact of the industry in North America.
Hank Phillips, executive director of the National Tour Association, praised the industry-wide support of the research.
"Our partners represent all aspects of the travel industry," said Phillips. "Trade organizations like ours, state travel offices, the trade press -- and many members have made donations as well. Nobody else was doing this, so NTA stepped up.
"More than 260 individual member companies have already gotten behind this. But it's not over -- it has to go on year after year to be effective."
Association officials and research representatives agreed that the final definition to be used for packaged travel has yet to be determined. Phillips offered a rough definition that included "two or more travel components purchased for a single price." In addition to the number of travelers who purchased a tour/package, the study will also identify the type of tour/package they purchased.