Today’s podcast is a little different from our regular episodes. We are talking to one of the Break the Ice Media team members on another team-cast episode, Rhonda Vaccaro. We are going to dive into a topic that is a favorite of Rhonda’s- creating successful FIT itineraries.

Rhonda is a Vice President and Senior Consultant at Break the Ice Media. She brings more than 20 years of sales and new business development to her role at Break the Ice. She’s a master at creating relationships and has a deep understanding of sales strategies, creating win-win opportunities for BTI’s tourism clients. Rhonda assists our DMO clients with travel trade marketing strategies, product development, sales outreach, trade show representation, getting products in catalogs and on the shelf, with tour operators, receptive operators, and other trade companies. She also provides tracking and reporting and of course, closing sales successfully.

Rhonda currently holds several volunteer positions within the industry. She serves on ABA’s 2018 Marketplace Education Committee, I Love New York’s China Ready Committee, the New York State Tourism Industry Association’s Empire State Tourism Conference Scholarship Committee, I Love New York’s Canadian Roadshow Committee and a co-chair of the Professional Women of the Finger Lakes’ Women of Distinction Awards Committee. Rhonda is 2005 past chairperson of the Visitor Industry Council and a former Digital Rochester board member, where she was the director of major events.

Destination tourism often has a larger story to tell beyond just one institution, even one as iconic as the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. Even if you don’t pay close attention to baseball, you know it as “America’s National Pastime.” Part of the joy of this industry is finding the story to tell that brings people to a region and to your specific tourism destination. Cooperstown has a bit of everything: a perfect small-town vibe, birthplace of author James Fenimore Cooper, and fall foliage and outdoor fun to rival anywhere else. Like Cooperstown, every destination has a unique story to tell.

On this episode of Destination on the Left, I speak with Craig Muder. We talk about his work with the Baseball Hall of Fame, and how destination travel can be a real anchor business for a small town.

Craig joined the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 2008 as the Director of Communications. His responsibilities include managing the Hall of Fame’s publication projects, editorial calendars, and content distribution, along with media relations. A native of Hubbard, Ohio, located about half-way between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, Craig graduated from Kent State University in 1991 and embarked on a 17-year career in newspapers as a sports writer and editor. A lifelong baseball fan, Craig covered Hall of Fame induction ceremonies and other museum events from 1998 through early 2008 at the Utica Observer-Dispatch before finding a home at the Hall of Fame. Craig and his wife and two daughters live in New Hartford, New York.

Full show notes available here: https://breaktheicemedia.com/podcasts/craig-muder/

As tastes and sensibilities change, your organization needs to change with them, or else deal with a shrinking market share. If your organization has history, another challenge is perceptions that change more slowly than your brand message. That’s what was happening at Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester, NY. The zoo was growing as a leader in wildlife conservation from upstate New York all around the world.

On this episode of Destination on the Left, I speak with Pamela Reed Sanchez. Pamela has served as president and CEO of the Seneca Park Zoo Society since 2014. She’s a passionate advocate for species survival and brings this focus to the zoo society’s guest experience, education, and conservation programs. Prior to the zoo, she worked across various cultural and arts organizations, including the George Eastman Museum, her well-received TEDx Talk, “What The Killing of Cecil the Lion and Harambe the Gorilla Should Have Taught Us,” is a great example of the provocative ways Pamela encourages people to make changes in their everyday lives on behalf of conservation and species survival.

Full show notes available here: https://breaktheicemedia.com/podcasts/pamela-reed-sanchez/

The field of travel and tourism is ever changing. Adaptation and collaboration are a part of the territory to stay relevant and to stay in business.

Group touring has been a segment of the industry where adaptation has been especially necessary. Finding new alliances, experimenting and learning from both successes and flops – it’s all part of the job. On this episode, Nicole speaks with guest Nick Calderazzo about all of these dynamics and more.

Nick has been working in the hospitality industry all his adult life, 18 years in hotels in New York City, and 18 years as a Receptive Tour Operator in New York City, and now eight years as the President of Twin Travel Concepts, a tour operator in the Hudson Valley of New York State.

Nick is currently President of Travel Alliance Partners and has been a TAP partner for six years. Travel Alliance Partners is a North American Corporation, who in 2001, emerged as a dominant leader in the travel industry, and is currently in their 17th year of business. Additionally, Nick serves on the New York State Tourism Industry Association Board, has served five years on the NTA board, and has a prestigious appointment to the Travel and Tourism Advisory board.

Full show notes available here: https://breaktheicemedia.com/podcasts/nick-calderazzo/