When you think “the best,” what comes to mind?

Maybe your mind instantly thinks of sports figures like Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky. Or food, like pizza and steak. Or the best song you’ve ever heard, the best movie you’ve ever seen, or the best book you’ve ever read. The best magazine? (Groups Today, anyone?)

Seriously, though, beginning today, we’re on a quest to find the best in group travel—according to you. We’ll have national and regional categories for you to nominate “the best” for group travel.

Click here to make your nominations (you don’t have to fill out every section) then watch for voting on the top nominations coming in June. The winners will be featured in the November/December issue of Groups Today.

You know what, I thought of nomination for “best”—the best readers…you! Okay, yes, sucking up a bit, but I am glad you choose to read Groups Today, and I can’t wait to see who you pick as “the best.”

From U.S. Secretary of Commerce John Bryson and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar

This week, the Obama administration took part in the U.S. Travel Association's International Pow Wow conference, the travel industry's premier marketplace bringing together more than 1,000 U.S. travel organizations to connect and expand international travel and tourism. Coming together here in Los Angeles will benefit citizens of all countries economically, through increased trade and job creation, and by drawing the world closer together as we share our cultures, our history and the beauty of our lands.

Under an executive order signed earlier this year, President Obama is working to make it easier for people from around the country and the world to visit the thousands of premier tourist destinations across the United States, from the Grand Canyon to the lights of Las Vegas, from the Statue of Liberty to the great cultural destinations right here in Los Angeles.

At the President’s direction, we are implementing a government-wide National Travel and Tourism Strategy to promote U.S. tourist destinations and support the tourism industry. The President has also directed his Administration to increase our capacity to accept and process international visitors.

For example, the Department of State is meeting the growing demand for tourist visas in places like Brazil and China by increasing staff and expanding hours. And the Department of Homeland Security is expanding programs like Global Entry, which expedites clearance for preapproved, low-risk travelers through dedicated lanes and kiosks.

A particular focus of our efforts is promoting America’s iconic destinations to international visitors – bringing more people to our national parks, cultural monuments and other public lands and waters.

We know that tourism is vital to the U.S. economy. Just last month, the Department of Commerce released data revealing that international and domestic tourism spending increased 8.1 percent in 2011, supporting an additional 103,000 jobs for a total of 7.6 million. In addition, nearly 62 million international visitors contributed more than $153 billion into our national economy in 2011 – making tourism America’s number one service export.

And in further evidence that the United States remains one of the top destinations for international visitors from around the world, we found out last week that international visitors spent an estimated $13.3 billion on travel to, and tourism-related activities within, the United States during the month of February alone—a 14 percent increase over the spending in February 2011.

And our future opportunities are very promising. This week, Commerce released its 2012 Spring Travel Forecast, which projects that 65.4 million foreign travelers will visit the U.S. in 2012 alone. It also anticipates 4-5 percent annual growth in tourism to the U.S. over the next five years. Further, according to a McKinsey Global Institute report issued in June 2011, the leisure and hospitality sector, of which travel and tourism is a key component, is the fifth-largest employer in the United States. McKinsey estimates that the leisure and hospitality sector could add 2.1 to 3.3 million jobs in this decade – the third highest job growth potential by sector.

As we look to the future, we want to work with all of you to let international travelers know that we are putting the final touches on the new National Tourism Strategy right now.

We are working with leaders in the tourism industry, including those of you here in Los Angeles, to make the United States the number one tourist destination in the world.

In short, our message is clear: We are putting out a welcome mat to the world.

I just received an e-mail entitled, “How NOT to be unlucky while traveling.” It’s about a travel-planning service tailored to individual interests.

The release just got me to thinking about good ways for travelers to NOT be unlucky while traveling. Top of the list: Take a group trip.

While planning online may be convenient and an individual traveler could seek out places in which they are interested, travelers are still “on their own” when they do this. Having a travel professional with you, ready to answer all questions and handle any issue truly makes for a relaxing trip.

So, let your potential travelers know how they can NOT be unlucky while traveling—take one of your group trips!

How do you help your travelers not worry about any details? This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Last week, I was attending the National AfterSchool Association convention (we publish their association magazine) in Grapevine, Texas. The event was held at the Gaylord Texan.

Maybe I should say in the Gaylord Texan. If you’ve been at a convention at a Gaylord property, you know that when you’re on site, you’re on site. Your days and nights will be spent at the resort. At times, you wish you were off site.

Not last week.

