Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Homeric Tours Launches New Faith Tours Brochure

Press Release from Homeric Tours:

With the introduction of our new Faith Tours brochure evidencing our commitment to the religious audience, 2009 is indeed an exciting year for Homeric Tours. With over 40 years of experience serving the greater travel community, specializing in the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Europe, it was time for Homeric Tours to distinguish its approach into this specialized area of the industry. This new brochure is a collaboration of our own research as well as the many requests that we have received over the years from our loyal group leaders. We are confident that our brochure will be well received by our existing clients as well as the marketplace as a whole.

Our new Faith Tours brochure has over 30 distinct itineraries that will help individuals achieve a better understanding of their faith, by visiting those sites significant to the beginnings of Christianity. The brochure is designed for coordinated group travel with an established group leader. However, we welcome the opportunity to work with active members of Churches, religious organizations and academic institutions looking to establish a trip within their organization. The general theme of the brochure is to promote an increase in faith oriented travel, not just enter into an existing market. We firmly believe that the Faith Based travel market is far from mature.

We feel that our brochure is unique in that it provides a broad spectrum of itineraries to choose from. In addition, not only can the itineraries be modified to suit the specific needs of your group, we can build an entire customized itinerary. Our experience as a provider of customized travel for so many years sets us apart from many of the existing participants in this industry.

We are very excited about our commitment to this niche industry and welcome the opportunity to assist members of the WRTA audience with. We invite you to visit our website where you can find additional information on our brochure, PDF versions of the brochure itself, a brochure and quote request kiosks and contact information to speak with one of our specialists. Our dedicated Faith Tours website is: http://faith.homerictours.com/ and our toll-free number is 800-223-5570. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

John A. Klados
VP Marketing & Sales

Africa Travel Association (ATA) & WRTA Renew Partnership

NEW YORK, New York, August 24, 2009 – The Africa Travel Association (ATA) and the World
Religious Travel Association (WRTA) announced today the continuation of their partnership
agreement, aiming to support both organizations’ endeavors in the promotion of religious travel
trade.

“The Africa Travel Association (ATA) is excited to work with the World Religious Travel
Association (WRTA) to promote faith-based tourism to Africa,” said ATA Executive Director,
Edward Bergman. “Religious tourism is certainly a growing niche market for travelers to the
African continent and the partnership with WRTA will help us educate our membership on faithbased tourism opportunities.”

According to WRTA, religious travel and hospitality opportunities can be found across Africa in
four main ways: visiting a religious destination; attending a religious gathering; traveling for
missionary or humanitarian purposes; or leisure traveling with fellowship intent.

“Faith-based tourism attracts 300 million travelers worldwide, who spend $18 billion annually,”
said Kevin J. Wright, WRTA President. “We look forward to once again working with ATA,
especially as Africa has long served as a top destination for people of faith. In fact, among the
wide variety of travel experiences the continent offers, faith-based African safaris are quickly
becoming one of the most popular new trends in religious travel today.”

Under the new partnership agreement, ATA and its members will participate in the WRTA World Religious Travel Expo and Educational Conference to be held from November 14-16, 2009 in Reno, Nevada. WRTA will participate in ATA events in the United States and Africa, including ATA’s 35th Annual Congress to be held in The Gambia in May 2010.
About the Africa Travel Association (ATA).

The Africa Travel Association (ATA) was established as an international travel industry trade
association in 1975. ATA’s mission is to promote travel, tourism and transport to and within
Africa, and to strengthen intra-Africa partnerships. As the world’s premier travel industry trade association, ATA provides services to a broad range of members including: tourism, diaspora,
culture, and sports ministers, tourism boards, airlines, hoteliers, travel agents, tour operators,
travel trade media, public relations firms, consulting companies, non-profit organizations,
businesses, small and medium-sized enterprises, and other organizations engaged in tourism
promotion. For more information, visit www.africatravelassociaton.org or call +1.212.447.1357.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

WRTA to host Faith-based Travel Webcast with CCRA

Want to register for CCRA's Webcast with WRTA? Visit http://bit.ly/WebcastCCRAFaithTravel to register. For more information about the Webcast, see below.....

Title: Learn How to Succeed in Faith-Based Travel and Cruising
Date: Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am PDT; 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm EDT

CCRA International and the World Religious Travel Association (WRTA) invite you to discover one of tourism’s hottest new markets: Faith-based travel and cruising.

Did you know one in four Americans is interested in joining a faith-based trip? And did you know 2008 served as a record year for religious tourism in Israel, Jordan, Lourdes (France), and the like? Best yet…. 2010 is expected to be another banner year in religious tourism especially with world renowned events taking place such as Oberammergau’s Passion Play, Santiago de Compostela’s Holy Year, and the unveiling of the Shroud of Turin in Italy. With world-class tour operators and cruise companies recently entering the marketplace and debuting faith-based trips and vacations, there’s never been a better time for travel agents to get involved!

Join Kevin J. Wright, President of the World Religious Travel Association and award-winning religious travel author, as he shares the 5 key steps to experiencing extraordinary success in today’s hot new market: faith-based travel and cruising. Sign up now!

