Religious Travel Buzz Newsletter (July 10)

Lead Story: WRTA Launches e-Library with 2,500+ Faith Tourism News Stories
How would you like immediate access to more than 2,500 top news stories and articles on faith tourism from 1998 through 2008 - and all categorized for your convenience? It's now possible. WRTA has just assembled and debuted the most comprehensive, categorized database of religious travel news stories on the Internet. More than 70 categories have been assigned and classified. All WRTA Members have access to this invaluable resource.

Top News Stories from WRTA, Members, and the Religious Travel Industry
3 Major Religious Travel Events in 2010
1. Breaking News! Pope Benedict just announced: Shroud of Turin will be displayed in 2010 2. Oberammergau hosts Passion Play
3. Holy Year in Santiago de Compostela - 10 million visitors expected

News Stories featuring WRTA Members
(Member: Jordan Tourism) Following Faith
(Member: Israel Tourism) Israel declares Holy Land refocus
(Member: Passport Health) Taking the bite out of travel - Wall St. Journal
(Member: Globus) Globus Predicts Growth In Faith-Based Vacations for 2010

New Stories featuring interviews with WRTA
Religious tourism is bright spot in downturn (AME Info/Middle East News)
Pilgrims boost luxury tourism (The National/United Arab Emirates)
Following Faith (Jo Publication/Jordan)
Millions opt for religious tourism (The Portugal News Online)
NTA Convention brings Faith-based Market to Delegates (Press Release)

More News Stories in Faith Tourism
USA
Colorado: Thank God for Conventions (Coloradoan)
Florida: Holy Land Trips in Florida?
Missouri: Faithful flock to Springfield (News Leader)
North Carolina: Winston-Salem targets religious groups for tourism dollars (Fox 8 News)
The RCMA Survey: The Religious Meetings Market

INTERNATIONAL
France: Pilgrimage to Chartres (PBS)
India: Kashmir Pilgrimage gets under way
Iraq has huge potential for religious tourism
Nepal and Religious Tourism (Travel and Leisure Magazine)
Poland: Study religious tourism in Krakow
Spiritual retreats cater to the mind, body, and soul
Summer missions: A Pastor's Checklist
Turkey: Destinations to discover in Turkey

New! Special Tours, Vacations, and Events
Welcome to the newest section of Religious Travel Buzz! With each future issue of "the Buzz," WRTA will feature select tours, vacations, and events for publication. This new section will enable travel agents, planners, and other buyers to discover special deals and itineraries that exist in faith tourism. If you wish to submit a trip/event for possible publication, here are the three criteria:
• Your company must be a current WRTA Member.
• Your company must be registered as a Tour Operator, Destination, or Supplier member (Note: Travel agent and planners do not qualify)
• Your tour, vacation, or event must feature one or both of the following attributes: - Feature some form of discount or other related incentive (i.e. special commissions). - Feature a very unique itinerary, vacation, or event.

Here are this week's chosen sample trips and events:
Mission Travel Group Hosting group trips to the 3 major religious travel events in 2010
MTS Travel A Pilgrimage to England with The Order of Julian of Norwich
Royal Caribbean: Holy Land Cruise with special deals

Are You a Religious Travel Expert? Take the Faith Tourism Quiz
Want to find out if you're "cutting edge" in today's religious travel industry?
Take the short 5 question quiz below and test your expertise level.

1. Who developed the world's first escorted group travel company?
(Hint: He was a Methodist minister from England).

2. What are the two largest religious groups in the U.S. market?

3. Name three reasons and/or "motives" behind religious travel purchases.

4. (True or False question) The Seven Churches of Revelation are located in Israel.

5. (True or False question) People of faith embark on a wide variety of leisure group vacations such as cruises and safaris.

How can you find the answers to the above questions?
Review your Religious Travel Market Educational Course (only Members have access). If you haven't studied and mastered the nearly 40-page educational course on faith tourism, now is the time. All success in religious travel begins with understanding today's marketplace.

Are You Maximizing Your Member Benefits?
Fill Out Your Own Report Card
Time for report cards. How do you think you and/or your company is doing in maximizing your WRTA Membership benefits? Would you give your company an "A" for a top grade or an "F" for failing.....or something in-between? Find out by filling out your own Membership Report Card.

Expo 2009 Update: More than 50 Booths Sold! Are You Registered Yet?
Despite challenging times in the travel industry, the World Religious Travel Expo is on target for welcoming more delegates than last year's historic inaugural 2008 Expo. In the past 3 months alone, more than 50 exhibit booths have been sold. Multiple Expo sponsorships have also been sold including among others the German National Tourist Office, Leipzig Tourism and Marketing Company, Routes to Luther, Reno-Tahoe CVA, Theatre Direct International, and Hilmar Cheese Company Visitor Center.

If your organization has not yet registered to attend or exhibit at this celebrated event, call WRTA today and secure your spot. Best locations on the tradeshow floor are quickly disappearing along with top sponsorship opportunities.

Just for Fun - Faith Tourism Links Galore
2009 Religious Travel Buyer's Guide
Brochure: Sponsorship and Exhibitor Guide to Expo 2009
Guidebooks: The Christian Travel Planner
Guidebooks: Catholic Shrines of Western Europe
Guidebooks: Europe's Monastery & Convent Guesthouses
Guidebooks: Marian Shrines of the United StatesVideos from WRTA Members
Video: Discover the World of Faith Tourism
Video: Experience the World Religious Travel Expo
Website: World Religious Travel Expo

World Religious Travel Expo Debuts Theme: Make 2010 Your Best Year Ever

Lexington, Ky. (PRWEB) June 27, 2009 -- The World Religious Travel Association (WRTA) has announced "Make 2010 Your Best Year Ever" as its official theme for this fall's World Religious Travel Expo. The newly chosen motto will serve as the guiding principle and overall purpose of the three-day event.

