ATA Membership Info

THE NEED
ATA membership benefits for Tour Operators are extraordinary. No wonder, since this association was born out of the necessities experienced by other tour operators, necessities for which there was simply no support - until ATA was formed - BY TOUR OPERATORS!
THE SOLUTION
If you are an average Tour Operator you have a customer base of about 1200 clients per year. And if you are doing a great job, your repeat clientele is about 95%. However, in order to keep your customers satisfied you MUST, on a continuous basis, create new and exciting itineraries, and that means new research regarding sights of interest, the development of new timelines, new restaurants, new hotels, new step-on guides - you need to build a completely new infrastructure. And that, as we all know, is no easy undertaking. And does not come cheap, either.
WE CONDUCT THE RESEARCH FOR YOU
Well, we are here to help. As a member of The American Tour Association you have not only access to thousands of pages of places that have been researched for you already in our Group Tour Planner section of this site, allowing you to compose a new tour from the comforts of your office, but you have access to active assistance in a variety of ways that will help you save an additional hundreds of hours in potential research and thousands of dollars in expenses. How?
SAVE TENS OF THOUSAND OF DOLLARS
We all know that hotels throughout the world have different prices for different clients. If you move thousands of people you can expect a lower rate than if you show up once in a blue moon. ATA moves MANY THOUSANDS of people. Not by ourselves, but through agencies like yours. When we contact a hotel or a restaurant, we speak not for one company, but for thousands of companies, and many hotels are aware that a contract with ATA can translate into hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional business. This in turn guarantees us the lowest rates in the business, rates that we in turn pass on to you! We have companies that saved up to $ 30 per room/night - off THEIR best rate! Simply by using ATA member hotels. How much in savings is that? Well, considering that the average tour operator contracts for about 8000 hotel rooms/nights per year, a one dollar saving per room per night equals $ 8000 in savings. One dollar = $ 8000. Multiply that by $ 30 and you can buy a nice house in the Hollywood hills (well, almost).
EXCELLENT SERVICE THROUGH MEMBER HOTELS
However, it is not only the potential savings, but also the service you will experience. And for the same reasons. ATA member hotels know the value of "going the extra mile". They know that a happy client means repeat business and many member hotels go out of their way to make your (our) clients happy. Some with small evening entertainments and welcome cocktails, others with simple signs that great your tour, but have a great effect on your group. And we know and appreciate the value of their efforts and will keep sending clients until they beg us to stop - it is a win-win situation.

There are two ways you can work with member hotels. Either contact them directly and identify yourself as an ATA member, or take advantage of our group reservation service (15 rooms or more) and we will handle the reservations for you - AT NO ADDITIONAL COST TO YOU! And if you choose a destination where we have no member hotel, we will negotiate the rate for you, also at no additional cost.

EXCELLENT SERVICE AND FOOD CHOICES THROUGH MEMBER RESTAURANTS
The same is true for Restaurants. Yes, there is a multitude of restaurants not only in the USA, but around the world. But, as you probably learned the hard way, not many of them are equipped to handle busloads of people. As a member of ATA we research restaurants along your route for you - also at no additional cost to you.
THE NEED FOR BUSES
Want to take your clients overseas, or into Mexico and still run the tour yourself? Well, aside from the hotels, restaurants and step on guides (contact us for available guides) you need BUSES! Again, no problem for ATA members, because if you don't find a member bus company on our site, WE WILL FIND THE BUS FOR YOU! Again, at no additional cost aside from the cost for the bus itself.
ITINERARY DEVELOPMENT
We will not only assist you in the above aforementioned, but help you in developing new itineraries altogether. Simply drop us a note with your preferred destination, and we will either match you with an agency that offers packages to other tour operators (and vice versa), or assist you in composing your own itinerary.
LEAD FORWARDING
Furthermore, at last count we had 200,000 visitor on our sister site alone (grouptravels.com), indicating that the general public is actively searching our site. As a member you do not only have your name, address and phone number listed, but we will also list up to three of your itineraries, or provide a direct link from our database to your site, guaranteeing you exposure to those visitors. And if ATA receives a request from potential clients like other tour operators, churches, corporations or individuals, we will forward these requests to our members which offer tours to the requested geographical area.
MARKETING
Aside from facilitating strategic alliances between various suppliers and yourself we also promote group travel through a variety of initiatives, including trade show participations and direct mailings.
NETWORKING
Through a Membership with the American Tour Association you are letting other tour agencies know what you are specializing in - one of the best ways to offer your own packages to other agencies.

CERTIFICATE OF MEMBERSHIP
Last but not least you will receive a certificate, identifying you as a member of The American Tour Association. So, what are you waiting for?


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