The Group Travel Leader April 2018

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FEEDING GIRAFFES AT THE ZOO WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF OUR TOUR ‘TIL WE HIT THE DESSERT TRAY AT SCHMIDT’S

Great tours are Made in Cbus. Pair a visit to the zoo Jack Hanna calls home with a cream puff at iconic Schmidt’s in historic German Village. As a leader in experiential tours, Columbus is a perfect fit for a group of any size (or taste)!

experiencecolumbus.com/tours

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table ofCONTENTS VOL 27 | ISSUE 4

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6 EDITOR’S MARKS

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STEM for Students

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A kayaker paddles through the marsh in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Image by Christian Heeb

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THESE MUSEUMS OFFER HANDSON SCIENCE EXPERIENCES FOR YOUNG VISITORS.

FEATURES

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Meaningful, Memorable

JORDAN

Discover the power of travel in the developing world.

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LOUISIANA SPOTLIGHT

COASTAL VIRGINIA

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MAC T. LACY CHARLES A. PRESLEY BRIAN JEWELL HERBERT SPARROW DONIA SIMMONS DAVID BROWN

Founder and Publisher Partner Executive Editor Senior Writer Creative Director Art Director

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ELIZA MYERS CHRISTINE CLOUGH SAVANNAH OSBOURN KELLY TYNER STACEY BOWMAN ASHLEY RICKS

Online Editor Copy Editor Staff Writer Director of Sales & Marketing Advertising Sales Director Marketing & Circulation Manager

888.253.0455

KELLY@GROUPTR AVELLEADER.COM

The GROUP TRAVEL LEADER is published ten times a year by THE GROUP TRAVEL LEADER, Inc., 301 East High St., Lexington, Kentucky 40507, and is distributed free of charge to qualified group leaders who plan travel for groups of all ages and sizes. THE GROUP TRAVEL LEADER serves as the official magazine of GROUP TRAVEL FAMILY, the organization for traveling groups. All other travel suppliers, including tour operators, destinations, attractions, transportation companies, hotels, restaurants and other travelrelated companies may subscribe to THE GROUP TRAVEL LEADER by sending a check for $59 for one year to: THE GROUP TRAVEL LEADER, Circulation Department, 301 East High St., Lexington, KY 40507. Phone (859) 253-0455 or (859) 253-0503. Copyright THE GROUP TRAVEL LEADER, Inc. All rights reserved.

Reproduction of editorial or graphic content in any manner without the written consent of the publisher is prohibited.

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THE ONLY THING MORE IMPRESSIVE THAN SEEING THEM AT TOP SPEED IS SEEING THEM SITTING STILL. Standing amidst the largest motorcycle collection in the world, it’s impossible not to feel the energy in the room. More than 1,600 vintage and modern bikes and race cars from all over the world, dating back to 1904, all housed in a towering, awe-inspiring museum, are proof of a city that’s moving forward. Even when the exhibits aren’t. Right here in Birmingham.

inbirmingham.com | # INB irmingham | 800 - 458 - 8085

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EDITOR’S T HE

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hen you travel to the developing world, it’s not the poverty that takes you by surprise. It’s the wealth.

I was about 13 years old the first time I left the United States, visiting a village in southern Mexico with my dad and a group of other students and chaperones. Before we left, the trip leaders did a lot to prepare us for what we would see there. Standards of living would be different. There would be no hot water (we would take showers out of buckets, in fact), and some homes would have dirt floors. The people would be poor, we were told, but their joy would be contagious.

Everything the leaders told us turned out to be true: In rural Mexico, I saw poverty I had never known existed. And yet, those poor people were some of the happiest I had ever met. Thanks to their friendliness and generosity, I adjusted quickly to my surroundings and thoroughly enjoyed the week of living in simplicity.

I had been prepared for the poverty I would see.

But nobody had told me I would also see wealth. In my mind, Mexico was poor — all of it. I hadn’t realized that some of the poorest people in the country lived within a stone’s throw of ritzy hotels and gated neighborhoods. The poverty in Mexico was extreme, but so were the displays of wealth. My young mind found this juxtaposition almost inconceivable.

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That trip turned out to be the first of many adventures I would take into the developing world. I went on to spend an entire semester in Mexico during college, and since then, my career as a travel journalist has taken me to fascinating destinations on six continents.

I have seen many of the wonders of the world, and I have also seen the poverty in many of the communities that surround them.

To this day, my mind can make sense of the poverty I see when I travel.

But outposts of luxury in those same destinations always seem out of place to me. I have stayed in some of the world’s finest hotels while visiting some of the world’s poorest countries. To this day, that contrast still leaves me feeling somewhat unsettled.

Don’t misunderstand — luxury hotels and deluxe tour operators play important roles in the developing world, and the people employed by those businesses are grateful for them. But when tourists stay at a marquee hotel property in a developing country, the revenue doesn’t stay there; it usually goes offshore to the wealthy international investors who built the hotel.

Thankfully, there’s a movement afoot to begin making change on this front, harnessing the power of travel to make a lasting impact in poor communities. It goes by several names — sustainable tourism, responsible tourism, social enterprise tourism — but the goal is always the same: to facilitate meaningful interactions between travelers and their hosts that direct funds into the hands of locals. The process creates opportunities for economic growth throughout the destination.

I spent a week immersed in the burgeoning responsible-tourism scene in Jordan this winter. You can find my special report on the trip, “Can Travel Change Lives?” on page 16. I hope it inspires you to explore the developing world with your groups and to find ways to make a positive difference while you’re there.

APRIL 2018

CUSTOM CONTENT

THESE FOUR OUTLETS ARE MUCH MORE THAN

FUN PLACES TO SHOP

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usy interstate crossroads make for great shopping stops in Asheville, N.C.; Des Moines, Iowa; Little Rock, Ark. and West Palm Beach, Fla.; where premium outlet centers have opened in the last few years.

Boston-based New England Development opened all of Some group tours use the outlet centers for a short break, stopping for the outdoor outlet centers, starting with Palm Beach Outlets an hour so people can stretch their legs, sit in the sun, power shop, visit in 2014. All but Asheville are brand-new, and even Asheville, where a traditional the restroom or grab a pretzel, ice cream or other snack. Other tours will mall was transformed, has the same modern vibe. stay a half-day or more, especially those that include international travelers.

Location was critical in New England Developments planning, and each Groups with more time might join in on events each outlet center has creoutlet center is next to a busy highway. Palm Beach Outlets is within view of ated as they have moved beyond shopping to become community gathering Interstate 95; the Outlets of Little Rock is at the juncture of I-30 and I-430, places. For example, most offer free fitness classes, held outdoors or in vacant halfway between downtown and the airport. Asheville Outlets is adjacent to store space. A special class can be arranged for a group.

Interstate 26, near I-40. Outlets of Des Moines, opened last fall, is at I-90 Each also has a variety of special events — vintage marketplaces, awardand Highway 65, six miles from downtown. winning food truck festivals, charity fundraising runs and vintage car shows Each outlet is also surrounded by other attractions, which allows group — that make use of outdoor spaces, including parking lots. leaders to create more appealing itineraries. In Des Moines and Little Rock, The centers’ open-air design makes them a nice change for group travelers. for example, outlets are within view of a Bass Pro Shops. The Des Moines In Des Moines and Asheville, fireplaces or fire pits make pleasant gathering center is also near Adventureland and Prairie Meadows Casino. Asheville places on cooler days. In warm weather, shoppers can relax in the sun on cushOutlets is seven miles from the region’s biggest draw, the Biltmore Estate. ioned sofas or Adirondack chairs or beneath pergolas near splashing fountains.

“They all are surrounded by options,” said Jennifer Rotigliano, vice president of property marketing for New England Development. “You can make a day of it.”

The size of each outlet varies, from around 100 stores in West Palm to ASHEVILLE OUTLETS OUTLETS OF LITTLE ROCK a projected 60 in Des Moines. All are anchored by well-known national 800 Brevard Road 11201 Bass Pro Parkway retailers, but each center also attracts local retail and restaurant ten828-667-2308 501-455-9100 ants. “We want a diverse mix, to appeal to women, men and families,” www.shopashevilleoutlets.com www.outletsoflittlerock.com Rotigliano. “There’s also a focus on what stores would have appeal in each market.”

OUTLETS OF DES MOINES PALM BEACH OUTLETS Each center likes to send staff out to personally greet motorcoach 801 Bass Pro Drive NW 1751 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard tours, and encourages group leaders to let them know arrival times.

Altoona, Iowa 561-515-4400 Passengers disembark at sheltered drop-offs created specifically for (six miles from Des Moines) www.palmbeachoutlets.com motorcoaches, and the welcome typically includes discount coupon 515-380-7400 books and reusable shopping bags for everyone. Each outlet is also www.outletsofdesmoines.com happy to make the arrival more of a special occasion. “No idea is too crazy for us,” said Rotigliano. “For example, we can greet the For more information about New England Development’s outlet centers, group with champagne and a small reception or supply chocolates contact Jennifer Rotigliano at JRotigliano@NEDevelopment.com. or other treats.”

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FAMILY MATTERS MSC MER AVIGLIA DEBUTS IN NE W YORK THE MSC MERAVIGLIA WILL BEGIN SAILING FROM NEW YORK CITY IN FALL OF 2019.

Courtesy MSC Cruises

SALEM, Ohio — MSC Cruises, the world’s largest privately owned cruise line with a growing presence in the group market, announced that MSC Meraviglia, the sophisticated mega smart ship, will kick off its inaugural season in North America, making its maiden call in New York on October 7, 2019.

MSC Cruises has become a recognized name to group travel planners across North America

and has a dedicated presence in support of the group travel market with visible sponsor positions at gatherings including the Select Traveler Conference and Boomers in Groups.

“New York has been a market that MSC Cruises has been exploring for a number of years,” said Rick Sasso, chairman of MSC Cruises USA. “We are thrilled that for the first time in MSC Cruises history, we are now able

to offer sailings from this important region and meet the expectations of both our travel agent partners and guests.”

MSC Meraviglia offers group passengers a variety of unique features that have made the ship one of the hottest destinations at sea. Highlights include world-class entertainment with two exclusive Cirque du Soleil at Sea shows created just for MSC Meraviglia, a Mediterranean-style promenade and a wide range of culinary offerings, including an expanded partnership with global Italian food expert Eataly, as well as a partnership with world-renowned pastry chef Jean Philippe Maury. In addition, the ship caters to groups with modular connected staterooms that can accommodate up to 10 people.

“Bringing MSC Meraviglia to New York is the perfect introduction for the ship to the U.S., providing travelers an option to check out new itineraries with MSC Cruises and, for those in the region, a convenient way to discover MSC Meraviglia’s style,” said Roberto Fusaro, president of MSC Cruises USA. “With MSC Meraviglia coming to New York and, eventually, to Miami, we are bringing the three most innovative and modern classes of MSC Cruises ships to the U.S., offering a wider range of memorable experiences for guests.”

You can learn more about MSC Cruises by meeting with Wayne Peyreau at any of The Group Travel Family conferences he attends, or contact him directly at 954-958-3283 or wayne. peyreau@msccruiseusa.com.

SHRINE OF CHRIST’S PASSION OPENS EXPANSION

MOSES, MOUNT SINAI AND THE 10 COMMANDMENTS IS NOW OPEN AT THE SHRINE OF CHRIST’S PASSION. Courtesy Shrine of Christ’s Passion

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SALEM, Ohio — Just when you thought Frank Schilling was finished building the Shrine of Christ’s Passion,” he amazes the travel industry and opens a new exhibit: Moses, Mount Sinai and the 10 Commandments. Schilling is the founder, inspiration and financial backer of the shrine, which has become a major regional attraction.

