In This Issue

• Message from Mai
• CCRA's Hosts Private Workshop with "The Hotel Sales Coach"
• Globalstar Travel Management Appoints CCRA Travel Solution Its Preferred Hotel Supplier
• This Summer Gets Sticky to Increase RevPAR
• Specialty Market Placement - New for 2012 Only from CCRA
• CCRA, Amadeus Expand Hotel Content Partnership
• CCRA returned to the Vacation.com Trade Show in Las Vegas
• Tourism Cares Announces 2011 Professional Development Offerings

Message from Mai

Welcome to our June issue of Check-in!

It's hard to believe that 2011 is half-over; perhaps even harder to believe that it's time to start completing your 2012 requests for pricing (RFP) ... yes, it really is RFP season already!

If you haven't already, you should be hearing from your national brand about the opportunities to participate in a variety of negotiated rate programs for 2012 along with instructions about where to go to complete the actual requests. If you are an independent hotel, you can complete the CCRA RFP simply by clicking on the link on the right.

Why should any hotel offer negotiated rates to travel agents through CCRA? Let me give you two powerful reasons:

When you are deciding which hotel programs to participate in for 2012 - the choice is clear: CCRA is the industry leading distribution channel.

For more information about the CCRA 2012 Program, please visit the links on the column to the right or contact Jolene Volkart at jolene.volkart@ccra.com.

Sincerely,

Mai Meyaart
Vice President and Managing Director

CCRA's Hosts Private Workshop with "The Hotel Sales Coach"

CCRA is sponsoring a private Sales& Marketing Training Seminar in Orlando exclusively for our partner hotels. The seminar will take place on Tuesday August 23rd at the Caribe Royale Hotel located at 8101 World Center Drive, Orlando, FL 32821.

During this intensive sales seminar you will learn exactly how the lodging industry's most successful owners, managers and sales directors are achieving extraordinary RevPAR increases in 2011.

Hotel sales expert and bestselling author, Bill Todd, will provide you with an arsenal of proven ideas, tactics and strategies being used by hotels today to achieve extraordinary sales results. Each of these "field-tested" ideas will enable you to out-sell, out-market and out-promote, but never out-spend your top competitors. Bill will also demonstrate several proven social media tactics that are generating increased sales for North America's most savvy hoteliers in 2011.

CCRA will pay the entire $149.00 registration fee for our partner hotels. We will also gladly cover the registration fee for two additional co-workers. The only cost to participating hotels is a $19.90 materials fee, per attendee, which will cover an array of sales support materials and marketing resources to include: access to videos, audio recordings, whitepapers and e-books.

Our only request is that you register as soon as possible because we expect this unique business development seminar will sell out quickly. Register Today!

As your partners in profit, we at CCRA are proud to bring you this very special event designed to increase your hotel's sales and boost RevPAR by the Fall of 2011.

To register just click here - Register for CCRA's Private Sales Workshop

Globalstar Travel Management Appoints CCRA Travel Solution
Its Preferred Hotel Supplier

Last month, GlobalStar, the international travel management company, announced that it had chosen CCRA as the preferred hotel content supplier for its 3,300+ international travel agency affiliates.

This is great news for hotels like yours. The larger our distribution network becomes, the more business for you.

To kick-off our new relationship, executives from CCRA were invited to participate in GlobalStar's annual 9th Annual Conference held in Miami Beach on May 15-17 - an exclusive event for GlobalStar's 120 international, agency-owners and top executives.

CCRA President and CEO, Dic Marxen welcomed attendees to a CCRA sponsored luncheon; Mai Meyaart addressed agency owners at three CCRA seminars focused on how to maximize revenue through CCRA rates and products; and Peter Pincus, President of the CCRA Global Network Division held numerous one-on-one meetings to explore new, global opportunities.

Since the Miami conference, CCRA has hosted several training classes aimed at introducing agency management teams both to the CCRA rate code in the GDS as well as to the advantages of booking net and 15% commissionable rates exclusively at CCRAtravel.com.

Over the next several months, CCRA will be marketing your ads and promotions to this new audience. If you'd like to send us a special promotion for GlobalStar agencies, please email sales@ccra.com.

This Summer Gets Sticky to Increase RevPAR
Written by: Bill Todd

As an author, hotelier and sales motivational speaker, I have researched and recommended hundreds of proven sales techniques that deliver rapid results, but none have been more effective or have produced faster results than the tactic I'm about to share with you.

In fact, your total investment will be less than a dollar! This proven sales tactic is used frequently by today's most successful lodging professionals in the United States and around the world. This powerful idea produces remarkable sales results in both good economic times and bad.

All you need to get started is 5 sticky notes. On each slip of paper boldly write your 2011 sales and RevPAR goal. Next, identify five places around your office and car you will see every day. We highly recommend that you place one sticky note on your phone and computer screen.

Each time you look at or walk by any of these sticky notes, ask yourself the following question: is what I'm doing right now directly contributing to achieving this sales goal? If the answer is no, then stop what you're doing and start an activity that does.

This extremely simple idea has helped my clients increase net sales by 260% on average. They all report dramatic increases in both room nights and ADR. Now, that's an impressive ROI on a one dollar investment!

Each day this simple and powerful tactic will keep you focused like a laser beam on increasing RevPAR, driving net profits and rapidly winning the local market share battle.