"Our theme serves as an invitation to tap into the flourishing religious travel and hospitality industry," said WRTA president, Kevin J. Wright. "We all know this is a very trying time for many companies. However, as faith tourism provides new market and revenue possibilities, the World Religious Travel Expo provides organizations with a renewed opportunity to experience their best year yet."

Faith-based travel and hospitality has become an important new market segment for many tour operators, travel agents, destinations and suppliers in the industry. In the past year alone, the religious market has taken on even greater significance, due to its recession-proof and groups-dominated attributes. An estimated 75% of faith-based travelers prefer to travel in group settings while 80% would like to repeat their religious travel experience. Challenging times only serve to bring people of faith together in greater numbers for travel or convention purposes; providing a much needed "stimulus" to the industry.

WRTA recently opened registrations for the Word Religious Travel Expo & Educational Conference 2009, which 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 Annual 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, contact the World Religious Travel Association at 888-255-WRTA (9782) or +1-859-219-3529 or by email headquarters@WRTAreligioustravel.com. For more information about WRTA and the Expo, visit www.WRTAreligioustravel.com and www.WRTAexpo.com respectively.

World Religious Travel Association (WRTA):
WRTA is the leading global network for the $18 billion faith tourism industry. WRTA's primary purpose is to guide, enrich, and expand religious travel and hospitality around the globe via the trade, consumer, and media. Its membership is comprised of accommodations, attractions, tour operators, travel agents, tourism offices, transportation services, media and other key players in the tourism industry.

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2010 to be a year of celebration at two major pilgrimage shrines

Religious Tourism is expected to have banner year in 2010. Many celebrations and events are taking place at shrines and pilgrimage places around the world. The following are amonng the top 3 religious events and celebrations in 2010:

(GERMANY) The every-decade Passion Play takes place in 2010 in Oberammergau, Germany.

(SPAIN) Santiago de Compostela to celebrate its Holy Year in 2010. An estimated 10 million pilgrims and visitors are expected.

(ITALY)The Shroud of Turin, believed by many to be the burial cloth of Christ, is scheduled for the first time in 10 years to be displayed for the public in 2010.

If you are a travel provider for people of faith, be sure to integrate these itineraries into your portfolio. If you're a traveler, you might consider traveling to the Passion Play, Sanitago de Compostela, or to Italy to see the Shroud of Turin.

New printing of Catholic Shrines of Western Europe just released

An updated version and printing of my book Catholic Shrines of Western Europe - A Pilgrim's Travel Guide, was just released. It features a beautiful new cover (front and back), as well as new information on building a travel ministry, as well as fully updated contact info, websites, and email addresses for the shrines. Be sure to get a copy! Click here for more info or to buy the book: http://www.liguori.org/productdetails.cfm?sku=801020

Does your bookstore have a "Travel section"?

If your favorite faith-baesed bookstore does not have a "Travel section".....be sure to ask them about it and encourage them to add one. Along with The Christian Travel Planner, Europe's Monastery and Convent Guuesthouses, Holy Land travel books ....there are also many other guidebooks that are perfectly suited for a faith-based bookstore. Above all, by hosting a travel section, religious bookstores can better meet the needs of their customers while also enriching their mission and business.

How to Develop a Thriving Travel Ministry

My article on "How to Develop a Thriving Travel Ministry" was just published. Click here http://www.christianpress.com/travel/how-to-launch-a-thriving-christian-travel-ministry.html

Register to attend World Religious Travel Expo

Register today to attend this fall's World Religious Travel Expo 2009.

When? Nov 14-16, 2008

Where? Reno, Nevada (USA)

What is the official Expo website? Visit www.WRTAexpo.com

How can I register? Call 888-255-9782 or 859-219-3529 or email headquarters@WRTAreligioustravel.com

Christianity Today features stories on travel and pilgrimage

Christianity Today features a number of wonderful and excellent stories in its April 2009 issue on travel and pilgrimage. You can just out some of the stories at http://www.christianitytoday.com or http://www.godrev.com/disprss/?/Christianity-Today-Mag/focus/2469432/Special-Section-Pilgrimage-and-Travel.html

Visit Thomas Nelson's Official Website for The Christian Travel Planner

Christian Travelers Guide: The Christian Travel Planner
Trade Paper
By Kevin J. Wright

The Christian Travel Planner will enable you to plan and prepare for memorable and life-changing experiences.


Discussing a multitude of trips, from Holy Land and European pilgrimage tours to mission trips and conference cruises, this book is accessible and user-friendly. Other vacations include fellowship vacations, camps, conventions, adventure vacations, and monastic guest-stays. Complete with stories, must-see descriptions, and website and travel reference information, this planner can also be used as a companion guide while traveling or simply from the comfort of your home, as you explore Christianity's famous sites via the computer. Learn how to begin or enrich a Christian travel ministry at your church, faith community, or organization. The Christian Travel Planner introduces readers to the world of faith-based travel and identifies the plethora of opportunities available to Christians planning a vacation.

Book signing at World Religious Travel Expo

Here's a photo of my book signing at the recent World Religious Travel Expo.