It all began as a vision to spread the word of love and peace. Now the free 30-acre destination features 4,000 truckloads of house-size boulders, 6,000 yards of concrete paths, 5,000 trees and an audio and visual experience that would have impressed Walt Disney.

The word has spread, and group travelers from

across America and around the world have included the shrine on their itineraries as they travel through Chicago and northern Indiana, where the Shrine of Christ’s Passion is located. Palm Sunday alone now brings up to 40,000 people, all experiencing the destination free of charge.

Schilling believed the shrine was complete but awoke one day with a vision of the addition. Thus, the mission continued.

Groups can visit without a reservation; however, as a courtesy and for detailed information, contact Paul Anderson at 855-277-7474 or visit www.shrineofchristspassion.org.

APRIL 2018

NEW PLANNERS CONTINUE JOINING THE FAMILY SALEM, Ohio — Group travel is an interesting animal. Thousands of people volunteer their time to organize trips for their community members with little or no compensation, except for the pleasure of perhaps traveling on the trip free of charge while taking responsibility for 40 people, day and night.

Yet The Group Travel Family serves 25,000 of these travel planners nationwide every year.

These volunteer group travel leaders are the backbone of the travel industry but are widely misunderstood. They get 10 million travelers a year off the couch and onto planes, ships and motorcoaches traveling to every state in the United States, as well as almost every country in the world. But they’re misunderstood because they fly under the radar. They are mostly community volunteers. They are not in business, and most don’t even find it necessary to have a business card. But that’s not important. The 10 million people in their communities know exactly how to find them: at churches, meeting halls, social events or even the grocery store.

That is great news for the travel industry because it fills hotel rooms, gets visitors to museums and sells meals at every destination in America.

Why would these volunteer group leaders go to such extreme effort for no more than a free trip?

They do it because it is their mission to serve the community, and they know the good that comes from traveling as a group. It’s not just the sightseeing; it’s about camaraderie.

“We have served the group travel planner for 25 years by delivering education, networking, marketplaces and insight to help them plan better trips and be better-equipped travel planners,” said Charlie Presley, founder of The Group Travel Family.

That effort has resulted in a generation of groups that are experiencing membership growth as well as improved travel planning.

“The people in group travel change, but the formula is strong, and we see new generations entering the arena,” Presley said. “It’s interesting — a whole new generation of volunteers leading travel and for the same reason as their predecessors: to do good in the community.”

If you’re a travel planner or a member of the travel industry looking to meet travel planners, visit: W W W.GROU P T R AV EL FA M I LY.COM

GROUPTRAVELLEADER.COM

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INDUSTRY NEWS TOURISM CARES NAMES PAULA VLAMINGS NEW CEO NORWOOD, Mass. — Tourism Cares has named Paula Vlamings as its new chief executive officer, effective immediately.

Vlamings is the former executive director of the Planeterra Foundation with G Adventures and provided senior sustainability leadership to the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy’s Institute at the Golden Gate.

Her passion for travel included a recent twoyear overland journey from San Francisco to Tierra del Fuego.

Tourism Cares board chairman Derek Hydon praised Vlamings as a dynamic leader who will guide the organization through the next phase of its mission to leverage the power of travel and

Courtesy Tourism Cares PAULA VLAMINGS, WHO FORMERLY LED G ADVENTURES’ PLANETERRA FOUNDATION, WAS NAMED THE CEO OF TOURISM CARES IN MARCH.

Ocean C

ity, M aryland

JUST THE BEACH Don’t get us wrong. You’ll love soaking up the sun on our free, 10-mile beach, or swimming and playing in the ocean. But that’s just the tip of the sandcastle when it comes to Ocean City, Maryland. There’s literally something for everyone: • An award-winning three-mile boardwalk

• Year-round festivals, concerts and events

• 200+ restaurants and exciting nightlife

• Shopping, wildlife and historical museums

• Indoor and outdoor sports facilities

• New 1,200-seat Performing Arts Center in the Roland E. Powell Convention Center

BOOK YOUR TRIP NOW!

Call Norma Dobrowolski CVB Destination Sales & Marketing Manager | 800.626.2326 ococean.com/group-travel

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tourism to help people and places thrive.

Previous CEO Mike Rea will serve as a partner during the transition process as senior program advisor. He will remain in Seattle focusing on building West Coast partnerships, program impact and strategy.

Vlamings recently joined the Tourism Cares with Jordan delegation of 70 senior travel industry representatives who explored that country, visited small social enterprises and launched the Meaningful Travel Map of Jordan. The map promotes a dozen social suppliers that apply the power of tourism to address pressing local issues and bring much needed income to communities.

W W W.T OU R ISMC A R ES .ORG

CONNER PRAIRIE DEBUTS NEW YEAR-ROUND HANDS-ON EXHIBIT FISHERS, Indiana — Visitors can learn new skills and use their creativity to make items from textiles, wood, metal, pottery and other materials at Makesmith Workshop, a new year-round exhibit that opened at Conner Prairie January 11.

Programming through April will help visitors work with wood, as they’ll learn how to create a dovetail joint, saw, hammer and carve.

The exhibit will evolve and change as Conner Prairie’s interpretation staff adapts to the space and ways that people interact with making.

“For the majority of human history, nearly everyone created, tinkered and repaired. We have become disconnected from the time when we fixed broken objects on a work bench and explored creative solutions to the challenges of our daily lives,” said Conner Prairie president and CEO Norman Burns. “The maker movement seeks to reverse this trend and help people think through what it means to work with their hands to achieve their goals.”

Spanning more than 1,000 wooded acres in central Indiana, Conner Prairie offers various outdoor, historically themed destinations and indoor experiential learning spaces.

W W W.CON N ER PR A I R I E .ORG

8/29/16 10:44 AM

APRIL 2018

Tour

SOUTHEAST INDIANA

FIRST MEMORIAL TO LYNCHING VICTIMS T O OPEN IN MON T GOMER Y, A L A B A M A MONTGOMERY, Alabama — In late April, the Equal Justice Initiative will open the first-ever national memorial to the victims of racial lynching in Montgomery, Alabama.

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice will have 800 dark red six-foot-tall steel columns, one for each U.S. county where a documented lynching took place, that hang from the top of the memorial. The ground leading to a central space gradually slopes downward, while the columns remain at the same level and eventually hang above visitors to evoke lynchings.

The columns have the names of lynching victims and the counties where they took place.

Also included in the memorial will be sculp-

tures from African and African-American artists that explore slavery, segregation and contemporary issues of racial inequality.

The memorial is in Montgomery’s oldest community, Cottage Hill, overlooking downtown.

The Equal Justice Initiative will also open a new museum in its offices in downtown Montgomery that will explore slavery, lynching, segregation and mass incarceration in America.

The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration will use sculpture, fine art and groundbreaking technology, combined with original research and multimedia presentations, to tell its story.

GIRLFRIEND

Getaways

W W W. EJ I.ORG

SIGHT AND SOUND THEATRES OP E N S P R OD U C T ION S OF “JE S U S ,” “ S A M S ON” LANCASTER, Pennsylvania — Sight and Sound Theatres’ newest biblical production, “Jesus,” features 45 performers, one of the largest LED screens ever used theatrically and the largest moving set piece in the theater’s history.

“Jesus,” which debuted March 10 in Sight and Sound’s 2,000-seat theater in Lancaster, brings to life Galilee, Capernaum and Nazareth in telling the Gospel story of Christ on a panoramic 300-foot performance space that wraps around the audience on three sides. Action takes place on stage, in the aisles and on the 113-foot wide, 30-foot tall LED screen.

“Jesus” will run through Jan. 5, 2019.

Also in March, Sight and Sound launched “Samson” at its Branson, Missouri, theater.

“Samson,” which will run through Dec. 29, features a 44-member cast and 34 live animals. The climax features twelve 28-foot columns toppling in full view of the audience.

W W W.SIGH T-SOU N D.COM

Aurora and Lawrenceburg

Courtesy Sight and Sound “JESUS” PREMIERED AT SIGHT AND SOUND THEATRE IN LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA, IN MARCH.

OHIO Indianapolis

INDIANA

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KENTUCKY

C OR R EC T ION An article in our March issue incorrectly stated Go Ahead Tours’ comp policy. For every six paying travelers, Go Ahead hosts one traveler for free. Robin Hauck of Go Ahead Tours can be reached at 877-661-1875.

GROUPTRAVELLEADER.COM

Cincinnati

Lexington

Louisville

South of I-74 & west of I-275, 20 minutes west of Cincinnati

www.TOURSoutheastIndiana.com 800-322-8198

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Changing

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fter a disappointing outing with Costa Cruises in late 2016, likely an anomaly — even lines I most appreciate have one occasionally — what I found on my recent 10-night Western Caribbean sailing of the 92,700-ton, 2,828guest Costa Deliziosa from Fort Lauderdale was a well-managed vessel that provides a most enjoyable visitor experience. This product merits an enthusiastic thumbs-up for groups seeking something a bit out of the ordinary at an attractive price point.

The ship and onboard facilities are well designed and were colorfully decorated; the staff was friendly, helpful and thoroughly competent; the food and service were very good; the entertainment and special events scheduled during the cruise were memorable; and the itinerary was most attractive.

During a chat with the ship’s genial hotel director, Eduard Puckl, I learned that guests aboard the sailing were citizens of 45 different nations. Lest you think, however, that communications aboard Costa Deliziosa proved to create a “Tower of Babal” at sea, be assured that nothing could be further from the truth.

First, with English being the second language pretty much worldwide, every staff member I encountered spoke our native tongue well. All written communications distributed throughout the ship were prepared in English, Italian, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese, as well as Swedish, due to a group from Sweden that was aboard this cruise.

The staff knew which of these was spoken by the

INTERNATIONAL CRUISING ABOARD COSTA DELIZIOSA 12

HORIZONS residents of every cabin, so guests got the version they could easily understand. General public-address-system announcements, which were neither excessive nor piped into the cabins, were done in multiple languages, but others were given only in the language spoken by the guests for which they were specifically intended. Regardless of nationality, I found my shipmates to be friendly and respectful.

Probably the biggest adjustment American groups will need to make is that there is currently no “anytime” evening dining, except in the buffet, as Costa still uses the older method of fixed sittings with assigned tables and waiters — “early” being at 6:15 p.m., “late” being 8:45 or 9 p.m. Having not used this system for a number of years, I admit that I did again enjoy having the same waiter every night who could anticipate many of my needs.

Puckl said, though, that an anytime option on Costa is “in the future for sure.” Existing differences on the plus side include options generally less expensive and more flexible than on competing lines: packages that feature alcoholic beverages and soft drinks, specialized dining, internet access and even shore excursions, of which there were numerous options.

In keeping with the Italian tradition of festivals and special celebrations, a wide variety of activities are scheduled to keep everyone happy.

We celebrated Costa Deliziosa’s eighth birthday, then the 70th birthday of Costa Cruises. There was an at-sea version of a popular TV talent contest for guests willing to show off their abilities, plus there were special poolside buffets on at-sea days that featured many pasta dishes; seafood, such as mussels and shrimp; and roast suckling pigs.

Professional performers — singers, dancers, bands and combos, magicians and acrobats — were aboard to present a typical shipboard smorgasbord of entertainment alternatives. Our itinerary included Key West, Florida; Georgetown, Grand Cayman; Roatan, Honduras; Belize City, Belize; and Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico.

Groups might even learn to speak a little Italian along the way.

