Religious Travel Expo Open for Registrations

The World Religious Travel Association (WRTA) has opened registrations for the World Religious Travel Expo & Educational Conference 2009, which will be held Nov. 14-16 at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center in Reno, Nevada. Serving as the most important meeting and tradeshow in the religious travel and hospitality industry, the event is expected to draw more than 600 tourism organizations and travel professionals from 30-plus countries.

"As last fall’s inaugural World Religious Travel Expo served as an historic event in the tourism industry, the faith-based travel and hospitality marketplace is today attracting extraordinary interest from the travel trade," said Kevin J. Wright, WRTA president. “We’re seeing many more companies and agencies devoting greater resources towards cultivating their religious client-base. As such, Expo 2009 will serve once again as the world’s foremost stage for organizations buying, selling and debuting new products and services direct to the faith tourism industry.”

Representing the “infrastructure” of the marketplace, the World Religious Travel Expo welcomes travel wholesalers, cruise lines, destination management organizations, hotel/lodging facilities, motorcoach operators, attractions, suppliers, media, consortiums, travel agents and group planners along with every other sector of the industry. The 100-plus exhibitors at Expo 2008 included, among others, Trafalgar Tours, Faithful Holidays (division of Mayflower Tours), CIE Tours, Collette Vacations, 206 Tours, Journeys Unlimited, Car Italy and Tours, Rainbow Tour Turkey, 7TUR, Costa Cruise Lines, Carnival Cruise Lines, Cyprus Tourism, Jordan Tourism Board, Israel Ministry of Tourism, Switzerland Tourism, Visit Britain, Africa Travel Association, Travel Guard, Pennsylvania Dutch Country CVB, CCRA International, Grande Hotel Moderne (Lourdes), Christian Hotels International, Gaylord Resort Hotels and Convention Centers, and missionary travel wholesalers/agencies MTS Travel and Raptim Travel.

The World Religious Travel Expo is also host to the industry’s largest and most comprehensive educational and business program on faith tourism and hospitality. In 2008, more than 50 leading authorities and experts participated in general and educational sessions, which included topics on pilgrimages, cruising, the missions, events/conferences, adventure and safari travel, regional leisure travel as well as on marketing, sales, public relations, and product development.

New highlights for the second Expo include co-locating with the National Tour Association Annual Convention, offering members of both associations unprecedented opportunities for business growth and networking. In addition, WRTA’s event will include participation in The Icebreaker networking function sponsored by the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority as well as New York’s Theatre Direct/Broadway.com-sponsored luncheon. (888-255-9782, email [email protected] e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or visit www.wrtareligioustravel.com or www.wrtaexpo.com)

Courtesy of  leisuregrouptravel.com