If you paid attention to the news at all last Tuesday, you saw that tornadoes touched down in the Dallas area—not too far from the Gaylord Texan. Exhibitors were in the hall, attendees were in workshops, and a few families were trying to enjoy spring break when the alarm went off and the resort had everyone head to the tunnels under the hotel.

Not your typical convention/hotel experience to say the least. However, I have to say that the way staff handled it, you would have thought they did tornado evacuations every day. Staff in orange vests with flashlights calmly guided everyone down escalators and stairs to the tunnels. Once in the tunnels, employees walked up and down with a megaphone, keeping the aisle clear and keeping everyone updated while other passed out water.

About an hour later, we were back upstairs, back to our convention.

The preparedness of the Gaylord Texan was impressive. How prepared are you to handle crises that come up for your travelers? You need to be sure that you’re ready so that if a disaster does happen, your clients don’t talk about how it ruined the trip, rather, how professionally and efficiently your company handled it so that they could continue their trip.

I’m on the road in Texas for another of Serendipity Media’s publications, which means more time on planes and in airports.

This time, it meant a three-hour layover in Cincinnati. I haven’t had that long of a layover in quite a while. I’m going to have to see what’s going on with our travel planner.

Anyway, another coworker and I engaged in some of the more popular airport diversions, food, cell phones, wandering, trying to slouch down and nap. Eventually, we both started people watching.

Now, we weren’t negative, just noting the variety of dress, style, walk, baggage, experience in airports, etc. However, one thing did make me take notice: hardly anyone was happy. It’s spring break week, and a lot of families were traveling—the smiles were absent.

This is supposed to be their time of vacation, fun, and they’re starting out cranky?

That got me to wondering if I were a group travel planner if I would think about ensuring that the entire trip, door to door, was a good experience. Do you? What do you do to ensure that your travelers are starting a group trip out smiling—and walking in the door at home smiling?

I know that air travel is a little different when it comes to the experience, but it’s good to constantly evaluate your travelers’ experiences from beginning to end.

By the way, it seems the carrier I used did a little customer service attitude adjustment. I was pleasantly surprised by how pleasant everyone was, from the gate clerk to the attendant.

Safety is always a priority when it comes to group travel. However, media hype of motorcoach accidents in the past year has kept motorcoach safety top of mind.

Just last week, ABA President and CEO Peter Pantuso and UMA President and CEO Victor Parra, testified before Congress about motorcoach safety provisions in proposed legislation.

Then, I received the following press release:

As recreational tour operators charter motorcoach carriers for trips to see sights such as Washington, D.C.’s Cherry Blossoms, a weekend excursion to the mountains, or to one of the nation’s many theme parks, there is considerable responsibility to ensure the safe transport of passengers. This concern was brought to national attention early last year when a tour bus, carrying customers home from an overnight trip at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut crashed, killing fifteen of its thirty-one passengers in New York.  

This case resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in lawsuits, and such settlements are becoming increasingly more prevalent. Recreational tour operators face significant liability risk and irreparable reputation damage if an injury-causing or fatal accident occurs on a motorcoach they hired to transport their sightseeing passengers. Therefore, it is essential to perform the appropriate level of due diligence when it comes to selecting the safest motorcoach carriers possible.

Choosing a safer carrier has been challenging in the past, but with a new, independent rating system developed by industry-pioneer Transportation Safety Exchange (TSX), it is now significantly easier. TSX investigates, monitors and reports the safety performance of motor carriers in the ground transportation industry, performing on-site Comprehensive Reviews (TSX-CRs) of carriers to assess their relative risk, while regularly monitoring carrier performance data. TSX then uses this information to assign the appropriate ratings to carriers, which are published through an online subscription-based service.  

Recreational tour operators should do everything in their power to ensure they have selected the safest motorcoach carrier to transport their passengers. As the leading expert in this area, TSX can provide insight on how to identify a safer carrier and what safety regulations that carrier should be meeting.  By being proactive, recreational tour operators can minimize the likeliness of injury or death due to carrier negligence.

I’ll admit, as we’re planning, writing, and editing Groups Today, motorcoach safety slides off my radar with destination, planning, and group travel business topics taking the lead. But with all of these news items hitting my desk at once, I want to go deeper into motorcoach safety.

What do you think of Congress’ proposed legislation? What do you think about services like TSX?

Finally, what do you do to ensure your motorcoach transportation is safe? Send me an This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Tweet a message to me, post on the Groups Today Facebook page, or post a comment below.

Let’s explore this topic together, and I’ll share the results online and in the magazine.