Arrivederci!

THE COSTA DELIZIOSA JOINS SEVERAL OTHER CRUISE SHIPS DOCKED IN COZUMEL, MEXICO.

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By Bob Hoelscher

BY B O B H O E L S C H E R

APRIL 2018

EXPERT

insigh t

KAREN MASLIN HOFBRAUHAUS NEWPORT

BY B R I A N J E W E L L

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t doesn’t get much better than live music, fresh beer and Bavarian cream puffs.

Karen Maslin, a native of the Cincinnati area, has spent her entire career working in restaurants in southern Ohio and northern Kentucky. And though there are plenty of great restaurants throughout the region, few are as fun and memorable as Hofbrauhaus Newport, where Maslin works as sales and events manager.

“We are modeled after the Hofbrauhaus in Munich,” Maslin said. “We’re a German beer hall and restaurant. We have wiener schnitzel, mashed potatoes and, of course, sauerkraut. We also have specialties like sauerbraten [marinated beef with red wine and cabbage] and grillhendl [Octoberfeststyle roasted chicken].”

Complementing the traditional German flavors are signature beers, which add to the festive atmosphere.

“We brew all our beer here on-site,” Maslin said. “There are four beers on tap all the time. Three are staples — our lager, dunkel and hefe weizen.

Then we have a brewer’s choice that changes monthly and a list of seasonal beers. We have a keg tapping on the last Wednesday of every month, with a parade.”

Visitors enjoy the parades, but groups don’t have to visit during one of the beer tappings to have a lively experience.

“We have live entertainment nightly,” Maslin said. “You can get up and do the chicken dance with a polka band, so it’s a lot of fun.”

For Maslin, the fun started more than a decade ago when she joined the staff of Hofbrauhaus Newport, which will be celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. There are now Hofbrauhaus locations in Columbus and Cleveland, as well as Chicago and Las Vegas.

“I started here 11 years ago,” she said. “I knew the person who did the management, and he brought me in. I came in as an events and marketing manager, then switched to the finance side. Now I do both events and finance.”

Involvement in events has Maslin planning and promoting some big celebrations, such as the restaurant’s 15th anniversary party and the Cincinnati Beer Run, an event that Hofbrauhaus hosts each May. Maslin’s responsibilities entail promoting and booking parties — rehearsal dinners, bachelor parties and the like — as well as group tours.

GROUPTRAVELLEADER.COM

SALES TIP FROM KAREN “ It ’s a l l about t he people you meet a nd t h e c on n e c t ion s y ou m a k e .

B ei n g able to put a n a me w it h a f a ce ma k e s a world of d i f ference i n ea r n i ng t he t r ust a nd re spec t of c l ients, bot h present a nd f ut u re, as wel l a s ma ke s t hem more com for table w it h you .”

“Groups are usually seated in our main beer hall,” she said. “That’s where the live entertainment is. A lot of them do a plated dinner with a salad, a pretzel, an entree and a dessert. They get the full experience. Dessert is typically our Black Forest cake, a chocolate cake with a cherry filling; but other favorites are apple strudel or the Bavarian cream puff.”

Maslin represents the restaurant at group travel conferences and trade shows including the American Bus Association Marketplace, Travel South Showcase and Heartland Travel Showcase, where she emphasizes the restaurant’s individuality and lively spirit.

“We promote the fun,” she said. “It’s all about having fun here. The live entertainment is a big draw for groups. We’re unique and different, not something you usually find everywhere else.”

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GROUPS SHOULD MAKE OBERAMMERGAU PLANS NOW B Y S AVA N NA H O S B O U R N

Courtesy Globus Faith

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Courtesy Collette

TOUR PACKAGES FOR THE 2020 OBERAMMERGAU PASSION PLAY ARE ALREADY AVAILABLE, AND TICKETS ARE EXPECTED TO SELL OUT.

very 10 years, the Bavarian village of Oberammergau, Germany, presents a spectacular five-hour Passion play about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, drawing thousands of travelers from across the globe.

Nearly half the local population participates in the 100-plus performances between May and October, which take place in a custom-made, 4,800-seat theater.

“It’s an exclusive event,” said Jim Edwards, vice president of U.S. affinity development at Collette. “Only half a million people around the world will get the chance to get a ticket.”

The Oberammergau Passion Play is one of the longest-running theatrical events in history.

The tradition began nearly 400 years ago in 1634 when the Black Plague epidemic threatened Europe and resulted in the deaths of over 75 million people. As the disease spread throughout the region, the villagers of Oberammergau prayed for divine intervention and promised to re-enact the Crucifixion every 10 years as an offering to God if he would save them. By the following year, not a single villager had contracted the pestilence, and the Passion play tradition has carried on ever since.

“It’s about the story beyond the story — how God spared the little village of Oberammergau from the Black Plague,” said Edwards.

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The play involves two segments: one twoand-a-half-hour portion in the afternoon, followed by a dinner break, and then another segment in the evening. Groups typically book one or two nights in the region to watch the performance and explore some of the surrounding highlights. Ticket prices are tiered according to the quality of theater seating, hotel rooms and dinner reservations included in the package, and planners can choose from a variety of combinations to best suit their interests.

“One thing that people should know is that no one is given the hotel assignments in advance,” said Brian Doughty, president of boutique group tour operator Trips Inc. “We try to make it clear that people may be in the town or they may be in a town nearby.”

According to Joanna Dyer of Globus, many tour operators start planning for the event 18 to 24 months in advance and typically sell out on every tour.

“Our coaches generally accommodate about 44 people, and we hope to fill all of them,” said Dyer.

Globus ties the Oberammergau Passion Play into several of its existing cross-European itineraries, four of them specifically faith-based.

The company’s river cruise brand, Avalon, offers the play experience at the end of the cruise as a special extension.

In March of last year, the Collette marketing

team visited the village to lay the groundwork for its upcoming tours and meet with key actors in the play, including the actor who plays Jesus.

“We’re not new to this,” said Edwards. “We’ve been working with the Oberammergau committee for a long, long time.”

Collette generally packages the tours around central Europe and Alpine countries such as Germany, Austria and Italy. The company also incorporates the play into its Imperial Cities river cruise, which showcases the cities of Budapest, Prague and Vienna.

“All of our tours are created by a product and design team. Because we’ve got so much history, we know what itineraries are top-sellers,” said Edwards.

Some companies, like Trips Inc., create a more condensed itinerary through regional destinations like Bavaria and Austria.

“Unlike the other big tour companies that attach Oberammergau to tours they already have going, we create a special tour just to pair with this,” said Doughty. “We make ours fairly simple in scope.”

The 2020 Oberammergau Passion Play will take place from May 16 to October 4. Tour operators are now selling packages and suggest that travel planners begin to make arrangements for their groups this year, as seats will sell out sometime in 2019.

APRIL 2018

J O I N U S F O R A M E M O R A B L E C U LT U R A L I M M E R S I O N FA M Countless stories live within the grounds of our plantations, the curves of our river and the depths of our hearts.

Come explore the very best of Louisiana’s River Parishes.

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The group will arrive Thursday morning and enjoy an introductory welcome

The first stop of the day will be at Evergreen Plantation,

lunch at Truck Farm Tavern. After lunch, you will head down the Mississippi

which was prominently featured in the movie “Django Unchained”.

River to take a tour of the home and historic grounds of Oak Alley Plantation.

Next stop will be the Laura Plantation, where professional guides will share the compelling stories of seven generations of the plantation’s Creole inhabitants.

Taking a tour of the Whitney Plantation will be next. Here you will experience the world through the eyes of the enslaved people who lived and worked on this historic 1830’s Louisiana sugarcane plantation. In addition to learning

Amazing views of New Orleans Plantation Country and fresh seafood will bring

about life on a sugar plantation, you will visit River Road Distillery to see a

the day to an end with dinner at Frenier Landing and Oyster Bar.

family barn turned world-class distillery. The evening will come to a close

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after enjoying dinner and the legacy of hospitality at Nobile’s.

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The Historic Riverlands is a part of the Louisiana African-American Heritage Trail and it has been said that you can “feel the spirit” as you tour their 4 acres of property. Country Andouille is on the menu for the afternoon and visitors will be able to see how the sausage is made. After lunch, you will visit the

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Witness costumed guides interpreting the fascinating legacy of the Destrehan family and the unique architectural features of the home.

The plantation offers period craft demonstrations daily, including open

San Francisco Plantation which was declared a National Historic Landmark in

hearth cooking, bousillage construction, indigo dyeing, sugar cane processing,

1974. Next, Arthur will lead you through the swamp and over the marsh on an

weaving, carpentry of the 1780s, and African American herbal remedies.

airboat tour followed by dinner at Ormond Plantation.

R E S E R V E Y O U R S P O T N O W : G R O U P T R AV E L L E A D E R . C O M / N O P C T O U R ( L I M I T E D TO 2 0 TO U R O P E R ATO R S )

CAN TRAVEL CHANGE LIVES? THE MEANINGFUL TRAVEL MAP OF JORDAN ASKS THE QUESTION

All photos by Brian Jewell unless otherwise noted

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BY B R I A N J E W E L L

M

una Haddad is the face of a movement.

Founder of Baraka, a Jordanian consulting company focused on building positive social impact through tourism, and a champion of the power of travel in Jordan and beyond, Muna represents the best aspects of the millennial generation.

She’s entrepreneurial, courageous, undaunted by

outdated social norms and committed to making a positive impact in the world.

Muna was one of the driving forces behind the creation of the Meaningful Travel Map of Jordan, a new initiative launched by the Jordan Tourism Board to direct visitors to communities and businesses throughout the country, where they can have direct, authentic interaction with locals. She was also instrumental in the creation of the Jordan Trail, a 400-mile route connecting more than 50 communities and tourist sites from north to south, and was the first woman to hike it all the way through.

I met Muna and many of her compatriots during Tourism Cares With Jordan, a philanthropic and familiarization event that took place in Jordan in late February. More than 70 tourism leaders from North America, including association executives, major tour operators, travel agents and journalists, joined this trip to see the wonders of Jordan and discover the positive impact responsible tourism is having in communities throughout the country.

Over the course of five days, even the most experienced travelers in the group marveled at Jordan’s historic treasures, charmed by the hospitality of the people and inspired by the visionaries, like Muna, who are using tourism to make lasting change.

EMPOWERING LOCAL WOMEN

ABOVE: VISITORS CAN BUY HANDMADE POTTERY AT THE IRAQ AL AMIRE WOMEN’S COOPERATIVE. OPPOSITE PAGE: MUNA HADDAD CHAMPIONS SOCIALLY MEANINGFUL TRAVEL EXPERIENCES IN JORDAN AND BEYOND.

GROUPTRAVELLEADER.COM

Since the Tourism Cares delegation was so large, we broke up into smaller groups to experience some of the sites on the Meaningful Travel Map. Muna led my group on an excursion to Iraq Al Amir, a village about an hour’s drive from downtown Amman. There we visited a women’s co-op where locals entertain guests who come from nearby attractions.

Our hosts welcomed us with Arabic coffee, seasoned with cardamom, and Bedouin tea, flavored with mint. Muna translated as the local women at the co-op told us their story. They began weaving rugs on a single loom, and now, after more than two decades, they make ceramics, decorative paper products and olive oil soap.

The women also offer hands-on experiences for

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groups, which can include cooking classes; the co-op also has an on-site restaurant and offers overnight stays at nearby homes in the village.

Our group listened attentively to the story before joining the local women in one of several hands-on activities.

