Product Orientation Trips Offer Ideas, Experience
Tuesday, the official newsletter of the National Tour Association, June 2002

Product Orientation Trips Offer Ideas, Experience Continuing its efforts to create global business opportunities for its members, the National Tour Association is planning its second Product Orientation Trip, this time to popular destinations Scotland, Wales and England. The price is $499, which includes airfare from the gateway city.

Jeannie Barresi (right) of Colorado International Ski Tour Services Inc. and her guest George Winfree were among the participants in NTA's first Product Orientation Trip to Eastern France. (photo by Elana Andersen, Travel Tips)

Scheduled for Sept. 21-28, the second Product Orientation Trip is being planned with the help of new international affiliate member British Tourist Authority and is designed to introduce NTA members to the variety of British tourism options available and create opportunities for future business. Destination options include Edinborough Castle, Stratford Upon Avon, Canterbury Cathedral and many more.

Last year's Product Orientation Trip introduced 46 NTA tour companies to the beauty of the Champagne-Ardenne and Burgundy regions of Eastern France. Participants found that experience very insightful, rating the overall value of the trip a 7.9 on a 10-point scale. And the tour directly resulted in at least one product success story.

"We'd been looking into simply doing a wine product itinerary," said Jeannie Barresi, managing director of Colorado International Tour Services of Colorado Springs, Colo. "It was from talking to one of the French representatives during a meal at the Product Orientation Trip that this whole new product was first conceived. I'd been talking to her about the history of this champagne cellar and the woman who had made it a world-class business, and I just found it all very interesting."

The conceived product became Spirited Women in History, the first tours of which will begin this fall. With an eye toward underrated or unknown women in history, the package has already received a positive response.

"This woman I've partnered with in Paris said that in the 20 years that she's been doing historical tours no one has asked her for this particular kind of product," said Barresi. "But it's just been exploding over there. Her friends are talking about it, and it's just been really cool."

And by partnering with history experts, such as the author of the Uppity Women in History series of books, Vicki León, Barresi has ensured a fun, in-depth experience for everyone.

Barresi notes that there are many advantages to participating in a Product Orientation Trip, one of the most obvious being the ideas that are shared.

"We do so many trips overseas that we can pull new elements into current packages, or in this case even develop a whole new product line," said Barresi. "That can happen on any Product Orientation Trip, whether domestic or international. And even for those who aren't planning trips internationally, if they develop a partnership with someone who does, then they can speak to their clients with more authority. That's a great benefit of the Product Orientation Trip."

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