Last week, the .travel team traveled to NYC for the world renowned New York Times Travel Show taking place in the Javitz Convention Center. Expecting over 20,000 visitors over the 3 day event, the .travel team chose to participate on Friday, which was a trade specific day filled with industry players from every aspect of travel: travel agents, CVBs, associations, destinations, travel media, and more.  The day was broken into two parts:  the trade only exhibit and seminars and then the larger consumer based show.  Early in the day through the afternoon, .travel shared the exhibit floor with strategic partners such CLIA and NACTA and other companies such as PMG, eWaterways, and more.

Following the trade specific show and seminars, the official ribbon was cut to open the full exposition floor where countries, states, and resorts such as Canada.travel, Brazil, Argentina.travel, Aruba, and Thailand featured  their products to fellow industry peers and then to end consumers on the weekend.

Knowing that grabbing attention of your industry peers is key, many exhibitors offered wine, cheese, giveaways, and entertainment. The .travel team’s highlights were:

1) Vermont-the best cheese by far!

2) Aruba-the best dressed dancers.  Wow what colors!

3) St. Lucia-the best band playing soothing music from the Caribbean.

4) Utah.travel-the best giveaway with a free visit to the Grand Canyon.

After the show, it was time to explore the city that never sleeps! Indeed, there is no city like NYC! With so many attractions to offer from Times Square, the Empire State Building, Central Park and more, one can never forget New York. What a wonderful place to host a travel industry event! Nothing is better than, “the Capital of the World.”  It was an amazing trip and show.  The .travel team looks forward to participating in The New York Times Travel Show again next year!

If you attended and would like to add your favorites, please comment.

This week’s .travel newsletter highlights the .travel team’s participation at the Travel Leisure Conference in Miami as well as the New Faces in .travel article featuring NewZealandTours.travel….

.TRAVEL FEATURED AT THE 25TH ANNUAL TRAVEL LEISURE CONFERENCE

.travel invited as featured participants at the Travel Leisure Conference November 15-17, 2008.  The 25th Annual Travel Leisure Conference is projected to see record turnouts with over 800 travel agents and hundreds the travel industry’s top executives.Held at the Miami Hyatt Regency, the largest and longest running Travel Trade event presents various educational seminars, workshops, cruise ship inspections, and networking opportunities…

New Faces in .travel Article….

TIME to get on board with .travel, www.NewZealandTours.travel

TIME Unlimited New Zealand Tours and Travel was created as a result of the passion of its directors, Néill and Ceillhe Sperath. Understanding the awe inspiring beauty of New Zealand and its Maori culture, the business was founded in 2005 with the goal of being a one of a kind travel company aiming to guide the global traveler through a true New Zealand experience. TIME, an acronym for “To Integrate Maori Experiences,” and its founders understood the need to market and communicate the business’ wide array of exceptional trips and adventures to the world. In seeking a clear marketing message and solution, TIME Unlimited decided to migrate from timeunlimited.co.nz to NewZealandTours.travel

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Breaking Travel News video interview with .travel’s Heidi Siefkas-Cassemiro at the European Tour Operators’ Association Conference in London, November 6, 2008.

Topics include: what is .travel, its involvement with ETOA, and the future of the Internet.

Click for full Interview…