Later, we enjoyed a traditional Jordanian lunch prepared in part by the participants in the cooking class and reflected on the impact tourism can have for families in places like Iraq al Amir.

“Our group just spent $1,000 on that experience and lunch,” Muna told us. “That’s in a country where the minimum wage is $300 per month. This puts money in local communities and puts kids in school.”

The women’s co-op is also where we met Lina Annab, Jordan’s minister of tourism and antiquities. Though she holds a high office in in the Jordanian government, she is remarkably down-to-earth; even locals in the small villages we visited made a point to come greet her, and she talked to each of them as if they were dear friends. She also spoke with our delegation about the groundbreaking work being done by the women at Iraq al Amir.

“It’s an important touchpoint in trying to include the locals in the tourism value chain,” she told our group. “We might seem a little biased toward women. We are in a maledominated culture, but that is changing. And it is women driving the change.”

UNVEILING THE MAP

The journey brought us next to the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth, where we enjoyed some time to relax at a seaside resort and float effortlessly on the water. An optional side trip took participants to Bethany Beyond the Jordan, an archaeological site on the banks of the Jordan River where Jordanians believe Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.

We spent the rest of the day in a series of discussions with local tourism leaders, including an event to formally launch the Meaningful Travel Map of Jordan.

“It’s the first time the industry and enterprises have come together to identify, explore and promote meaningful travel experiences in Jordan,” said Mike Rea, who served as CEO of Tourism Cares at the time and who helped spearhead the project. “This is good for communities, for travelers and for travel companies. These are experiences people want.”

In addressing the group, Muna echoed that sentiment.

“The world of tourism is shifting and changing. There are so many more than 12 social enterprises,” she said. “These are not charities. These are businesses. Tourists today are asking the right questions. They want to know where their money is going.”

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WOMEN DYE FABRICS WITH NATURAL COLORS AT IRAQ AL AMIR.

TOURISM LEADERS LEARN ABOUT MEANINGFUL TRAVEL.

VISITORS PREPARE FOOD WITH THE WOMEN OF IRAQ AL AMIR. LINA ANNAB, JORDAN’S MINISTER OF TOURISM AND ANTIQUITIES, DISCUSSES HER COUNTRY’S TOURISM DEVELOPMENT.

GROUPS CAN DO HANDS-ON POTTERY PROJECTS WITH LOCAL JORDANIAN WOMEN.

APRIL 2018

JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY THE TABLE IS SET FOR LUNCH AT IRAQ AL AMIR.

PAULA VLAMINGS, THE NEW CEO OF TOURISM CARES, PARTICIPATES IN A CRAFT EXPERIENCE AT IRAQ AL AMIR.

GROUPTRAVELLEADER.COM

The next day, we departed in groups again for Petra, Jordan’s signature tourism attraction, stopping to visit additional meaningful tourism sites along the way. I took some time during the ride to talk to Muna and learn more about her story.

Muna grew up in Jordan and then came to Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky, as part of a cooperative program between Spalding and her Jordanian high school. Spalding has since discontinued that program; Muna is lobbying the school to reinstate it. After finishing college, she returned to Jordan and began working with the Jordan Tourism Board.

“I grew in the ranks really quickly, very quickly, and really enjoyed my job,” she told me. “I worked really hard and managed a budget of $3 million.”

In her time with the tourism board, though, she noticed what she saw as a problem: Tourists followed well-worn paths from one key historic site to the next, staying in corporate hotels and having little meaningful interaction with the locals.

“All the tour operators were sending tourists on the classical routes, and that’s not getting money into the local communities,” she said.

After three years, she left to spend some time traveling Asia in search of more meaningful tourism interactions.

“I had some really impactful experiences in Cambodia,” she said. “I fell for the orphanage tourism trap. I went in and played with the kids, then left feeling awful about it. I started learning about the power of travel, the good and the bad, and decided I was going to do something about it.”

So in 2012, she returned home and started Baraka, a consulting company that helped destinations identify and develop meaningful, sustainable and responsible tourism enterprises.

“There was something I wanted to achieve, and I couldn’t find anyone to work with, so I decided to do it myself,” she said. “For years, my dad was begging me to get a job. But he was also my first investor.”

Baraka quickly grew (Muna now manages a team of more than 20 — and played a role in forming the Jordan Trail. Muna set out with the team at the beginning of the first through-hike on the trail back in 2016, intending to join them only for the first day. But the experience was so moving that she stayed for the full 44-day trek.

“It’s the best thing I have ever done in my life,” she said of the hike. “It allows people to fall in love with Jordan for the real thing that it is.”

After the trail, the Jordanian tourism community asked her to take the lead in identifying social enterprises to highlight on the Meaningful Travel Map of Jordan. She and her team spent months traveling the country and visiting local communities to identify places where tourists and locals could both benefit through authentic interactions.

“We wanted to stay away from the usual suspects and shed light on newer projects,” she said. “These aren’t charities. These are businesses, and we should treat them like businesses. Travelers need to understand that they have power. They decide what stays in business. If they give money to people, they turn it into a charity. But if you really want to support local communities, you do that by working with these businesses.”

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WOVEN BY HAND

One of those businesses was the next stop on our itinerary. The Bani Hamida Women’s Weaving Project empowers Jordanian villagers and Syrian refugees by training them to weave rugs and other goods by hand using heritage techniques. The women work in their own homes and earn enough money to provide for their families and secure financial independence for themselves, which has enabled them to pursue leadership roles in their communities and in municipal government.

Local women greeted us at the organization’s headquarters and showroom, where they demonstrated the weaving techniques on handmade looms. Participants then sat down for hands-on interaction with the weavers, making their own woven coasters and keychains on small-scale looms. Everyone agreed that the work was much harder than it looked.

Our hosts also told us proudly about their most recent accomplishment: After touring the co-op, executives from Ikea had committed to selling Bani Hamida rugs in their stores worldwide. This partnership has already generated 53 new jobs for Jordanian women, and by the time production reaches full steam, the Ikea product line will employ 400 women full time, with benefits. The rugs will be available in Ikea stores in the United States this summer.

LASTING IMPACT

The Tourism Cares adventure in Jordan continued to many more places, with groups visiting an ecolodge, an environmental association, cafes and other sites highlighted on the Meaningful Travel Map. The final day brought us to Petra, the ancient city carved into rose-red cliffs of the Jordanian desert. And though travelers were in awe of this massive historic site, the buzz among delegates still centered around the social enterprises we had visited and the impacts they were having on their communities.

Before the trip was over, leaders of several large tour operators committed to including stops at these sites on their trips in the coming years, which will infuse a new stream of North American visitors into these communities.

Now that the Meaningful Travel Map of Jordan has launched, Muna intends to continue developing impactive tourism communities through Baraka, which now has projects in multiple countries throughout the region. And she has won the admiration of the tourism community, both in Jordan and beyond.

“Muna Haddad is young, hyperdynamic, passionate and inspired,” Mike Rea told me at the end of the Tourism Cares journey. “She’s going to be one of the most impactful pieces. She’s a highly competent leader in a developing country.”

THE SIQ CANYON LEADS TO PETRA, JORDAN’S AMAZING, HIDDEN ARCHAEOLOGICAL WONDER. Courtesy Jordan Tourism Board THE WORKERS AT BANI HAMID WOMEN’S WEAVING PROJECT CREATE TRADITIONAL RUGS BY HAND.

LOCAL WEAVERS TEACH THEIR CRAFT AT BANI HAMIDA.

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Perhaps the most meaningful praise, though, came from Lina Annab, the minister of tourism and antiquities who has been something of a personal hero to Muna, at a closing dinner with the entire Tourism Cares delegation at a Bedouin camp near Petra.

“What can I say, Muna?” she said. “You continue to give us reasons to love you, admire you and look up to you.”

The minister, along with Muna and Malia Asfour, director of the Jordan Tourism Board North America and an instrumental force in bringing the Tourism Cares delegation to Jordan, is among a cohort of empowered women who are casting a new vision of Jordan’s future. In their version, the country’s fortunes aren’t subject to geopolitics or newspaper headlines. Instead, they are in charge of their own destiny.

“Jordan’s identity has been hijacked by the media, but we have decided that we’re not going to be defensive anymore,” Lina said. “We’re going to tell our story. We have a beautiful story to tell, and it’s our time and our moment to tell it.”

With change-makers like Muna Haddad leading the charge, Jordan’s story is in very good hands.

VISITORS ENJOY A TRADITIONAL JORDANIAN MEAL AT AMMARIN BEDOUIN CAMP NEAR PETRA.

SEE THE BEST OF NASHVILLE Catch the new stars, superstars, and legends of country music at the world longest running radio show, the Grand Ole Opry. Shows every Friday & Saturday, plus Tuesdays March through December.

Tour the Opry House and go behind the scenes of the show that made country music famous. Tours available daily.

Tour the Ryman, known as The Mother Church of Country Music. The history of this National Historic Landmark comes to life as never before with the state-of-the-art Soul of Nashville pre-tour experience and new multi-media exhibits. Tours available daily.

If your group is itchin’ to have a little fun, come experience downtown Nashville’s newest entertainment and dining destination!

Inspired by Blake Shelton’s hit song of the same name, Ole Red features four floors of fun, including dedicated event space and a rooftop with the best views of the city.

call today to book your Nashville EXPERIENCE! JAMIE LYNN THOMPSON

GROUPTRAVELLEADER.COM

SANDY JUSTICE

SENIOR TOURISM SALES MANAGER

TOURISM SALES MANAGER

615.882.5439 | jthompson@opry.com

615.882.5345 | sjustice@opry.com

MIKE MOLLOY

GROUP TOURISM SALES T HEMANAGER

615.882.5344 | mmolloy@opry.com

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Tech!

by BRIAN JEWELL

Courtesy MOSI

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Courtesy Franklin Institute

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S T U D E N T S G R AV I TAT E T O T H E S E S C I E N C E M U S E U M S f science and technology are the driving forces of growth in today’s world, science museums are gateways to the future.

In both academic and industrial fields, experts are emphasizing the importance of teaching students the STEM disciplines: science, technology, engineering and mathematics. And while classroom study is the foundation to understanding these important concepts, hands-on, in-person encounters at museums promise to engage and energize young people to pursue their own interest in the STEM fields.

Engineering, aviation, space travel and other related subjects take center stage at science museums around the country, many of which offer special programming and memorable experiences for student groups.

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY

CHICAGO One of the leading institutions of its kind in the country, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is a hub of all things STEM. This large museum is full of stimulating exhibitions and inter-

active science lessons, and it offers a number of special tours and experiences for students. Groups can try their hand at industrial design in the Dream It, Design it, Fab It experience; control numerous historic aircraft in flight simulators; and even participate in a virtual-reality spacewalk. The museum also offers live science shows and behind-the-scenes tours.

WWW.MSICHICAGO.ORG

FRANKLIN INSTITUTE

PHILADELPHIA Since its founding in 1824, the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia has been one of the country’s pre-eminent centers for science education and development. Founded in honor of Benjamin Franklin, America’s “first scientist,” the museum is awash in STEM-focused educational experiences for student groups. Students can walk through an oversize model of a human heart, discovery the physics behind electricity or try engineering with simple machines. The permanent exhibits can be complemented by live science shows, hands-on workshops, Imax movies, planetarium experiences and more.

