Catching Up with USTOA President & CEO Terry Dale

Terry Dale, president and CEO of the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA), sees a bright future for the tourism industry. 

TMR sat down with Dale at last week’s USTOA Conference and Marketplace, held Dec. 9 to 13 in Marco Island, Florida. An enthusiastic ambassador for the industry, Dale was in high spirits as he reflected on the state of the industry. 

The USTOA 2024 Economic Impact Study revealed that active members are more concerned about political instability than other risk factors. Why do you think that’s risen so much in people’s minds over the last year?

The survey was fielded from July to October [before the U.S. presidential election results]. I think we’re very cognizant that there’s a lot going on globally. If we just look at what is happening in Syria – and I think that our members are astute enough to know that it’s not just going to be Syria… There are other places that border on stability and then extreme instability. 

Over 80% of the packages sold are international or outbound. So we have to recognize that the global instability and geopolitical conflict are really going to be top of mind next year for tour operators.

The third top concern was overtourism, which was more than 20% higher than in 2022. So why do you think that particular issue is on the rise?

I think some of it has to do with the USTOA prioritizing sustainability and DEI, and bringing people together at the Sustainability Is Responsibility (SIR) summits. Overtourism is of course part of that conversation around sustainability. I think that that has increased the awareness with our members. Yeah, this is an issue.

Do you see any opportunities here? For example, trying to attract more bookings in shoulder seasons?

100%. Our members are not only sensitive to shoulder season travel, but realize it’s a better experience for their customers. You get more value because it’s slightly less expensive for that hotel room and all the different components of the travel experience. So they understand that it’s in everyone’s best interest – [but] it doesn’t happen overnight.

I think for USTOA members, the most economical way [to promote shoulder seasons] is through the Travel Advisor. They can help us a lot in shifting the mindset of the consumer. I think between our members doing it and the travel advisor doing it, collectively we can get the consumer to that point.

The USTOA is launching a new “breaking bread” pilot program next year to help address anti-tourism through honest conversations with community members. What are you hoping to achieve?

All cultures take pride in their bread. And there’s something about the ritual of breaking bread that’s, you know, kind of unifying and fulfilling … we can either continue to keep our head in the sand or we can step up as leaders in the travel industry and say we need to have a dialogue. And I want to package it under this ritual of breaking bread and start the conversation. 

I know the interest is there. And it’ll be fascinating to put the pieces together and see what comes next … I look forward to reporting next year about how the pilots played out. And I am not going to be too proud if it didn’t work.

What I have learned over the years is that people want to be heard in a very genuine way. Not in a gratuitous way, but a genuine way. So if they feel like you’re listening and you seem sincere, you’ve already taken a good step forward because you have to build trust.

Ultimately, if this does have potential, I’d like to develop a model that is easily adaptable for a destination. A framework that can be implemented wherever they’re located – these are the steps, these are the people you should bring to the table, these are areas to explore, and so on and so forth. If I could come away with a model that destinations can use, that would be success.

The theme for the 2024 USTOA conference was kindness. What inspired this theme?

As I thought about 2024 – knowing it’s an election year and knowing that the world is unsettled – kindness just came to my mind … It came to me on the flight from LA’s conference, and then at some point shortly thereafter, I modified it to climate kind, culture kind, and humankind, because those are the silos that parallel our work at the USTOA.

Have you thought about next year’s theme?

A little. I don’t allow myself to go too far into it, only because I want to stay focused on executing this year’s [until it’s over]. I think, you know, being in the D.C. area provides us with some interesting opportunities, both from a speaker perspective and thematically. But I don’t want to be too political. We’ll see.