VOICES OF LEADERSHIP
Pam Inman
President
101 Prosperous Place, Suite 350
Lexington, KY 40509 USA
+1.859.264.6551
[email protected]
HAPPY NEW YEAR! And what a year it will be.
We don’t know what to expect from U.S. President-elect
Donald Trump and his new administration after the Jan. 20
inauguration. All indications are that it won’t be politics as
usual. We also don’t know what opportunities that’ll bring to
the table for tourism, but we do know that we’ll be ready to
work with them at every turn.
I need your help, though, and I want you to be involved. How
do you do that? Be a part of Destination Capitol Hill March 28–29
in Washington, D.C. Join your NTA colleagues, along with those
from our U.S. Travel and Destination Marketing Association
International partners, when we go to Capitol Hill to talk with
policymakers and their staffs about the issues important to us.
Visit ustravel.org/events/DCH to get signed up.
The events for the 2016 U.S.-China Tourism Year ended with
an impressive ceremony at Warner Theatre in Washington,
D.C. NTA Board members Jodi Danyluk of Norwegian Cruise
Line and Chris Babb from The Group Tour Company joined
Catherine Prather and me from the NTA staff to hear from
Max Baucus, U.S. ambassador to China; Li Jinzao, chairman
of the China National Tourism Administration; and Kelly
Craighead, executive director of the U.S. National Travel and
Tourism Office.
With the U.S.-China Tourism Year behind us, I want to
let you know that our good friend Haybina Hao is stepping
Where in
the World is
?
While Pam doesn’t always
use the cover of Courier to
map out her next vacation,
the November issue she
read en route to Hawaii
hit home at the World
War II Valor in the Pacific
National Monument.
6
January 2017
down as NTA’s vice president of international development to
assess her career and professional goals. She takes with her
our support and gratitude.
During Haybina’s nearly seven years with NTA, her remarkable skill and energy led our association to a position of
prominence in the China-U.S. market. Her can-do attitude
and pleasant personality have also made her a much-loved
colleague here at NTA headquarters, with our members and
throughout the industry.
Haybina will leave big shoes to fill, but her replacement will
be stepping onto a solid foundation. Registration in the NTA
China Inbound Program is at an all-time high—now numbering 219 tour operators—and our relationships with the U.S.
Department of Commerce and the CNTA are stronger than ever.
At the end of 2016, I followed the advice of U.S. Travel’s Project:
Time Off campaign; my time off included a cruise around the
Hawaiian Islands. As incredible as the scenery is, the highlight
for me was visiting the World War II Valor in the Pacific National
Monument and remembering all who sacrificed for us at Pearl
Harbor so that we can enjoy the freedom we have.
My best for a great 2017!