WWW.FI.EDU

EXPLORING VIRTUAL REALITY AT THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE

Courtesy Franklin Institute

DISCOVERING THE HUMAN BODY AT THE MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY

Courtesy MOSI

OPPOSITE PAGE: CHICAGO’S MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY (TOP); PHILADELPHIA’S FRANKLIN INSTITUTE (BOTTOM)

GROUPTRAVELLEADER.COM

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COSI PLANETARIUM

TECH MUSEUM OF INNOVATION

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA The explosive growth of the technology industry in Silicon Valley has put California’s Bay Area in the epicenter of America’s STEM movement. At the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California, students get introduced to the people, technologies and skills that have blazed the trail to the amazing world of the 21st century. Galleries offer interactive opportunities for exploring modern-day science subjects, and science and innovation labs put students in the shoes of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, allowing them to conduct experiments and whet their appetites for developing their own tech creations.

WWW.THETECH.ORG

Photos courtesy COSI

CENTER OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY

COLUMBUS, OHIO Known locally as COSI, the Center of Science and Industry in Columbus, Ohio, gives visitors a broad look at scientific principles and how they have shaped our world throughout history. Exhibits, many with interactive elements, include looks at natural history, physics, biology and other topics. Visitors can drive a simulated Mars rover, hold a meteorite or ride a unicycle on a tightrope two stories above the museum floor. A high-tech planetarium at the museum offers in-depth night sky shows run by professional astronomers, and the museum has a full menu of STEMfocused experiences for student groups.

WWW.COSI.ORG

DISCOVERING STATIC ELECTRICITY AT COSI

NOW OPEN AT COSI, with towering dinosaurs and interactive displays, COSI’s new and permanent dinosaur gallery from the renowned American Museum of Natural History is an immersive journey you won’t soon forget.

One of the premier science centers in the country, COSI combines learning and fun to spark curiosity in visitors of all ages.

We are student group friendly!

cosi.org/dinosaurs | 614.228.COSI 333 W. Broad St. Columbus, OH 43215

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APRIL 2018

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA For decades, the Kennedy Space Center has been one of the chief outposts of NASA and the site of dozens of space shuttle launches. Though the shuttle program has been retired, there’s still plenty of activity at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex.

Groups can see a space shuttle and an Apollo Saturn V rocket in museums at the center, or they can step aboard a simulator that re-creates the sensation of a rocket launch. The center also has a wide range of special programs for students, including the Astronaut Training Experience and opportunities to meet and talk to astronauts.

WWW.KENNEDYSPACECENTER.COM

Photos courtesy KSC Visitor Complex HISTORIC SPACCRAFT AND HANDS-ON LEARNING AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

hello

Huntsville

Get ready for your adventure in the Rocket City!

Huntsville, Alabama | huntsville.org

HUNTINGTON BEACH IS OFFICIALLY KNOWN AS “SURF CITY USA. ”

bucket list 1

Embrace adventure at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center

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Discover the nation’s largest seasonal butterfly house at the Huntsville Botanical Garden

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Shop the Artist Market at Lowe Mill and stay for a concert & picnic

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Hear stories of spies, lies, alibis & ghosts while touring our Historic Districts, Historic Huntsville Depot, Weeden House ...and more!

Pam Williams

Tourism Sales Manager HuntsvilleCVB

GROUPTRAVELLEADER.COM

@Go2HuntsvilleAL

VisitHuntsvilleAL #iHeartHsv

256.551.2204 pam@huntsville.org

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MUSEUM OF SCIENCE

BOSTON In 1830, six local science enthusiasts formed the Boston Society of Natural History, an organization that opened its museum in 1864. That museum, now the Museum of Science, remains a staple of the New England educational community, with engaging exhibits and a host of special programming designed to engage students in STEM pursuits. Permanent exhibits explore the human body, fascinating animal life, nanotechnology, transportation, space travel and more. The museum has also developed a focused series of engineering and math experiences for students in elementary through high school.

WWW.MOS.ORG

BOSTON’S MUSEUM OF SCIENCE Courtesy Museum of Science

NATIONAL MISSISSIPPI RIVER MUSEUM AND AQUARIUM

DUBUQUE, IOWA Situated squarely in America’s heartland, the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque, Iowa, brings a distinctly Midwestern experience to STEM education. The museum focuses on the mighty Mississippi River, its underlying science and how it has shaped life in middle America.

Students can see Mississippi River fish and animals up close in the aquarium, and educational workshops teach about wildlife, plants, and watersheds along the river. A high-tech simulator gives visitors the opportunity to pilot a riverboat down the river using radar, navigation satellites and other tools.

WWW.RIVERMUSEUM.COM

NASA Visitor Center

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MARINE LIFE ON DISPLAY AT THE NATIONAL MISSISSIPPI RIVER MUSEUM AND AQUARIUM

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See the world’s largest collection of space artifacts and explore the fascinating future of space travel!

Looking to stay a bit longer? Sign up for an inspiring experience at Space Camp! Two- to six-day Camps are available for all ages: children, families, adults and corporate groups.

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Huntsville, Alabama • (800) 637-7223 www.rocketcenter.com

Photos courtesy NMRMA

APRIL 2018

MUSEUM OF FLIGHT

SEATTLE Seattle’s Museum of flight is the largest independent, nonprofit air and space museum in the world.

Visiting groups will discover more than 175 aircraft and spacecraft alongside tens of thousands of artifacts and many more rare photographs arranged in dozens of exhibits and experiences. The museum also boasts the Boeing Academy for STEM Learning, which it calls the world’s largest educational department in an air-and-space museum. The program features workshops for all age levels, from primary school through college, with experiences focused on aviation, space, robotics and engineering.

MUSEUM OF FLIGHT

Courtesy Museum of Flight MCWANE SCIENCE CENTER

WWW.MUSEUMOFFLIGHT.ORG

MCWANE SCIENCE CENTER

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA The McWane Science Center was formed in 1998 when two existing museums merged to create an interactive science institution in a historic department-store building in AIRCRAFT ON DISPLAY AT COSMOSPHERE downtown Birmingham, Alabama. The Courtesy Cosmosphere exhibits cover a wide range of subjects that include Alabama dinosaurs, sea monsters and a weather lab. Groups can get their hands on sharks and rays in the World of Water Aquarium or see shows in the on-site Imax Dome theater. The museum is committed to STEM education and features a number of special programs and workshops for students, including opportunities for overnight stays.

WWW.MCWANE.ORG

COSMOSPHERE

HUTCHINSON, KANSAS You may not expect to find a high-tech air and space museum in an unassuming town in central Kansas.

But since 1962, Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kansas, has been introducing students to the wonders of air and space travel through a combination of artifacts, hands-on exhibits and special programs. Groups will be immediately impressed by the Blackbird SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft that hangs over the museum lobby. Inside, galleries cover the development of human aviation and feature several artifacts used in space by NASA. Special programs for students include rocket building and launch workshops.

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Courtesy McWane Science Center

O F F T H E E AT I N ’ PA TH

WWW.COSMO.ORG

Beginning May 2018 your groups can find themselves a ways off the main road in Lafourche Parish and discover some unforgettable dining experiences. But this oneof-a-kind adventure can only be found if you’re willing to go out of your way and wander off the beaten path. Or as we prefer to say, off the eatin’ path.

LACAJUNBAYOU.COM/FOODTRAIL

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STATE SPOTLIGHT

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BY B R I A N J E W E L L

or students, there’s no place like Louisiana.

Many

destinations

around the country have

key characteristics or signa-

ture attractions, but few offer the variety of exclusive

experiences that Louisiana does. The state boasts its own ethnic groups, ecosystems, food and music, as well as an array of great museums. For students, a trip to

Louisiana offers the chance to discover world history, see alligators up close and enjoy a variety of arts and science experiences.

Louisiana communities large and small have dis-

tinctive opportunities for student groups, with such

wide-ranging attractions as the National World

War II Museum in New Orleans and the variety of swamp tour adventures in Lafayette. Students

can safari through an endangered animal preserve at the Global Wildlife Center in Folsom and marvel

at the underwater inhabitants of the new Shreveport

Aquarium. And in Baton Rouge, the Louisiana Art and Science Museum showcases classical painting, Egyptian mummies and more.

Make sure to include stops at these attractions on

your next student tour of Louisiana.

GROUPTRAVELLEADER.COM

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Courtesy LA Office of Tourism

REMEMBERING THE WAR Today’s students are three generations removed from World War II, which means their understanding of this conflict and its impact on the world comes chiefly from history books. To help drive the lessons home and give students an immersive experience, many educators bring student groups to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.

The expansive museum is home to more than 250,000 WWII artifacts and includes more than 9,000 personal accounts given by soldiers of various nations. Visitors discover the artifacts, along with an array of high-tech, interactive exhibits, in two main sections of the museum, one dedicated to the war in Europe and another focused on the Pacific theater.

Travel planners can choose to let students explore on their own or can opt for one of several docent-led programs offered by the museum. These experiences include an in-depth look at a veteran’s story, an examination of a WWII airplane and a focus on one battle.

Other programs can include STEM-related topics and performance opportunities for student groups.

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By Cheryl Schneider

ENDANGERED ANIMALS Students who love ecology and conservation will be thrilled with a visit to the Global Wildlife Center in Folsom, about an hour’s drive from New Orleans across the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway Bridge.

This attraction is home to more than 4,000 exotic, endangered and threatened animals from all over the world.

The largest free-roaming wildlife preserve in the country, this 900-acre complex includes 12 ponds and a lake, as well as numerous bison, giraffes, zebras, camels and elands and many more wild animals. Groups can take an hourlong wagon safari through the refuge, where they can see the animals up close and even feed some of them. Private jeep safaris are available for groups of eight or fewer.

The Global Wildlife Center offers special programming for school groups, as well as a gift shop and other amenities. Visitor areas can become crowded during peak seasons, so travel planners are encouraged to make reservations for their groups several weeks in advance.

W W W.G LO BA LWI L D LI F E .C O M

S T A Y L A F AY E T T E Plan your escape to the Happiest City in America.

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AN INTIMATE AQUARIUM The newest student-focused attraction in the state is the Shreveport Aquarium, which opened in northern Louisiana on November 1, 2017. Groups that visit the aquarium will find more than 3,000 animals on display, representing more than 270 species.

The Shreveport Aquarium is designed to be smaller and more manageable than the famous aquariums in large cities throughout the United States. That small size doesn’t limit the immersion experience, though. Visitors travel through brightly colored coral reefs, alongside re-created shipwrecks, through dark ocean caves and into beautiful tropical lagoons. Along the way they see a wealth of exotic sea creatures and get the opportunity to interact with sharks, rays, jellyfish and other marine animals at touch tanks throughout the aquarium.

The aquarium was designed to be environmentally friendly and features renewable energy, water recycling and educational messages on conservation. Groups can plan to have a meal at the on-site restaurant, Salt, which can provide casual or upscale fare.

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Courtesy Shreveport-Bossier CTB

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Courtesy LA Office of Tourism

CAJUN SWAMP TOURS Few experiences are more quintessential to Louisiana than the swamp tour. In and around Lafayette, the capital of Cajun country, numerous swamp tour companies offer groups the opportunity to explore the bayous and the fascinating plants and animals that inhabit them.

Cajun Country Swamp Tours is run by a father-son team focused on eco-tours that make as little environmental impact as possible.

Guests sail aboard crawfish skiffs through a cypress swamp. Another company, McGee’s Louisiana Swamp Tours and Adventures, takes groups through the Atchafalaya Swamp on high-powered airboats for fast-paced 90-minute adventures.

More active groups may choose to explore the wetlands in canoes or kayaks. Numerous outfitters in the area, such as Champagne’s Swamp Tours, rent equipment and provide guides who can keep students safe and informed on narrated expeditions. Along the way, participants will paddle through the oak-draped cypress groves of Lake Martin and see wildlife such as alligators, bald eagles, osprey, egrets and nutria.