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Monday, August 17, 2009

PASTORS REPRESENTING 10 NATIONS EXPERIENCE FAITH AND FELLOWSHIP IN BAHAMAS


RELIGIOUS MARKET GLOBAL OUTREACH – The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation’s Religious Market, recently took advantage of an opportunity to pitch the country’s outstanding conference and meetings facilities to a group of Pastors visiting Nassau from the United States, Cuba and even places as far flung as China, Africa, Italy and Great Britain.

The group of spiritual leaders were in attendance at a "Kingdom Leadership Conference" being held at the Diplomat Center, Carmichael Road, under the direction of renowned Bahamian spiritual leader, Pastor Miles Munroe, President and Senior Pastor of Bahamas Faith Ministries International, Nassau, Bahamas. The group of pastors representing 10 nations, were a part of a delegation of about 185 persons in attendance at the Conference.


During their visit to The Bahamas, the church leaders were given a tour of some of the Island's finest hotels and resorts, and then feted to a reception at their host hotel, The Wyndham Nassau Resort, Cable Beach. Pictured above, front center, Mr. Linville Johnson, MOT Director of Religious Market, and Dr. Myles Munroe are flanked by the Pastors.The Religious market is an $18 Billion Global Market, and the Bahamas, boasting the largest assortment of vacation spots of any tropical destination in the world, is poised to take advantage of a larger share of this growing market. No longer simply a fun vacation, the Bahamas can also offer its visitors faith and fellowship."The Bahamas...where God lives."


Linville Johnson, is available to answer questions on group needs for religious conferences, conventions, retreats etc., at ljohnson@bahamas.com. For more information on the Islands of The Bahamas, visit www.bahamas.com, or you can reach us at 1-800 Bahamas.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Leisure Group Travel Magazine Targeted Religious Market Coverage

Leisure Group Travel Magazine Targeted Religious Market Coverage
August 13, 2009
http://insite.religioustraveldirectory.com/featured-on-insite/leisure-group-travel-magazine-targeted-religious-market-coverage/

Leisure Group Travel’s August 2009 edition explores the world of religious tourism. This 100-page digital page flip e-magazine includes feature articles on group travel to Israel and a special on-site report from Cyprus by senior editor John Kloster. We also include an extensive section on Oberammergau Passion Play group tour packages for 2010 with sample itineraries from leading tour brands. Plus, check out the sneak preview of the World Religious Travel Expo coming up in November, 2009 along with news and updates from faith-based attractions and destinations.

Friday, August 14, 2009

NACTA President, Scott Koepf, Keynote Speaker at World Religious Travel Expo

LEXINGTON, Ky. (August 14, 2009) – The World Religious Travel Association (WRTA) has named NACTA President, Scott Koepf, as keynote speaker for the final day of the World Religious Travel Expo 2009.

“We are ecstatic about Scott Koepf serving as a keynote speaker at the World Religious Travel Expo,” said Kevin J. Wright, WRTA president. “As a motivational speaker and sales trainer with two decades-plus experience in the travel industry, Scott is the ideal candidate for sharing with delegates how to make 2010 their best year ever.”

Koepf is recognized as one of the leading authorities and representatives of travel agents in the industry. With more than 25 years in retail travel, Scott became president of the National Association of Career Travel Agents (NACTA) in 2008. Prior to his current position, Scott was with Sabre Holdings as general manager of the Jurni Consortium, TMA and the host Travel agency, Nexion. He opened a cruise travel agency in 1985 and in 1989 became president of Cruise Holidays International. Scott was responsible for taking the franchise company from 12 franchises to over 120. In 1991 he returned to owning an agency, which quickly became one of the top cruise selling agencies in the country.

“I am thrilled to be a keynote speaker for the WRTA Expo in Reno,” said Scott Koepf, NACTA president. “First, as a graduate of the University of Nevada in Reno, the destination will serve as a memorable homecoming. Secondly, the conference theme Make 2010 Your Best Year Ever is perfect and I will dig into how you can make that happen—even in these remarkable times. I might even slip in a few never-before-told college stories to spice things up!”

With a special partnership between WRTA and NACTA, all NACTA travel agent members are eligible for a special $35 rate to attend the World Religious Travel Expo.

The Word Religious Travel Expo & Educational Conference will be held November 14-16, 2009, at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center in Reno, Nevada (USA). Serving as the most important meeting and tradeshow in the religious travel and hospitality industry, the event is expected to draw tourism organizations and travel professionals from 30-plus countries.

A new highlight for the Expo includes co-locating with the National Tour Association’s Convention, offering members of both associations unprecedented opportunities for business growth, networking, and access to new market opportunities.

For more information about attending or exhibiting at the World Religious Travel Expo, including registering for the special NACTA member travel agency rate, contact the World Religious Travel Association

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Madaba gears up for religious tourism visitors with major overhaul

Full story at http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=19109

We are expecting to have a greater global profile,” he said, pointing out that with the Pope’s recent trip to the area, and the visit by US mayors on the sidelines of the recent mayoral conference in May, the city is becoming a leading destination for religious tourism.