乌斯托亚的特里·戴尔(Terry Dale)回顾
经过大卫·科格斯威尔(David Cogswell)/
自从接任美国旅游经营者协会领导层以来,特里·戴尔(Terry Dale)签署了三年的合同,担任旅行社总裁兼首席执行官,七年半。
在动荡的时代,Ustoa一直努力保持浪潮并为该行业提供领导地位。自2011年以来,该组织发生了根本性的变化,当时戴尔由协会董事会任命,将其带入一个新时代。
自美国经济从2008年大萧条中撤出以来,乌斯托亚(Ustoa)现在正在努力稳定地建立繁荣。对于旅行社,时代从来没有更好。
“Travel right now is so strong,” said Dale, “I don’t have a single member who is not doing really well. Historically, there would be one segment of business that was strong. Then, I’d have another segment that would say, ‘We’re stable, up one or two percentage points’; and another segment that would say, ‘We’re flat.’ This year when I ask that question, every single segment of our membership is at historic levels.”
而纽约时报报道上周,这家价值5万亿美元的资产管理公司Vanguard预测未来几年可能会进行更正,目前,经济正在对所有汽缸开火。旅游经营者正在享受旅行公众在经济福祉方面的好处。戴尔说:“ Vanguard能够打勾为什么会倒退的原因。”“一切都是周期性的,您不会永远拥有这种旅程。但是,当事情很好时,它确实会有所帮助。”
同时,乌斯托亚(Ustoa)已进入新时代,感觉坚强并准备好环境接下来的事情。
Heightened advocacy efforts
Dale’s term with USTOA started when the association, stunned by the sudden loss of its 32-year president Bob Whitley, turned to Dale to lead the organization. Dale took over in January 2011. When he talks about the association’s progress, he starts with praise for Whitley.
戴尔说:“他在建立友情和这种享受共同努力的人们的意识方面非常成功。”“那是一种艺术。因此,我觉得我继承了一个非常独特的关联。鲍勃与创造这种环境有很大关系。”
当Ustoa董事会寻找戴尔时,他们会考虑到具体的目标。戴尔说:“我采取了明确的倡导任务,并在环城公路上发表了一张面孔和声音,以教育立法者和监管机构关于我们的会员身份以及他们所做的事情如何对USTOA产生后果和后果。”
戴尔通过担任国际邮轮国际协会(CLIA)的工作,知道华盛顿政治倡导的绳索。“首要任务是与一家政府事务公司交往;确保我们在团队中有一些有关点问题的政策专家;并与我们的成员一致地去那里,以敲门并建立关系。”戴尔说。“那是那七年半的较高的部分中,这是我在那个相对短暂的一段时间内看到它如何真正为我们的成员带来回报的一部分。”
最早的测试之一是旅游经营者努力获得许可证来进行古巴旅行。戴尔说:“我们的一些成员在获得许可证方面遇到困难,并且通过与加利福尼亚州国会议员法尔的关系,我们能够在一夜之间加快这些许可证。”
The advocacy work never ends, because Congress is always changing. Congressman Farr retired in 2015. Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, who has been a strong ally to the travel industry, is retiring at the end of this year. But, though the work is ongoing, it does produce lasting results.