W W W.L A FAY E T T E T R AV E L .C O M

PL AY A ND GE T AWAY ON T HE

NORTHSHORE

Visit St. Tammany Parish and bring your appetite for great Louisiana cooking, and for living.

Come paddle the bayou, tour Honey Island Swamp, do the Dew Drop, toast the town at Abita Brewery or Pontchartrain Vineyards, and sample sweets at The Candy Bank.

Less than an hour from New Orleans, the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and Baton Rouge.

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ART AND SCIENCE CENTER In the capital city of Baton Rouge, student groups of all ages will find wonderful educational opportunities at the Louisiana Art and Science Museum. In a historic 1925 railway station downtown on the Mississippi River, the museum is designed to inspire students with a love of creativity and knowledge.

Many museums focus on either fine art or science, but this institution combines elements of both. Visitors will find a permanent collection of more than 4,000 works of art, including classics from America and Europe, as well as contemporary and modern art created by Louisiana artists. An exhibition on ancient Egypt includes a mummy dating to around 300 B.C., as well as many other artifacts.

And other galleries direct visitors’ attention to outer space, with exhibits on the solar system and points beyond.

Nearly half of the Art and Science Museum’s visitors are schoolchildren, so the staff offers a variety of programs for groups, including hands-on galleries, planetarium shows and interactive theater experiences.

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Courtesy Visit Baton Rouge

300 YEARS OF STORIES Celebrating our 300th birthday, New Orleans is rolling out the red carpet for a year of festivities.

Come join the parade & start creating your New Orleans story.

Thu Tran, Account Executive 800-748-8695 x5053 TTran@NewOrleansCVB.com

GROUPTRAVELLEADER.COM

NEWORLEANS.COM

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COLONIAL Cool

Courtesy Richmond Region Tourism

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V I BR ANT VI RGIN IA

DOES CONTEMPORARY QUITE WELL B Y R AC H E L C A RT E R

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irginia is a historic state with a bright future.

The first enduring English colony in North America was established in Virginia in 1607, stopping at what is today Virginia Beach before settling in Jamestown. From those English colonists through the American Revolution to the Civil War, Virginia’s history is long and pivotal. The state is home to Naval Station Norfolk, the largest naval base in the world, and Newport News Shipbuilding, the shipyard that builds all the U.S. aircraft carriers and many of the Navy’s nuclear submarines.

But as Virginia marches toward the future, it’s also known for fun, with beachfront resorts, burgeoning arts districts and booming culinary scenes.

THE RICHMOND FOLK FESTIVAL IS A CULTURAL TOUCHSTONE IN VIRGINIA’S CAPITAL CITY.

ARTSY RICHMOND A historic destination and Virginia’s capital city, Richmond also enjoys a bustling arts scene that will get an even bigger boost with the opening of the Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) at Virginia Commonwealth University in late April.

Because the center is a noncollecting art institute, exhibitions will be changing all the time and will

be dedicated to innovative visual and performing arts and design.

The ICA will be an anchor in the Richmond Arts District, which was established in 2012 and flanks several blocks of Broad Street from Belvidere Street to the Virginia State Capitol near Interstate 95. In the district, visitors will find dozens of small, independently owned art galleries, as well as street art and murals gracing alleyways and building walls, and street performers adding music and dance to summer nights. Although the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is not in the arts district, it is a must-see for groups, along with the state capitol, said Toni Bastian, group tour manager for Richmond Region Tourism.

History is another major draw in Richmond, and the city has plenty of it for visitors to explore, from early settlers through the American Revolution and the Civil War. Groups enjoy Henricus Historical Park, a living-history park on the site where Sir Thomas Dale established the colony’s second settlement in 1611 and where Pocahontas lived after being captured in 1613. Today, groups can explore 12 re-created Colonial structures and interact with historical interpreters as they demonstrate cooking, blacksmithing, planting and harvesting. Visitors may even be recruited to join the militia.

Groups can tour the American Civil War Center housed in the historic Tredegar Iron Works, which opened in 1837 and became the Confederacy’s primary iron and artillery works.

The Virginia War Memorial overlooking the James River is a museum, a memorial and an educational center dedicated to all Virginians who fought from World War II through today.

The Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia opened in summer 2016 at its new location: an 1895 armory that was restored and repurposed as the museum’s new home. Groups can also arrange for a “Liberty or Death” re-enactment at Historic St. John’s Church.

Artwork by David Brown GROUPTRAVELLEADER.COM

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VIRGINIA BEACH’S CAPE HENRY LIGHTHOUSE Courtesy VA Beach CVB FIREWORKS AT NORFOLK’S HARBORFEST

RICHMOND’S STATE CAPITOL

Courtesy Visit Norfolk

Courtesy Richmond Region Tourism

BEER TASTING IN VIRGINIA BEACH Courtesy VA Beach CVB

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NAUTICA L NORFOLK Norfolk is a city defined by water. With the Atlantic Ocean on one side, the Chesapeake Bay on another and the Elizabeth River on a third, “I feel like water is our strength here,” said Erin Goldmeier, media relations manager for Visit Norfolk.

Norfolk’s Downtown Waterfront on the banks of the Elizabeth is enjoying a renaissance. The Main by Hilton opened in spring 2017 with 300 guest rooms and three on-site restaurants, including a rooftop garden and lounge.

The Norfolk Waterside Marriott and the Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel, which sits directly on the river’s edge, were both recently renovated.

The Waterside District reopened in summer 2017.

The eatery and entertainment complex fronts the river and features nearly 20 dining options, including Guy Fieri’s Smokehouse, Blue Moon Taphouse and Rappahannock Oyster Company.

In downtown, Nauticus is a waterfront museum that includes Battleship Wisconsin, one of the largest and last battleships the U.S. Navy ever built. Nauticus admission includes access to the Wisconsin, where visitors can take guided or self-guided tours.

Norfolk Harborfest is an annual three-day maritime festival that takes place at Town Point Park, next to Nauticus.

The festival features live music, food, fireworks, a tug muster and a boat parade. Groups that can’t make it to Harborfest can arrange a harbor tour or a sunset cruise aboard the American Rover, a three-masted, top-sail schooner like those that sailed the waters in the 1800s.

Norfolk is also home to Naval Station Norfolk, which groups can tour year-round during 45-minute tours led by U.S. Navy personnel. A picture ID is required for all visitors over 18. Groups can also see the Naval Station from the water during a cruise on the Victory Rover.

Back on land, a few blocks north of downtown, the Neon District is Norfolk’s small but growing arts district. There, visitors will find galleries and studios, as well as the Chrysler Museum of Art, home to one of the largest collections of Tiffany glass. Next door, the museum’s Glass Studio does daily glassblowing demonstrations, and groups can arrange to take glassblowing classes and other workshops.

BURGEONING VIRGINIA BEACH Virginia Beach is known as a beach town, but the city has more to offer than its boardwalk and resorts, including a booming culinary scene, up-and-coming cultural offerings and “a lot of early American history right in our backyard,” said Jim Coggin, Virginia Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau’s tourism sales manager.

Among the city’s most exciting news is the reopening of the Cavalier Hotel, which is “sort of the Grand Dame

APRIL 2018

THE GLASS STUDIO AT NORFOLK’S CHRYSLER MUSEUM OF ART

Courtesy Visit Norfolk

of Virginia Beach,” he said. The elegant seven-story, red-brick hotel was built in 1927 in a Y-shaped floor plan. Though it sits on the land side of Pacific Avenue, its hilltop location delivers views of the resort strip and the Atlantic Ocean. It reopened in March as part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection following a three-year, $80 million renovation. The Cavalier now has 85 rooms and three restaurants and houses the Tarnished Truth Distilling Company.

Groups can arrange for a tasting of Tarnished spirits at the Hunt Room lounge or an afternoon tea at the Raleigh Room.

“They were at one time thinking about tearing the building down, and we’re so happy it was saved,” Coggin said.

The city’s burgeoning culinary scene includes new restaurants, several new breweries and Mermaid Winery, which is opening a new location in Virginia Beach that will complement its original tasting room in Norfolk.

Pleasure House Oysters is a farm that cultivates the famous Lynnhaven oyster. In addition to taking a boat tour, groups of 14 can opt for a Chef’s Table dinner that allows guests to enjoy a fresh meal on the Lynnhaven River, right in the marsh, and spend one-on-one time with oyster farmer Chris Ludford to learn about the history of the Lynnhaven as they sample oysters straight from the water.

A $2.5 million project to restore the 1719 Adam Thoroughgood House and build an education center was completed last fall. The house is a popular site for groups, which also enjoy visiting the 1792 Cape Henry Lighthouse.

Your group will love our inlets. And our outlets.

Waterfront cruises. Dining. Museums. Maritime history. Now you can add the Norfolk Premium Outlets to the many attractions your group will enjoy in our waterfront city. No wonder Norfolk was named “America’s Favorite City!”

Contact Melissa Hopper, Associate Director of Tour & Travel, to plan your next trip today!

GROUPTRAVELLEADER.COM

1-800-368-3097 | visitnorfolk.com

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THE MARINERS’ MUSEUM IN NEWPORT NEWS

Zeiders American Dream Theater will open this fall in its new location, which includes a 310-seat theater and a studio theater for 100 people.

V I R G I N I A T O U R I S M C O R P. — W W W.V I RGI N I A.ORG — Courtesy NNTDO

APRIL 26-29, 2018 APRIL 25-28, 2019 APRIL 23-26, 2020 SCOPE ARENA, NORFOLK, VA

MORE THAN 1,000 PERFORMERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD IN

ONE SPECTACULAR SHOW!

INFORMATION & TICKETS AT

VAFEST.ORG/TATTOO OR CALL 1-877-741-2787

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NEWPORT NEWS AND HAMPTON Newport News is home to Newport News Shipbuilding, the massive ship works that was established in 1886. NNS is the nation’s sole designer, builder and refueler of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and one of only two shipyards capable of designing and building nuclear-powered submarines.

Although the shipyard isn’t open to tour groups for security reasons, a driving tour or step-on guide for motorcoach groups can pass by so visitors can see the cranes “which are just enormous,” said Barb Kleiss, group marketing manager for Newport News Tourism.

Visitors can immerse themselves in maritime history at the Mariner’s Museum, which has over 90,000 square feet of galleries that showcase maritime artifacts dating from Norse explorer Leif Erikson to the enormous AC-72 wing-sail catamaran that Oracle Team USA sailed in the 2013 America’s Cup. Although visitors can explore on their own, Kleiss recommends groups opt for a free docent-led tour to hit the massive museum’s highlights because “there’s no way you can see it all in one day.”

The Virginia War Museum traces American military history from 1775 through modern times. There, visitors will find Adolf Hitler’s signature, part of the Berlin Wall and a piece of the World Trade Center towers.

Another popular attraction for groups is the Virginia Living Museum, which is “anything but a museum,” Kleiss said. “They’re a zoo, they’re an aquarium, a planetarium, a greenhouse — it’s everything indigenous to this state.”

Ten miles south of Newport News, the city of Hampton sits at the southeastern tip of the Virginia Peninsula, just across the water from Norfolk.

Guided tours for groups of 10 or more are available at Fort Monroe National Monument, a decommissioned military installation, where visitors can also explore the Casemate Museum.

In Hampton, groups can board the Miss Hampton II for three-hour, narrated Harbor Tour cruises that pass by Fort Monroe; the Old Point Comfort Lighthouse, and Blackbeard’s Point, where the pirate’s head was displayed on a pike after his capture. The cruise takes passengers to Fort Wool, a Civil War island accessible only by boat, for a 45-minute walking tour, then passes Norfolk Naval Base for views from the water.

