VOICES OF LEADERSHIP
Pam Inman
President
101 Prosperous Place, Suite 350
Lexington, KY 40509 USA
+1.859.264.6551
[email protected]
I’VE HAD A BUSY MONTH, FRIENDS. Fasten your seat belt and
read all about it.
Washington, D.C., did an amazing job of hosting IPW and
showing off the U.S. capital city in June. It was great to see
so many NTA faces and make new friends—and recruit new
members—at the event. Thanks to the more than 50 of you
who attended our NTA reception; it was a wonderful way to
start off the week.
The Tourism Cares event at the National Mall, held in
conjunction with IPW, was fun and a lot of hard work. Just the
weekend before, I was a tourist there. A few days later, I was
pulling weeds and getting pebbles out of grates!
Prior to IPW, I traveled to Kissimmee, Florida, for the
15th anniversary meeting of our strategic partner Travel
Professionals of Color. It was such an honor to speak to this
group and meet the awesome women who had the courage to
start this association.
While I was in Florida, NTA held a Meet-up in Orlando at
the newly refurbished Planet Hollywood. Thanks to Ashleigh
Zeigler and Planet Hollywood for hosting us. We already have
seen several attendees become new members!
Also in May, I went by train from D.C. to New York City
to meet with Lu Yangzheng, the vice governor of China’s
Guizhou province. We discussed a partnership and formally
signed an agreement at a promotional event in the United
Nations Building. We had worked on the partnership for
several weeks, but I was happy that Rob Maclin, our attorney,
wasn’t there to watch because the document was all in
Mandarin. So, while I was pretty sure I knew what I was
signing, I felt better after director of the China Inbound
Program, Lin Wang, who traveled with me, translated it. We
have invited our friends from Guizhou to Travel Exchange in
San Antonio to share their beautiful province with you.
While in New York, Lin and I also met with Yanjie Wang,
director of the China National Tourist Office, and we signed
a memorandum of understanding for research and other
services we will do for the CNTO. One more China note:
Chris Babb of The Group Tour Company, your NTA vice chair,
6
July 2017
Pam Inman at IPW, meeting with representatives of the
U.S. Department of Commerce
joined Lin and me for the inaugural launch of Norwegian’s
first Chinese cruise ship, Norwegian Joy. The ship sailed from
Shanghai to Nagasaki and back. Many of our China Inbound
Program operators were aboard, and we have to say thanks to
Norwegian for inviting us and to Delta for providing our airfare.
I told you in the March issue about traveling to India for the
opening of the U.S.-India Travel and Tourism Partnership Year.
I’m now pleased to say we have formed a new partnership
with the India Tour Operators Association. We are excited to
help link you to this growing market. Visitation from India
to the U.S., which was 724,000 in 2012, is projected to reach
nearly 2 million by 2021.
Speaking of international inbound travel to the U.S., I
hope you saw the statement we issued about preserving
Brand USA after the White House proposed cutting it. We’ve
reached out to Congress to let them know that keeping this
marketing arm of the U.S. intact is vital to the nation’s jobs
and economy.
After traveling to Tucson to support our members at Travel
Alliance Partners’ TAP Dance, I was eager to get back to NTA
HQ so I could welcome the newest member of our NTA team,
Kay Saffari, who serves as coordinator of the Faith Travel
Association and our Hispanic market initiative. Kay has an
amazing background and a wealth of talent.
If you don’t remember anything else about this letter,
I hope it reminded you that we are constantly trying to
improve NTA and give you the ability to do more business.
And I’m always eager to hear from you, so don’t hesitate to
call or email me.