USTOA Launches New Website with Enhanced Features & Sustainability Hub

 
 

The United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) has unveiled a new website that offers a streamlined user experience with distinct hub pages for each of the association’s stakeholders—members, travel advisors and consumers.

“We always try and push the envelope when it comes to how can we make [the website] fresh and different,” says Terry Dale, USTOA’s President & CEO. “This year, when we [refer to] our three [groupings] on the site—members, travel advisors and consumers—we have taped videos and testimonials of people that I think will be engaging and keep the traffic turning pages.

“The website communicates to both current and prospective members ‘why’ USTOA is an essential partner in their businesses, a message that carries through to our valued travel advisor audience,” continues Dale. “And inspiration for travelers is abundant including details of the USTOA $1 Million Travelers Assistance Program.”

When travel advisors skip on over to ustoa.com, they’ll find easier access to connect with leading tour operators as well as resources for updates on travel news, trends and tools to enhance their business.

USTOA Active and Associate Members, meanwhile, will find an improved user experience and ease of use along with an enhanced event calendar color coded for improved search for general events, the Annual Conference & Marketplace, networking events, educational series and more.

For travel advisors and travelers, the USTOA blog features posts from members for travel inspiration around the world. Improved filtering options allow easier navigation to find relevant stories as each post is categorized by destination. The new hub for travelers connects to trusted tour operator members and USTOA certified travel advisors through dedicated links to each.

The USTOA Sustainability Resources Hub, open to all members, details the association’s commitment to a responsible future for travel with links to the USTOA Five Year Sustainability Plan and the USTOA Sustainability Promise, along with a number of educational resources.

In fact, on the sustainable front, Dale says that he feels confident that USTOA is “a leader in the industry.” Many travel and tourism organizations, he says, “have a sustainability workshop at their annual conference or they have a webinar, but no one makes a two-and-a-half-day commitment in Singapore or Norway or this year in Valencia” to focus on sustainability in tourism.

Dale is referring to USTOA’s SIR Summit (Sustainability is Responsibility Summit), which was designed to bring together sustainability champions within the industry while also showcasing a destination where sustainable innovation is taking place, giving attendees first-hand experiences and knowledge to consider for their organizations. “It has created an opportunity for attendees to engage and collaborate with fellow sustainability staff members within the travel and tourism space who find themselves facing similar obstacles,” Molly Laycob, USTOA’s Global Social Impact Manager, tells Recommend.

The most recent SIR Summit took place earlier in Singapore over the course of four days and featured forums for discussions and idea sharing on a variety of topics including partnerships, goal setting, strategies and more. Attendees participated in engaging breakout sessions and had the opportunity to visit several local sites that practice and promote sustainable acts.

This year’s SIR Summit, as Dale noted, will take place in Valencia, which will also be the site of USTOA’s first Breaking Bread for Tourism pilot program. It aims, says Dale, to start a dialogue with destinations that are feeling the effects of overtourism, meeting with all interested parties, such as someone from the mayor’s office and from economic development, as well as those, notes Dale, who are leading the anti-tourism charge within the community.

“There’s something symbolic about saying, ‘Let’s come together—stakeholders and community leaders, activists…—and have a transparent conversation about the reality of the situation,’” Dale says. “So, let’s break bread and get the right people in the room and start the process.” He stresses that it has to be an ongoing conversation, with the interested parties making a commitment to the process and meeting five to six months after the initial conversation.

For more information about USTOA, visit the new website at USTOA.com.