Between new connected booking systems, state program rollouts, and preparing for the launch of the National Travel Trade Portal, the team at Tourism Exchange USA has been busy this quarter. Keep reading to learn more about what we’ve been working on, where we’re headed, and how it all contributes to our mission of Making the USA Bookable.
Here’s What’s New This Quarter
- Say Hello to Ventrata, and More Connectivity Updates
- The National Travel Trade Portal Launches in October
- Onboarding Unique Suppliers from Across the U.S.
- Continuing to Grow Destination Participation
- TXUSA Takes on the World of Podcasts
- Updates From Recent Industry Events + Where We’ll Be This Fall
Our Connected Booking Systems are Growing
Growing the number of connected booking systems available on the platform continues to be a priority so that suppliers can efficiently get their products, rates and availability onto the Exchange and connect with new distribution opportunities.
We’re excited to announce that our connection to booking technology company Ventrata is officially live. This means activities and attractions who already use Ventrata can get connected to the Exchange more easily than ever, and extend their distribution through unique opportunities like the National Travel Trade Portal.
Our development team has also been hard at work testing and certifying more systems, including Peek and Galaxy-Gateway, which are progressing toward launch in the next few months. We’re also wrapping up testing with Bandwango, which will make its Destination-driven, multi-attraction passes available on the Exchange soon.
National Travel Trade Portal Update
This month marks an important milestone in the development of Tourism Exchange USA with the launch of the National Travel Trade Portal (NTTP), which introduces a new way for international travel trade professionals to discover and book unique product from across the USA without requiring new connectivity development or 1:1 contracting.
Our goal with the NTTP is to to make more product from smaller communities beyond the gateways easily available at commissionable rates to small and medium-sized buyers around the world.
The Portal was originally planned to launch earlier this year, but we delayed it several months in order to improve how transactions are managed. These changes were based on feedback from buyers and suppliers, respectively, who hoped to reduce international transaction costs and minimize administrative requirements. Our team has been hard at work solving those challenges and we’re looking forward to the initial launch.
Some of the unique product available in the portal includes specialized culinary tours, visits to a legendary music studio, and more. We’ll be continuing to add more product as we make further progress with our Destination partners.
Growing our Supplier Base
It’s been an exciting and busy time for TXUSA’s Supplier Success team. During Q3, we hosted over a dozen online webinars and brought several new suppliers onto the Exchange. Some of the most recent tourism suppliers we are welcoming include:
- The Alabama Music Hall of Fame (Tuscumbia, AL): In 1980, the Muscle Shoals Music Association and the state Legislature, under the leadership of State Senator Bobby Denton, created the Alabama Music Hall of Fame Board with a mandate to honor all styles of music and dedicated to the preservation and celebration of Alabama’s musicians and the state’s great musical heritage.
- LLForge (Shelby, MI): LLForge (Leprechaun Lair Forge) provides traditional blacksmithing services and products, as well as six different immersive, “hands on” blacksmithing learning experiences at the forge.
- May Natural History Museum (Colorado Springs, CO): With over 7,000 species of beautiful butterflies, moths, bizarre beetles, giant spiders, deadly scorpions and more, the May Museum is Colorado Springs’ premier bug museum.
Interested in getting your business connected on the Exchange? Email us at [email protected].
Working With Destinations Across the USA
DMO participation continues to increase as we approach the end of the year. The newest state to join the Exchange is Utah, whose Office of Tourism finalized their contract in Q3. We’re looking forward to creating impact with that program, which is now the 18th state to participate.
We have some exciting local DMO Engagement Programs that started this quarter in California, including San Luis Obispo, Sonoma County, and Mammoth Lakes, as well as Grand Rapids and Mackinac Island in Michigan. These local engagement efforts include auditing industry presence on TripAdvisor, along with in-person and virtual supplier education workshops, case study development, and media/PR support to build momentum and share success stories.
The TXUSA team is continuing to drive awareness and connectivity across the Southeast region, including attending the Alabama Governor’s Conference in July. In August, we added industry veteran Chris Massie as a part-time contractor focused on supplier engagement in Tennessee. In September we presented to more than a dozen local DMOs in Louisiana as part of a statewide webinar hosted in partnership with the Louisiana Office of Tourism, and hosted an educational session for Travel South’s international reps.
We’re making lots of progress all across the country in our effort to make tourism product easier to book.
Listen Up: TXUSA Featured on Brand USA’s Podcast
Tourism Exchange USA’s President, Nate Huff, was recently featured on the Brand USA ‘Travel Talks’ podcast, along with Leona Reed of Visit California. Together, they discussed the game-changing impact of Tourism Exchange USA, plus updates on state participation and early success stories. The session’s host is Mark Lapidus of Brand USA.
The Exchange IRL
The Tourism Exchange USA team has been jet-setting across the country (and beyond) to meet with partners, build new connections and support our mission to make the USA bookable.
Where We’ve Been
- Destinations International: Andrea Wood and Nate Huff were hard at work in Tampa representing Tourism Exchange USA at Destinations International in July. The conference provided a touchpoint to meet with many of the local destinations from participating states and begin planning local engagement efforts.
- ESTO: Nate Huff hosted a panel discussion at U.S. Travel’s ESTO conference in Columbus, OH in August on “Navigating Global ‘Chopportunities’ in 2024 & Beyond,” exploring the evolving international landscape and explaining how these challenges are being met with innovative partnerships, product development and marketing strategies.
Couldn’t catch us at Destinations International or ESTO? No problem! Come say hi at our upcoming events:
Where We’ll Be
- October 21-24: Brand USA Travel Week U.K.
- October 28-30: American Indian Tourism Conference (AITC)
- December 2-5: Travel South International Showcase
Get Social
Be sure to connect with TXUSA on social media! You can find us at the handles below:
