Engage Tourism

26/01/2022

Last night's event was beyond fun and memorable! ❤ It's clear that we are all looking forward to a fantastic 2022... and we are ready for the ENDemic!

Engage Tourism strives to organize events that go beyond your typical industry networking event. We want our attendees to create meaningful relationships and learn from each other so that our industry can continue to thrive. Thanks for joining us!

21/01/2022

Wine, charcuterie, and Vision Boards with your travel and tourism industry colleagues... join us!

Date: Tuesday, January 25th
RSVP below 👇

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/249095670857

18/01/2022

A little over a week before our Vision Board event at Book + Bottle! All travel & tourism industry professionals are welcome. Bring some magazines and be ready to set some goals and sip some wine 🍷

RSVP here -> https://www.eventbrite.com/e/249095670857

03/01/2022

⭐ Save the Date ⭐ for our first in-person event of 2022!

Now is the time to get intentional about your year, and this Vision Board event (with wine and snacks!) is just the place to do it 🍷🧀

Vision boarding is an excellent way to get clear on your goals and motivated to bring them to life! All travel & tourism industry professionals are welcome 🌍

Date: Tuesday, January 25, 2022
Time: 7-9 PM
Location: Book + Bottle
17 6th St N, St. Petersburg, FL 33701
Cost: $25 - includes wine, snacks, and Vision Board materials

We'll have an Eventbrite link available soon to RSVP! Have questions? Let us know in the comments below or send us a DM

28/12/2021

What a whirlwind of a year for the travel industry! As we move into the new year, our organization is evolving 👇

2022 Updates on Engage Tourism:

⭐ No more membership fees!
⭐ More in-person social/service/educational events in Tampa Bay, Central Florida, and surrounding areas
⭐ Opportunities to host your own local Engage Tourism events
⭐ Pop-up supplier events
⭐ Quarterly Virtual Happy Hours

Engage Tourism was originally created to be an organization that served our local community in Tampa Bay and Central Florida, and we are getting back to our roots while maintaining the amazing virtual community we've built. We can't wait to see how our industry progresses into the future, and we are excited to grow our organization along with all of you!

08/12/2021

So good to get together in person for our end of the year event ❤🎄 Thank you to everyone who came out to join us!

24/11/2021

It's that time of year and our Mix & Jingle is here! Join us for networking and some holiday cheer 🎉🎄

Complimentary beverages & appetizers will be provided 🍻

Donations kindly accepted for Metropolitan Ministries or bring a smile to a child with a new unwrapped toy (Toys for Tots Tampa)

Space is limited so grab your free ticket today!

RSVP here -> https://www.eventbrite.com/e/engage-tourism-mix-jingle-tickets-216735831707

08/06/2021

When we first scheduled the Supplier Summit, we didn't predict that our industry would be recovering as quickly as it is. With cruising starting back up (woohoo! 🎉), Europe re-opening (music to our ears! ❤), and general travel picking up exponentially (yay! ✈), almost all of our suppliers have told us that they are swamped and won't be able to make our originally scheduled event.

We want as many suppliers to join as possible, so we are making the decision to postpone the event until a later time when our supplier partners aren't as overwhelmed.

Thank you so much for your continued support of Engage Tourism!

03/06/2021

✈🌍 Suppliers play a key role in keeping our industry going. We know there aren't very many events where they get to speak candidly with each other about their challenges and best practices, so we are providing a space just for them.

Our Supplier Summit is a virtual event exclusively for suppliers to get together and share anything they'd like with each other. Some topic ideas include marketing ideas with the best ROI, creating boundaries, and industry trends.

If you're a supplier, we'd love to have you join our event! If you're a TA, please pass this on to a supplier you think would benefit from this event.

Suppliers must be Engage Tourism members to attend. For more details on becoming a member, head to https://www.engagetourism.com/becomeamember

25/05/2021

Race Update!

Even though we didn't win the race, The Incredible Duck Race Tampa raised $25,500+ this year for the Kiwanis Club of Tampa which is a MAJOR win for everyone in our community!

19/05/2021

Thanks to the support of our members and donors, Engage Tourism has purchased two Quack Packs for the Incredible Duck Race to support our local Kiwanis Club of Tampa 🦆🦆🦆

Saturday, May 22nd at 12PM EST

Who does the Incredible Duck Race benefit?

All proceeds from the Incredible Duck Race will benefit the Tampa Kiwanis Foundation.

The Kiwanis Club of Tampa has been helping children in local community since 1919. Our enthusiastic members pursue creative ways to serve the needs of children in our community.

Locally we build ramps for the disabled, hold immunization events, purchase holiday gifts for kids in need, provide scholarships, work with leadership clubs in schools at the middle school, high school and college level, and build reading rooms in Boys and Girls clubs around Tampa. Additionally, our foundation provides grants to local non-profit organizations.

16/05/2021

Are you in the New York or New Hampshire areas?! Check out these Travel Agent Trunk Shows! Please be sure to pass on the information to your industry colleagues!

Special thanks to our member Christina M Santiago for sharing!!

12/05/2021

The 5th session of our Engage & Elevate Series is on the horizon for our members, and we are super excited to introduce you to Erika Holmes!

Erika helps entrepreneurs and personal brands inject heart and humor into their brand messaging, website and email copy. Her specialty: writing clear, personality-filled, human-to-human words that inspire the right people to know, love and trust you to the moon and back.

Topic: The 5 Brand Stories Your Business Needs to be Telling
Date: May 20, 2021
Time: 5:00 pm EST

As a copywriter, the most common questions people ask Erika are, “What do I write about?” “What do I say ?”, followed closely by, “I hate talking about myself. Do I have to?”

At our next Engage & Elevate session, Erika will show you how to use the 5 types of brand stories to engage your ideal client on your website, email copy, social media- wherever your client is showing up. Not only will you be able to come up with evergreen content for each story type, but you’ll get expert storytelling tips.

This is a session you won't want to miss! Not a member yet? Head to https://www.engagetourism.com/becomeamember to apply!

05/05/2021

Happy National Travel Advisor Day from Engage Tourism! Here is a great post you can copy and paste to your status to celebrate today ❤
🛫👩‍💻🧑‍💻🛬

In honor of National Travel Advisor Day, here are some stats about me:

✍️ Agency Name:
📆 How Long Have You Been In The Biz:
🏝 Favorite Destination:
🚢 Niche / Specialty:
✈️ Favorite Itinerary:
🧳 Next Vacation:

Contact us for your next vacation!!

30/04/2021

We had a fantastic time at our first Meet & Mingle and can't wait to hold more events!

Thank you 3 Daughters Brewing for hosting us in your fun space 🍻

Our Meet & Mingle events are open to both members and non-members, so keep your eyes peeled for the next one ❤

24/04/2021

HEY Florida Locals!!!!

Who is coming to join us next week?!

Come out, meet the board members, learn more about what Engage Tourism is, and HAVE FUN!

Bring your friends, colleagues and anyone that wants to learn more about us, what we do, and how YOU can be part of this incredible organization!!

RSVP by writing in the comments below! We can’t wait to see you! 🙌🏼

21/04/2021

Come join Engage Tourism on Cinco de Mayo LIVE FROM MEXICO!!

On Wednesday, May 5, 2021 at 2pm eastern time (ET) we will be going live via Zoom with Executive Chef Philippe Piel from Grand Velas Los Cabos to teach you how to make your own home-made, authentic Guacamole and Night Margarita!!

This is a cooking demonstration that you won't want to miss!!

Can't make it at 2pm? No problem! We will be recording this fun, festive event for you to go back and watch again when you're ready to impress your guests at your next dinner party.

Feel free to invite your friends, family, and colleagues. This event is open to anyone who wants to join.
​
Donations are appreciated and will go to Engage Tourism. Hope to see you all there!

www.engagetourism.com/fiesta

11/03/2021

Our Tampa Bay FAM was absolutely incredible. It has never been more clear how resilient the travel and tourism industry truly is, and it is coming back stronger than ever.

We'd like to thank the following hospitality partners:
Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk
Hilton-Tampa Downtown
Tampa Marriott Water Street
JW Marriott Waterside, Tampa Bay, Fl
Visit Tampa Bay
Pirate Water Taxi
BarrieHaus Beer Co.
The Florida Aquarium
ZooTampa at Lowry Park
Sparkman Wharf
Armature Works
Tampa International Airport

Thank you all for making this such a wonderful experience and putting Tampa on the map as a true vacation destination.