Bill Todd is one of 2010's most sought after sales motivational speakers and trainers.
He is the co-author with Stephen Covey of Speaking of Success. Todd has served as vice president of sales and industry marketing for Choice Hotels International, and was vice president of sales and marketing for Marriott International's Corporate Lodging Division.
BTodd@BTodd.com | www.BTodd.com | 301.633.5856

Specialty Market Placement - New for 2012 Only from CCRA

Niche marketing is more than a phrase - it is the new standard for hotel sales and marketing.

Now CCRA helps you reach the clients who are looking for the product or services your property specializes in. In 2012, CCRA's Online Hotel Directory will give travel agents the ability to search for hotels based on a specific product category.

If your property is a resort, luxury, extended stay, golf, boutique, spa or all-inclusive facility, you can participate in the CCRA Specialty Marketing Placement for an annual rate of just $100.00. You can subscribe to the Specialty Marketing Placement as part of your 2012 RFP by completing field # XX in Lanyon or via CCRA's own RFP tool.

The CCRA Online Directory is aggressively marketed to travel agents throughout the year.

CCRA, Amadeus Expand Hotel Content Partnership

Amadeus and CCRA have expanded their partnership and now CCRA's extensive hotel inventory is available to North American travel agents using Amadeus Hotel Shopper via the Amadeus Selling Platform, Amadeus' flagship point-of-sale solution for travel professionals. Under this expanded partnership, Amadeus agents can now access and book the hotel content available on CCRA's proprietary booking portal, www.CCRAtravel.com, which offers real-time rates and availability at over 160,000 hotels worldwide.

In 2010, CCRA was also chosen as the exclusive rate provider for Amadeus Vacation Link, Amadeus' one-stop booking portal that enables North American leisure agents to book high-profit, commissionable vacation travel. Amadeus travel agents in the U.S. and Canada using the Amadeus Selling Platform can access CCRA's hotel inventory on Amadeus Hotel Shopper via the AgentNet portal "smart tab" on the Amadeus Selling Platform.

Amadeus Hotel Shopper, in partnership with CCRA, offers agents a choice of up to five rate categories from a single search. Rate options include net rates which agents can mark up, online rates, CCRA negotiated rates, a wide range of GDS-available rates, and the new 15 percent enhanced commission rate.

Agents who book CCRA hotel inventory either through Amadeus Hotel Shopper or Amadeus Vacation Link also qualify for Commission Express, CCRA's weekly commission reconciliation and payment program. CCRA content is delivered to Amadeus agents through a secure, single sign-on technology that allows agents to seamlessly login, search and confirm reservations using real-time rates and availability. For more information, visit www.amadeus.com or www.CCRAtravel.com.

CCRA returned to the Vacation.com Trade Show in Las Vegas

CCRA was proud to return to the 13th Annual Vacation.com International Conference & Trade Show in Las Vegas, June 19-23rd.

The show opened with the General Session where CCRA President & CEO, Dic Marxen gave a brief speech on what to expect from CCRA in the future and how agents can make more money with CCRA now. During the conference we met roughly 1,000 agents. Liz Badras, Director of Global Membership Services was in the Experience Room, where she was showing live booking demonstrations on CCRAtravel.com. The CCRA Pavilion was filled with our fabulous sponsors. Our pavilion is always the biggest draw at the show. Agents look forward every year to meeting our sponsors, winning prizes and learning more about CCRA. We at CCRA and our sponsors always enjoy attending this show, as it gives us all a chance to really get in touch with travel agents.

We look forward to going back next year! If you are interested in being part of our pavilion in 2012 please email sales@ccra.com.

Tourism Cares Announces 2011 Professional Development Offerings
Scholarship and internship support available for education in travel industry

Tourism Cares, the travel industry's premier charitable organization for tourism preservation, conservation, restoration and education, has opened its 2011 Professional Development Scholarship and Internship application process. Deadline for applications is close of business, 5:00pm EDT on Wednesday. June 1, 2011.

Established through a generous endowment funded in part by the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), the International Airlines Travel Agent Network (IATAN), and NTA, awards amount vary per individual, ranging upwards to $1,000 each. The total anticipated award distribution for this year is more than $30,000.

A key focus of the organization's ongoing commitment to education, these merit-based scholarship and internship awards are designed to support the continuing and higher education needs of the travel, tourism, and hospitality industry. Travel and tourism professionals, hospitality certificate holders, or industry conference attendees may apply for Professional Development Scholarships. Recipients will be reimbursed for completed and fully paid programs at accredited or state-licensed educational institutions in the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico or Canada. Certain scholarship funds may also be applied toward registration at ASTA's International Destination or the International Tour Management Institute's symposium.

Students intending to enter the travel and tourism workforce may apply for an eight-week summer internship at a luxury travel agency.

Additional eligibility criteria, documentation required, and applications for both award areas are online at www.tourismcares.org/scholarships. Winners will be announced later this summer.

About Tourism Cares
Tourism Cares is an innovative nonprofit organization formed in 2005 through a consolidation of the National Tourism Foundation and the Travelers Conservation Foundation. The organization works to preserve the travel experience for future generations through a three pronged approach. We award grants to natural, cultural, and historic sites throughout the world. In addition, we host unique volunteer restoration projects designed specifically for travel professionals. Recognized as the most innovative "give-back" program in the industry, Tourism Cares volunteer project and Volunteer Day draw thousands of corporate leaders and individuals together to share in the conservation and preservation of treasured cultural and historic sites. We also help assure a knowledgeable tourism workforce by granting academic and professional development scholarships to hospitality and tourism students.For more information about Tourism Cares, please visit www.TourismCares.org.