Travel
and Tourism Research
Association
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The
Research Network News
CenStates Chapter TTRA -
First Quarter
2010 | |
Mark Your
Calendar
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CenStates Chapter
TTRA
Conference
September 22-23,
2010
University Plaza Hotel & Conference
Center
Springfield, Missouri
www.springfieldmo.org
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Thanks
to 2009 Conference Sponsors
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Send Us
Your News!
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Have
you:
Changed jobs?
Won an award?
Done
great research?
Please share your news
by emailing CenStates with your updates. And be sure to
add us to your e-mail press release distribution list --
we want to hear your
news.
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Current Industry
Trends:
Recovery? Yes. Quickly? Not So
Much. |
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It
took a very short time for the U.S. economy to
descend into what some are calling the Great
Recession, dragging the travel industry down with
it. While we're all hearing and even seeing signs
of recovery, we're also being told not to expect
things to bounce back to pre-recession levels any
time soon. In fact, we're being cautioned to
prepare for a new normal that includes moderation
and frugality. Much remains to be seen about what
the post-recession travel and tourism landscape
will look like, and to what degree consumers and
business travelers will discard their newfound
travel habits in favor of their pre-recession
ways.
Every
month, Dr. Suzanne Cook of the U.S. Travel
Association provides an excellent, comprehensive
summary and commentary on a variety of data
relating to travel and the broader economy.Read more and view the
report. | |
| SAVE THE
DATE - September 22-23 - CenStates Conference
in Springfield MO |
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The annual CenStates conference is known as the
content-rich opportunity for professionals
interested in a research based tourism program. This
year's conference will be centrally located i  n
Springfield, Missouri. The conference begins on
Wednesday, September 22 at 2pm and concludes with
a dinner and special behind-the scenes tour on Thursday,
September 23. Conference chair Alisha Valentine and the committee
chairs are hard at work to plan relevant sessions and
valuable networking opportunites. If you would like to
serve on a conference committee, exhibit at the event,
or make a presentation, please contact Alisha at avalentine@smari.com. More details are coming soon but for now, put
the date on your calendar and invite a colleague to come
along with you! |
| Travel Promotion Act
Signed into Law - Historic Moment for U.S. Travel
Industry |
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In what is being heralded as a major victory
for the U.S. travel and tourism industry, the Travel
Promotion Act was signed into law in early March to
promote the U.S. as a premier destination and exp lain changing travel
security policies to foreign visitors. Seen as a major
boost to job creation and economic growth, the
legislation is intended to help the U.S. regain lost
ground in international travel, particularly from
overseas markets that sent 2.4 million fewer travelers
to the U.S. in 2009 than in 2000. A press release on the
signing and the Act can be found at http://www.ustravel.org/news/press-releases/president-obama-signs-first-ever-travel-promotion-program.
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| A Letter from the
President |
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by
Patty Becraft, Springfield Missouri CVB
Greetings
fellow CenStates members! I want to
sincerely thank everyone for your trust and confidence
in me as I begin my term as President of CenStates. I have big shoes
to fill ... we have been very fortunate to have Dan
Erkilla (Professor - University of Minnesota) as
president, and now as the Chairman of our Board. I am
extremely lucky to still have him around to guide me
through this year as well.
I
would also like to welcome and introduce our newest
Board members.
Laura Negron, Research Director
- Kentucky Tourism, Arts & Heritage Cabinet;
Bob Purdy - Robert Purdy &
Associates; Pat Remming, Research
Manager - St. Louis Convention & Visitors
Commission; and Carla Santos, Associate
Professor - University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign.
I feel honored to be a part of this very
dedicated, energetic and professional Board, and I am
certain you will find them to be a valuable resource as
well.
Now
... what's in store for 2010 ?!?!? Read
what Patty sees in her crystal ball.
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| Trending Water in
CenStates |
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 By
Dee Ann McKinney, Strategic Planning & Research
Director, Missouri Division of Tourism; President,
TTRA International
Trending Water in CenStates
is a quarterly column on 'trends' written or, more
accurately, coordinated by yours truly! Each
quarter, key tourism industry people are asked that they
send in one or two tourism-related trends from their
area.
For
this quarter's column, we chose two key leaders in the
field of state tourism office and CVB management: Amir Eylon,
Director Ohio Tourism Division and Tracy
Kimberlin,
President/CEO - Springfield, MO CVB (Land of this
September's CenStates TTRA Chapter
Conference!).
Find
out what Amir and Tracy have to
say. |
|
2010 TTRA Annual
Conference
June 20-22 in San
Antonio |
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Please join us at
the Grand Hyatt in San Antonio as we go Rockin' and
Rollin' Down the Research River! This is the
41st Annual Conference for TTRA and it is
sure to offer both practitioners and academics
information on tourism research that couldn't be found
anywhere else!
Registration,
preliminary schedules and other information are
available at www.ttra.com. Early bird
registration rates have been extended until April
15.
The conference
program will begin on Sunday, June 20 with presentations
starting in the afternoon. There will be a fabulous
Welcome to San Antonio reception that evening. Monday's
agenda includes a full slate of programming including
general sessions that you won't want to miss and there
will be many concurrent sessions that appeal to academic
and practitioner attendees. Tuesday offers another full
day of programming and ends with an extraordinary dinner
sponsored by the host of the 2011 TTRA Conference:
London, Ontario, Canada.
Please plan to attend this premier research
event! If you have any questions, please contact Kathy
Palmer, Conference Manager at 248-708-8872, ext.
203. | | |
_____________________________________________________________________________
In
consideration of the environment, CenStates supports
paperless, electronic newsletter
formats.
Thank you to the CenStates
newsletter committee who developed the content for this
publication: Patty
Becraft, Springfield MO Convention and Visitors
Bureau; DeeAnn
McKinney, Missouri Division of Tourism; and Patrick Simmons, Explore
Minnesota
Tourism.
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