05/03/2021

One of the ways we've been getting around Tampa during the FAM is on the free TECO Streetcar 😍

What's your favorite mode of transportation when you're traveling?

05/03/2021

Our Tampa Bay FAM is off to a fantastic start! ❤ We can't wait to share more of Tampa within the next couple of days 🏴‍☠️

06/01/2021

OFFICIAL MEMBERSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT

2020 has shown us how important community and relationships are for the travel and tourism industry. When the world stopped traveling, we looked to each other for support and we gave each other hope whenever we felt like giving up.

When we created Engage Tourism, we didn’t realize how impactful this community would be. We’re so grateful to have shared tips, tricks, and lots of laughter with each of you through our Zoom Happy Hour Series this year. As the world slowly opens back up and we see signs of recovery, we want to return to what Engage Tourism was designed to be: a community dedicated to collaboration, engagement, and education throughout the industry.

Moving forward, we will be promoting further engagement throughout the industry through our Engage Tourism membership program. At only $28 for 2021, our founding membership will include monthly members-only meetings, a members-only FB group, access to some local chapter events, exclusive FAM trip opportunities, along with business development and education with affiliate partners, experts inside and outside of the travel industry, supplier seminars, and more.

Best of all, you will be supporting a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to tourism growth and sustainability as we all work together to bring back this amazing industry.

To join Engage Tourism, head over to our website at https://www.engagetourism.com/becomeamember to fill out an application. Let’s work together to rebuild the tourism industry! If this year taught us anything, it’s that we are more resilient than we could have EVER imagined and that tourism can only go up from here.

01/12/2020

🌎 The world is frozen.

Tourism is part of nearly every industry around the world. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a global pandemic. The world began shutting down, planes were grounded, hotels started turning away visitors, and tourism froze. We all speculated how long the shut down would last — but no one had any idea what was to come.

The days turned to weeks. The weeks turned to months. Now, as we enter the final month of 2020, only a fraction of the world is open to American travelers. Many career travel professionals were forced to leave the industry they love, and those who are still around are fighting tirelessly in hopes of a better future!

💙 Tourism still has a long way to go, and we’re asking for your help.

In January 2020, a Board of Travel Advisors created Engage Tourism as a non-profit organization to collaborate with, engage, and educate travel entrepreneurs, hospitality professionals, and the public. We did not realize how important this organization’s mission would be until a few short months later when the world was shut down. The travel and tourism industry quite literally keeps things moving.

👉 Today is . GivingTuesday was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. We are asking for your help to bring about more engagement for the tourism industry by donating to our non-profit in the hopes that we can all come together to bring this incredible industry back to the strength it once was! No donation is too small, and every penny helps get us a little closer to our goals.

Travel WILL return. Domestically, many people are cheering on local restaurants and hotel partners for re-opening their doors with enhanced health and safety protocols. Internationally, many countries are also implementing their own sanitation guidelines and travel restrictions as well.

🔥 Travel Advisors are needed now more than ever.

They work closely with tourism partners around the world to ensure proper protocols are met for their clients. They are also the direct contact of information between hotels, resorts, tourism boards, and other professionals throughout the industry to ensure their clients are well informed.

With your tax deductible donation, we will continue to provide engagement throughout the tourism industry. We are ready for 2021, and we want to continue supporting our members by engaging with tourism partners around the world! Please consider donating to our incredible organization today—

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=6KQFTLFJMAWGS&source=url

18/11/2020

Engage Tourism Virtual Happy Hour Series

Theme: High, Low, Funny

As our year winds down, we're ramping up! Travel Advisors are about to feel an serious uptick in our business! Are you ready? Join us tomorrow as we share our highs, our lows, and our funny moments over the past few weeks. Wear what you like, bring your own beverage and we'll see you online!

Date: November 19th, 2020
Time: 5 pm - 6 pm

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYucuyprzIiG9OCP9BVk5L1As8KuIWWAJ7d

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

As our year winds down, we're ramping up! Travel Advisors are about to feel an serious uptick in our business! Are you ready? Join us tonight as we share our highs, our lows, and our funny moments over the past few weeks. Wear what you like, bring your own beverage and we'll see you online!