戴尔说:“这可能是有益的,当然可以为我们的成员带来改变。”“我将倡导视为我们取得了巨大成长的领域,我们需要继续将其作为优先事项。”
Economic impact studies
当Ustoa董事会成员告诉Dale时,他们希望倡导是一个重中之重时,他问他们可以在与政府官员的讨论中带来什么样的经济影响力。“我说,‘告诉我您的经济足迹,Ustoa成员提供的工作数量。’他们互相看着对方,说,‘好吧,我们不确定。’”
他们知道成员搬了很多人,但没有具体的细节。戴尔说:“我说,‘好吧,我们需要确定。”“如果不说自己的行业和代表多少工作,您就无法敲门。”
该协会开始与PriceWaterhouseCoopers建立关系,以定期汇编有关其经济影响的可靠信息。戴尔说:“上周,我们刚刚完成了我们的第四次经济影响研究。”“我们将在今年的会议上分享这些新的统计数据。”
截至先前的评估,该协会代表约1500万美元提供13,000个工作岗位。戴尔说:“我们必须有信心知道我们在经济和经济上是谁,才能坐在监管机构或立法者对面的桌子上。”“因此,这是我们每隔一年进行的一个非常重要的项目。”
Website itineraries and customer reviews
Under Dale’s leadership, USTOA has built its own specialized version of TripAdvisor on its website, providing extensive product information from member tour operators and illuminating it with customer reviews.
“We have more than 31,000 USTOA member itineraries, and more than 21,000 consumer reviews,” said Dale. “We are firm believers that today’s traveler likes to hear from other people who have traveled on a specific itinerary. They want to hear directly from that consumer. We think it is a way we can provide critical, timely information about the travel experience that travel agents and consumers can access. That is forward-looking and certainly helps with our relevance.”
与康奈尔的研究合作伙伴关系
在2011年接任之后不久,戴尔(Dale)率先主动与康奈尔大学(Cornell University)的MBA学校合作,开展有关旅行市场的研究项目。
戴尔说:“每年,我们都有一支非常聪明的MBA候选人为我们解决一个项目,并向我们的组织报告他们的发现。”“我们现在已经进入了第六年,从千禧一代旅行到映射消费者的购买旅程,过去十年发生了什么变化以及在未来十年中的变化。因此,这种伙伴关系为我们的成员提供了更多的价值,并使我们与众不同,以使我们能够区分自己。”
与今日美国的合作关系
As Dale sought new ways to “identify innovative ways of providing benefits to our members to help them run their businesses and be competitive in this landscape,” he led an initiative with USA Today.
他说:“我们是第一个与《今日美国》建立合作伙伴关系的贸易协会,事实证明这是非常有益的。”
Through the partnership, the association works with six destinations and partners them with six active members. “We send a camera crew to capture the consumers on that trip, whether it’s packaged travel or a guided escorted experience or a river cruise. We create content around video and blogs with editorial content created by USA Today, and they post it and distribute it through their channels online. They bring so many eyeballs to the table. This year, we should exceed 36 million impressions. It’s the first time USA Today has had a partnership with a trade association.”
Sustainability
随着戴尔(Dale)的未来,他计划在已经采取的计划中保持努力,并正在研究新领域。他说:“我认为我们需要花更多的时间在可持续性上,而作为旅行部门领导者的责任是确保我们不为超越主义做出贡献的责任。当我们前往面临高流量挑战的目的地时,这些目的地虽然很受欢迎,但人们也是人们称beplay银行卡之为家的地方。
“It’s really heartbreaking when you see local residents in some parts of the world picketing against tourism, being very vocal about the damage it’s creating. We have to find a balance. I think we need to have a deeper conversation about sustainability and making sure that our dollars we take to all corners of the world get into the hands of the people who need them most. That is an opportunity to make a difference. I’m looking forward to defining a path for USTOA on that topic.
吸引新兴市场
Ustoa也在寻求新兴市场。戴尔说:“我们一直想吸引年轻的观众。”“我们希望确保我们正在为年轻一代建立一个平台,以便他们了解他们如何从会员的旅行体验中获取和受益。”
也许最重要的是,随着协会向前发展,戴尔希望确保与其起源保持联系,因为该协会最初是为了帮助公众区分可靠的旅行社与掠夺无情的公众的骗子艺术家。
“Probably the most important thing both for our past and our future is the word ‘integrity,’” he said. “The founders built USTOA around the word ‘integrity.’ And that is something, every day, I think about because the culture of USTOA is built around that single word. Making sure that it remains the focus moving forward is critical, especially in an environment like today.”