The National Tour Association (NTA) and Edelman, an independent public relations firm, recently offered free counsel on crisis management and media relations to more than 100 tourism professionals in Biloxi, MS, and Houma, LA, and others impacted by the oil spill on the Gulf Coast.
The American Bus Association (ABA), Washington D.C. announced a new partnership with Tours.com to offer expanded access and increased consumer exposure for ABA operator members looking to reach other travel providers, consumers and the traveling public that are searching for travel options online.
Word from Tom McNally is the April Scenicruiser 2010 Hounds of the Mother Road reunion in Amarillo and Adrian, TX, was a total success with 85 people showing up in 10 Scenicruisers and three GMC model buses.
Virginia Beach is a motorcoach kind of town that goes to great lengths to appeal to group tours. In fact, the Virginia Beach CVB lays claim to attracting the first group tour ever to travel to America, noting that the first permanent English settlers landed at Cape Henry, before moving on to settle Jamestown.
Franklin County, PA, gave a positive nod to the motorcoach industry in late February when commissioners set aside $11,550 from the county’s motel tax to entertain tour bus operators. Thirty-three tour bus operators from neighboring states, the Midwest and Canadian provinces participated as guests on a four-day familiarization tour of the Lancaster-Gettysburg region, sponsored to boost tourism.
The community of Catonsville, MD, proved in early May, a bus tour does not have to travel to far off destinations. Buses were a big hit when community leaders decided to give local residents a closer look at the nearby historical landmarks that have forged the community over the course of its 200-year history.
The effort the rangers make to round up more than 1,200 head of buffalo each fall for the annual branding, sorting and vaccinating of the herd enthrall visitors who visit Custer State Park. This one-of-a-kind Old West event drew more than 12,000 people last year to watch the buffalo rumble by from a designated safe viewing area.
Alfred Lomas is on the other side of some tough going. It started 35 years ago at age 12 with his “jump-in” initiation into the Florencia 13, a nearly unavoidable move considering his neighborhood that ensnared him in the world of violence and drugs that forever dogs street gang members.
The Utah Parks Company, a subsidiary of Union Pacific Railroad, operated restaurants, lodging, and bus tours in Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon and Cedar Breaks parks from 1923 to 1973. Operating as a concessionaire of the National Park Service, the company operated from its base in Cedar City, UT. The company bus tours connected with Union Pacific trains there and offered a loop tour of the parks and monuments in this region.
The National Tour Association (NTA), Lexington, KY, has announced new criteria for participation in its China Inbound Program. In conjunction with the China National Tourism Administration and the U.S. Department of Commerce, NTA issued changes in order to ensure Chinese group leisure travelers to the United States have a safe and quality vacation experience.