“One time, I was on the Miss Hampton, and we saw a submarine coming in; it was so cool,” Kleiss said.

APRIL 2018

BRING YOUR GROUP TOUR TO LIFE.

Fall in love with the rhythm of the waves with hands-on experiences and uncommon access offered exclusively for groups. Plan your group’s Live the Life Adventure at VisitVirginiaBeach.com/GroupTour.

SHORE UP it

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STUDENTS DISCOVER THE LAWS OF PHYSICS AT CLEVELAND’S GREAT LAKES SCIENCE CENTER.

Courtesy ThisIsCleveland.com

HERE ARE FIVE GREAT REASONS FOR STUDENTS TO VISIT CLEVEL AND AND L AKE ERIE

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tudents can learn about electricity from a book or feel 350,000 volts of static electricity stand their hair on end. They can listen to a physics lecture

or apply the subject to a scream-inducing roller coaster.

Ohio’s Cleveland and Lake Erie regions draw many student groups each year with attractions that combine education and fun. The Great Lakes Science Center features hands-on science experiments designed to surprise curious minds, and Cedar Point offers educational programs to supplement amusement park thrills.

Youth can also learn about international cultures using their taste buds at West Side Market and discover the roots of music at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Student groups will both run off some energy and come home spouting facts after trips to these northwestern Ohio attractions.

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TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY CLEVELAND’S ICONIC ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM

G R E AT L A K E S SCIENCE CENTER Students can explore the inside of a stomach with an endoscope, launch a rocket or take their photos in spacesuits at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland. The center helps students learn by doing with exhibits and programs that promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

“It’s a different way for students to get an educational experience than school,” said Kristen Jantonio, communications specialist, local and group tours, at Destination Cleveland. “It’s a hands-on way to experience science.”

Groups can learn the realities of space travel at the museum’s popular NASA Glenn Visitor Center. The permanent gallery offers interactive exhibits about living in space and otherworldly artifacts such as the moon rock from Apollo 15.

The new Mission to STEM app allows guests to unlock the secrets of aerospace technology through guided activities, including exploring the museum’s Apollo Command Module, experimenting with fire onboard the space station and testing the Mars airbag landing system. Groups can borrow iPads to take advantage of this free app.

The BioMedTech Gallery lets students play doctor with biomedical research exhibits that explore stomach interiors and control a robotic arm.

Those who prefer to invent will enjoy the Cleveland Creates Zone to construct a parachute, race a car down a track or launch a rocket. Similarly, the Science Phenomena exhibition offers 100 hands-on experiences to answer questions about the world, such as what happens to participants’ hair when they touch 350,000 volts of static electricity.

Year-round, the center offers classes, workshops and daily science demonstrations for students. Groups also relax at the center’s Imax Dome theater for up-close entertainment.

CEDAR POINT Courtesy Lake Erie Shores & Islands GROUPTRAVELLEADER.COM

Courtesy Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

ROCK AND ROLL H A L L O F FA M E Janis Joplin’s psychedelic Porsche, Michael Jackson’s sparkling glove, John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics and other priceless treasures line the walls in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

The museum makes music education a wild ride through the outrageous costumes and memorable songs that changed music forever.

The 150,000-square-foot museum features seven floors, four theaters and ever-changing exhibits. Groups can track the evolution of music through more than 50 exhibits by viewing the largest collection of rock music artifacts. Other exhibits like the re-created Sun Studios take visitors back in time to the creation of well-known hits.

Interactive kiosks let guests explore performers’ contributions using video and audio recordings. At the new Power of Rock Experience, groups will feel as if they are sitting in the front row of a rock hall induction night for giants like Smokey Robinson and Alice Cooper.

The museum’s temporary exhibits on the top two levels of the facility often gain international attention with subjects such as Elvis Presley, hiphop and female rock stars.

“The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame gives students a wide range of opportunities to learn about music,” said Jantonio. “The Classical Music Rocks program pairs a visit to the museum with a performance by the Cleveland Orchestra.”

Because a Cleveland disc jockey originally coined the term “rock and roll,” officials chose Cleveland as the site of the museum honoring the genre. Architect I.M. Pei first imagined a tower with a glass pyramid protruding from it, thus the opening of the unusually shaped building in 1995.

Groups can also take advantage of the new, on-site All Access Cafe to combine a museum tour with a meal.

C E DA R P O INT Learning doesn’t usually involve screaming, but it’s part of the norm for a student group visit to Cedar Point. In Sandusky, about 60 miles east of Cleveland, the 364-acre amusement park on the Lake Erie peninsula features a world-record 72 rides, including 16 roller coasters.

Opened in 1870, the park started as a simple water toboggan ride that launched riders into Lake Erie. Today, the park is the most-visited seasonal amusement park in the country with an estimated 3.6 million visitors in 2016.

“They are the Roller Coaster Capital of the World because they have rides that you won’t find in any other park,” said Tiffany Frisch, group sales manager for Lake Erie Shores and Islands. “Cedar Point is always updating and ahead of the times, and that is evident in their coasters.”

Students can ride some of the world’s fastest, tallest and longest coasters, as well as leave smarter than they arrived with the addition of an educational program. Cedar Point offers a Physics, Science and Math Week each May when the park transforms into an enormous classroom with special presentations, demonstrations and hands-on exhibits. The program helps students apply principles they learned in school to the challenges faced when running an amusement park.

Cedar Point also organizes Amusement Park 101 for students for five days in late May. Presentations with information on park operations occur daily before teachers set the students loose in the park.

No matter the time of year, Dinosaurs Alive combines handcrafted animatronics with educational content. The roaring exhibit engages all ages in a safer and more realistic version of Jurassic Park for both laughs and learning.

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CLEVELAND’S WEST SIDE MARKET

By Cody York, courtesy ThisIsCleveland.com

A ROPES COURSE AT KALAHARI RESORT ON LAKE ERIE Courtesy Lake Erie Shores & Islands

K AL AHARI RESORT You might not think an indoor water park could provide much educational stimulation for student groups. However, at Sandusky’s Kalahari Resort, students can not only experience fast waterslide thrills but also assist in the care of wild animals at the resort’s Safari Adventure Animal Park.

“The Safari Adventures Animal Park is definitely a highlight for student groups,” said Frisch.

“It allows students to get up close and personal with the animals. How many indoor water parks allow you to stand next to a giraffe?”

The resort’s Junior Zoo Keeper Program lets students prepare food and feed and interact with a variety of African mammals while also learning interesting facts about each. The resort also offers outdoor adventures nearby, such as a zip line, a ropes course and a climbing wall.

The 173,000-square-foot water park remains the main draw of the resort. Students can try indoor bodyboarding, surf simulators, a wave pool, a basketball pool and a variety of waterslides. The Zip Coaster takes guest uphill on a water roller coaster.

The new Storm Chaser combines waterslides with video game technology, so riders can shoot at targets as they descend the slide. Participants choose their own levels of difficulty and try to gain the most points.

An African theme appears throughout the resort, with trees in the lobbies, African-made products for sale and waterslides named after African landmarks. Numerous restaurants, shops and game rooms can keep students entertained and fed.

DUSK ON CLEVELAND’S LAKEFRONT

WEST SIDE MARKET Education and ice cream don’t normally go together. But they should and do at Cleveland’s West Side Market.

“Kids looking for a treat can go to Mitchell’s Ice Cream,” said Jantonio. “They use local ingredients. The ice cream there is fantastic. West Side Market is a way students can experience the culinary side of Cleveland.”

Opened in 1912, West Side Market houses close to 100 locally owned businesses that reflect the various ethnicities and flavors of Cleveland.

Designated one of 10 “Great Public Places in America” by the American Planning Association, the market served the city’s growing immigrant population in the early 20th century. Some families have run the same market stands for generations.

The roster of tenants still reflects the surrounding cultural diversity of Cleveland, with Irish, German, Italian, Greek and Polish among the influences. These vendors allow students to taste international dishes from falafels to shepherd’s pies to bratwurst sandwiches. Students can also see authentic butcher shops with exotic offerings of beef tongues, eels and chicken feet.

On the National Register of Historic Places, the Neoclassical and Byzantine building boasts an interesting history. West Side Market’s tile vaulted ceiling and 137-foot-tall clock tower causes many to look up in admiration.

A handful of vendors can claim international acclaim, with television features on the Food Network and the Travel Channel. Market visitors love to sample Czuchraj Meat’s homemade beef jerky, which was featured on the Food Network show “Best Thing I Ever Ate.” Opened in 1989, Steve’s Gyros has also attracted a loyal following and has been featured on “Man v.

Food” and “The Best Thing I Ever Ate.”

R E S E A R C H I N G YO U R T R I P —WWW.THISISCLEVELAND.COM — — WWW.SHORESANDISLANDS.COM —

By Cody York, courtesy ThisIsCleveland.com

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BROADWAY. OUR WAY.

“#1 Midwest destination for group travelers” — Groups Today

Join in at This isCLEveland.com | #This isCLE

Contact: Jane Tougouma | Destination Cleveland | Group Tour Sales Manager Tel: 216.875.6607 or 800.321.1001 | Fax: 216.621.5967 | Email: jtougouma@destinationcle.org

CHARGE!

GR OU P S M A K E T H E MO S T OF T H E S E H IGH-E N D SHOPPI NG E X P E R I E NC E S

BY E L I Z A M Y E R S

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hough almost everyone can picture movie scenes where high-end shops stop everything to pamper a single customer, few have experienced such luxury in person. However, with the power of group travel, shoppers can have their own “Pretty Woman” moments where shopkeepers cater exclusively to their every desire.

These VIP experiences deliver deals and experiences not available to the individual traveler. For example, you might not think of including yoga, wine tastings or educational presentations with a shopping excursion. However, at these shopping destinations, groups can create extravagant memories that last beyond the accompanying souvenir purchases.

Since shopping remains one of the top activities for all travelers, treat your group to one of these compelling VIP shopping experiences.

EASTON TOWN CENTER IN COLUMBUS OFFERS EXCLUSIVE SHOPPING EXPERIENCES FOR GROUPS.

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EASTON TOWN CENTER COLUMBUS, OHIO

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Groups can imagine themselves celebrities for one day at the Easton Town Center’s Fashion Forward at Nordstrom experience in Columbus, Ohio. Before the shopping center’s upscale Nordstrom opens, groups can browse the store on their own with the aid of knowledgeable on-site staff.

The experience starts with breakfast at the in-store Café Nordstrom Bistro.

The group then listens to a fashion expert on a wide range of topics such as modern fashion and how to dress for a formal event.

After fielding questions, the staff sets the group loose in the store with employees eager to assist. Each participant receives a $15 Nordstrom gift card, so everyone can leave with some type of souvenir with little effort.

The private shopping experience at Nordstrom is only one of several exclusive group experiences. Personal shopping excursions can also be had at the Body Shop, Evereve and Kate Spade.

Groups can also opt for a meal and a movie at the AMC Dine In Theatre, where tired shoppers can sit back in reclining chairs with a cocktail and dinner while watching a movie. For a more educational outing, groups can create cards at Paper Source or take a cooking class at Sur La Table.

No matter which accompanying experience is chosen, groups will enjoy wandering through the indoor and outdoor shopping complex designed to look like a mid-20th-century town. With over 300 shopping, dining and entertainment venues, the center will offer something of interest for every group member.

