TravelMole interview: Betsy O'Rourke, senior vp, Travel Industry Association of AMerica

Tour operators should be particularly interested in a new promotion of the 388 national parks that will officially get underway on February 25 with a Washington press conference, says Betsy O’Rourke, senior vp marketing, Travel Industry Association of America. She told TravelMole: “We hope to get some interest from agents, but we’ve already been contacting tour operators. Remember, there are so many parks that are in urban areas such as Boston.” The 2004 See America’s National Parks campaign is a partnership between the National Park Service, the National Parks Foundation, the Proud Partners of America’s National Parks, and the TIA. US Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton is expected to be on hand in February when the group kicks off its park awareness campaign that will also encourage visitation to lesser-known facilities. Many US parks are in urban settings such as Rock Creek Park in the heart of Washington, DC, which should encourage tour operator participation, according to O’Rourke. Tour operators and others can link into the park-promoting group’s Web site in February and advertise the inclusion of a park during their tours, among other activities being promoted. There will also be special travel deals announced later. “For travel agents, we think a new Web site will be useful as a planning tool to give their clients the best possible information,” Ms O’Rourke said. One money-making opportunity it to sell $50 passes that allow buyers to visit any of the US national parks. US parks are convenient travel stops everywhere. They can be found in every state but Delaware, according to Ms O’Rourke. The parks draw an estimated 270 million visitors a year. Estimates are that 20% of international visitors also take in at least one park. The average park stay is 18 hours.