31/10/2020

🚢 We're feeling cautiously optimistic! What about you?

*all political comments will be deleted

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2020/10/30/cdc-lifts-no-sail-order-issues-framework-conditional-sailing/6051655002/

Cruise ships will be allowed to sail in U.S. waters Sunday, according to a CDC order issued Friday but that doesn't mean passengers will be on board.

12/08/2020

We have a new board member that we can't wait to introduce to you! Katherynne Garingan Santos is joining us as our Director of Sponsorship and Fundraising.

Katherynne Santos merged her passion to travel and her love of weddings to create KGS Events and Travel in 2013. She is a certified Destination Wedding, Honeymoon & Luxury Specialist as well as a Certified Destination Wedding & Event Planner. She offers clients her undivided attention to create their vision of the perfect event. She takes pride in continually educating herself through coursework and extensive travels so she can have ever-changing experiences and build relationships with suppliers and other travel advisors … all to better serve her clients.

To further her education and staying with industry trends, she has a Certificate of Achievement and Skills in Travel Marketing, a Certificate of Hospitality and Tourism Management and currently serves on the Board for ASTA SBN San Francisco Chapter. She truly believes at least once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before. While she loves lounging on the beaches of Hawaii, Mexico & the Caribbean, she has stayed in centuries-old seaside villages of Cinque Terre, Italy, experienced vibrant food scenes in Hong Kong and Singapore, swam with sharks and rays in Tahiti, white water rafting on a Class 4/5 in Costa Rica, flew in a seaplane over glaciers in Alaska and crossed off one bucket list, the Taj Mahal India.

One of her favorite destination is Austria for its majestic mountains, opulent palaces, high culture, baroque architecture and amazing people she now calls friends. Plus, who doesn’t like The Sound of Music in Salzburg! She is excited to share Engage Tourism’s vision with other travel advisors, the travel industry and the traveling public.

31/07/2020

Tourism WILL come back! In the meantime, share one of your favorite travel pictures below (friends, family, destination, etc.). Let's remind everyone WHY we love being in this industry!!

20/07/2020

🌎 From Travel Advisors around the World

Would you work for 5 months, full time, without getting paid? Think about this for a minute.

If your boss told you to come back to work, but you couldn’t get paid, and you’re not sure when you’re going to get paid again, but to please stick with it and put your heart and soul into it for hopes of a better future?

Chances are, you wouldn’t do it.

Travel Advisors have had their businesses turned completely upside down. They worked for countless hours to plan that trip for you, put it all together, customize every little detail — and they don’t actually get paid their commission until you go on vacation.

Now, your vacation got cancelled.

They dive back in to work twice as hard, fielding calls, waiting on hold, fighting for your refunds & credits — all while still not getting paid for any of the work they’ve done for the last 6, 12, or 24 months. Why?

This is more than just their job. This is their passion, their commitment to YOU as their client.

Much of the travel industry is on hold, but people are still booking, some are still traveling, and many hopeful travelers are setting their sights well into 2021.

Before you jump online to book that trip to Europe, before you reach out directly to the cruise lines, and before you just start planning that all inclusive vacation through a “cheap” website — reach out to a Travel Advisor. Refer your friends and family when you hear they’re planning a trip. Help the travel industry rebound by helping those who support it most.

We’re here for you, and we hope you’ll be there for us!

We want to thank every friend, family member, business partner, and most importantly, client, who has supported the travel and tourism industry over the years and continue to put their trust in us — especially now!

09/06/2020

Are you part of our Engage Tourism Virtual Happy Hour Series group? If not, hop on over and join us! We have a great virtual happy hour this week where we'll be discussing unique destinations around the world ✈🌍

21/05/2020

We all know our value as travel advisors but do our clients and prospects? Here's a great article for you to share!

https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherelliott/2020/05/14/this-is-why-you-need-a-travel-advisor-for-your-post-pandemic-vacation/

If you're planning a trip after the pandemic, maybe it's time to call a professional. Travel is radically and almost unrecognizably different after the COVID-19 pandemic. That is why you need a travel advisor, say experts.