W W W. E AST ON T OW NCE N T ER .COM

AN OUTDOOR PLAZA AT EASTON TOWN CENTER

Courtesy Steamboat Natchez

Courtesy Easton Town Center

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Courtesy Easton Town Center APRIL 2018

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OUTLET COLLECTION OF WINNIPEG WINNIPEG, MANITOBA

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Though retail therapy often produces a high for shoppers, the constant decision-making can prove exhausting. A group at the Outlet Collection of Winnipeg can combat this fatigue with the outlet’s Health and Wellness experience.

After a tour of many health-related shops, groups wind down with a yoga session. Discount booklets come with the experience, as they do with any preregistered group shopping excursion to the outlet.

The Canadian outlet can customize other private shopping experiences, such as a foodie-themed tour for delicious samples from the outlet shop’s high-end eateries, such as Crepe Delicious.

Even without an added element to a stop, the outlet strives to treat all groups as valued clients with a meet-and-greet where staff members distribute maps of the 570,000-square-foot outlet. Over 100 popular outlet brands will keep guests busy at shops such as Saks Off Fifth, the Banana Republic Factory Store and Michael Kors. Group leaders can also enjoy their stop with a complimentary $50 gift card.

The fully enclosed, $2 million shopping center broke ground in 2015 and opened two years later. The first outlet mall in Manitoba, the center creates a welcoming design aesthetic with warm, natural finishes; bold graphic patterning; and plentiful daylight. The outlets also take sustainability seriously and boast Silver LEED certification.

W W W.OU T L E T COL L EC T ION W I N N I PEG.COM

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SHOP GOTHAM — NEW YORK CITY

Groups can feel like they’ve stepped into an episode of “Project Runway” by taking a behind-the-scenes look at New York City’s fashion world with Shop Gotham. The tour company’s Garment Center District Insider Tour offers a shopping experience not available to individuals by taking groups to designer showrooms, normally reserved for store buyers and the occasional magazine editor.

Once inside these showrooms, participants can purchase apparel and accessories for the same price as store buyers. In this way, groups can walk away with clothing from an emerging designer at half or more off the retail price.

Shop Gotham first determines what types of showrooms would interest the group, since the experiences can range from cutting-edge fashion to bargain options. Even those not interested in purchasing designer products often find the inside of a showroom fascinating.

Groups typically visit three apparel and two accessory showrooms, with one or more designers present to chat about how they ended up in fashion.

Many of these new or lesser-known designers do not yet sell their products to department stores, but instead offer stylish lines in fashion-forward boutiques in New York City.

The tour company also leaves groups with a list of important sample sales being held in the city so they can extend their shopping trips if desired.

Guides chat about the area and the fashion industry as they lead groups from one showroom to another.

Shop Gotham tours can also visit hip flea markets, edgy indie shops and neighborhoods known for shopping deals.

W W W.SHOPGOTH A M.COM

A SHOP GOTHAM GROUP PERUSING A NEW YORK BOUTIQUE

THE FULLY ENCLOSED OUTLET COLLECTION OF WINNIPEG Courtesy Outlet Collection of Winnipeg GROUPTRAVELLEADER.COM

Courtesy Shop Gotham

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OUTLET SHOPPES OF THE BLUEGRASS SIMPSONVILLE, KENTUCKY

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Groups can sip some wine, chomp on an appetizer and indulge in bargain purchases on a shopping excursion to the Outlet Shoppes of the Bluegrass. The outlet customizes experiences for groups, such as wine and appetizer receptions before or after groups traipse through the 366,750-square-foot shopping center.

Groups can also schedule a private shopping experience along with a fashion presentation for VIP access combined with an educational component.

However, most popular at the outlet is a basic meet-and-greet by a representative from the outlet. A $100 gift card is offered to the group to use as a raffle for some added excitement. Group leaders and drivers each receive a $25 gift card so they can also enjoy the retail extravaganza.

Each group member receives a branded tote bag, a complimentary VIP coupon book and swag from several retailers. For an included meal on the tour, the outlet mall offers a gift card meal program redeemable at each of the outlet’s eateries.

Opened in 2014 and located between Louisville and Lexington, the Outlet Shoppes of the Bluegrass still looks shiny and new. The shops draw in crowds daily for potential savings of up to 70 percent on designer brands.

Shopaholics especially love the outlet’s anchor stores, which include Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th, Old Navy, Nike, Polo Ralph Lauren and American Eagle Outfitters.

W W W.THEOU T L E T SHOPPESOF THEBLU EGR ASS .COM

OUTLET SHOPPES OF THE BLUEGRASS NEAR LOUISVILLE

Courtesy Outlet Shoppes of the Bluegrass

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Live music, cobblestone walkways, historic buildings and stunning harbor views make Seaport Village seem more like a thriving downtown rather than a shopping center. The 14-acre outdoor complex allows groups to meander through both nationally known stores and locally owned shops selling custom mugs, unusual socks and homemade hot sauces.

Groups can plan a superstar experience at the center with wine tastings, VIP shopping passes and meal vouchers. The VIP Shopping Pass offers discounts and special offers for the 70-plus shops and restaurants at Seaport Village and its sister property, the Headquarters. In Seaport Village alone, groups can use these discounts at 50 diverse shops and 17 eateries, including four fine-dining waterfront restaurants.

Instead of bulldozing everything in sight to erect the shopping center, the owners of Seaport Village restored San Diego’s Old Police Headquarters to house some of the restaurants and specialty boutiques. Visitors can see some local history at the 1895 Looff Carousel, which features remarkable handcarved animals.

Even those not keen on shopping will enjoy the festivallike feel and lush landscaping of the complex. Winding paths connect buildings with a wide assortment of architectural styles, including Victorian and traditional Mexican.

The Food Court features live music from a variety of genres each day, while Sundays at Seaport Village come to life with a free concert series.

W W W.SE A PORT V I L L AGE .COM

THE HISTORIC BOARDWALK AT SAN DIEGO’S SEAPORT VILLAGE

Courtesy Seaport Village

APRIL 2018

THE TRADITIONAL DANCE PROGRAM AT THE INDIAN PUEBLO CULTURAL CENTER IN ALBUQUERQUE SHOWCASES LOCAL NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE.

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Courtesy Eiteljorg Museum Courtesy IPCC

oday more than ever, travelers want to move beyond entertainment to experience. They seek authenticity rather than attractions. They want to discover rather than drive by. Native American tribes are also increasingly opening their doors and opening their communities to provide experiences that help educate visitors about their history and culture, present-day life and future plans.

These immersive, interactive experiences allow travelers to learn ceremonial dances, explore traditional housing and make Native American artwork.

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SEMINOLE SHOOTOUT BAT T L E R E-E NAC T M E N T CAMP IMMOK ALEE, KE YSTONE HEIGHTS, FLORIDA Horses gallop. Cannons boom. Seminoles whoop war cries. The Seminole Shootout Battle Re-enactment, which has been held every February or March since the late 1990s, is an intense event that brings tears to visitors’ eyes and goosebumps to their skin.

“It’s an emotional experience because it really brings them back to that time,” said Melissa Sherman, operations manager of Billie Swamp Safari.

The battle has traditionally been held at Billie Swamp Safari, a tribeowned attraction on the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation in south Florida. This year, it was held at Camp Immokalee on the Immokalee Reservation near Gainesville. The move was a big success, Sherman said, and the shootout will likely stay at Immokalee or return to Big Cypress next year.

The event is a re-enactment of the Second Seminole War, the longest of three prolonged wars between the Seminoles and the U.S. military during the 1800s. Although many Seminoles died, and some were relocated to what is now Oklahoma, the tribe was never defeated and is today known as the “Unconquered” Seminole tribe of Florida.

About 40 re-enactors, 20 on each side, stage two or three battles during the weekend festival. Re-enactors “fire” both cannons and guns that boom and pop. Pyrotechnics re-create the crash of cannonballs, sending mud, dirt Photos courtesy The Seminole Tribute and water flying. Seminole war cries send shivers VISITORS AND LOCALS PARTICIPATE IN THE down viewers’ spines.

SEMINOLE SHOOTOUT BATTLE RE-ENACTMENT Visitors can learn how to hew wood, make knives and throw tomahawks, and will enjoy “The Cherokee Seminole stomp dances and experience “chunkey” games. Groups can also walk through replica culture is a 1800s encampments and ask questions of the in-character re-enactors — and maybe even taste living, breathing, some campfire cooking.

WHERE HISTORY COMES

alive

alive culture, and we want people to experience that when they come.”

— B O TAY L O R OCONALUF TEE INDIAN MUSEUM OF THE CHEROKEE INDIAN

PLYMOUTH, MASSACHUSET TS PLIMOTH.ORG

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TOP: A SEMINOLE RE-ENACTOR BOTTOM: SHOOTING ON HORSEBACK

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OCONALUFTEE’S MUSEUM OF THE CHEROKEE INDIAN Courtesy Oconaluftee Indian Village

OCONALUFTEE INDIA N VILLAGE AND MUSEUM OF THE CHEROK EE INDIAN CHEROKEE,NORTH CAROLINA At the Oconaluftee Indian Village in Cherokee, North Carolina, visitors experience “full immersion into crafts, culture, history,” said Laura Blythe, Cherokee Historical Association program director.

A guide leads groups through the 1760s-era Cherokee encampment, where they can watch crafters engaging in beadwork, finger weaving, basket-making, wood carving, copper hammering and weaponry, such as making arrowheads and blowguns.

In the living-history area, re-enactors wearing traditional dress demonstrate daily life, and guests can explore several types of traditional housing, such as a log home and an osi, a type of hot house.

Inside the village’s seven-sided council house, seating is divided into sections for the clanship, and ceremonial dances are performed daily at the Square Grounds, the village’s ceremonial dance grounds.

During the summer, the village also runs the Time of War series, a re-enactment of a battle scene between Cherokee warriors and their opposition.

About a quarter-mile away, the Museum of the Cherokee Indian offers guided tours and indepth experiences.

“A lot of times people associate museums for things that are dead and gone, but the Cherokee culture is a living, breathing, alive culture, and we want people to experience that when they come,” said museum executive director Bo Taylor.

Guides known as Cherokee Friends wear traditional dress and engage and educate visitors. For a separate fee, the museum also offers Cherokee Experience, a program that allows groups to customize a wide variety of experiences, such as classes GROUPTRAVELLEADER.COM

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on pottery, basketry, weaving, primitive skills, blowguns and archery.

Other options include storytelling, dance performances and a Cherokee language course.

Groups can end their day at the recently updated 2,100-seat Mountainside Theatre watching “Unto These Hills,” an outdoor drama that tells the story of Cherokee history from 1780 to the present.

W W W.V ISI T CHEROK EE NC .COM / PL A Y

Photos courtesy Oconaluftee Indian Village INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCES AT OCONALUFTEE INDIAN VILLAGE

CH E ROK E E NAT ION C U LT U R A L T OU R I SM TA H L E Q U A H , O K L A H O M A With more than 350,000 citizens, the Cherokee Nation is the largest tribal nation in the United States; most of the nation’s population lives in Oklahoma.

The Cherokee History Tour is one of the most popular ways to experience the Cherokee Nation. The tour takes people to the Cherokee Heritage Center, where guests will find Diligwa (dee-lee-gwah), a living replica of a 1710 village that opened in 2013. The village re-creates Cherokee life at the time, and people dressed in authentic attire demonstrate blowguns, basket weaving, pottery-making, flint knapping and games of stickball.

Guests can also tour Cherokee dwellings; council houses, where clan representatives governed; and, in the summer, gardens planted with what the Cherokees would have grown 300 years ago.

Hands-on art classes teach groups the historic and practical details of Cherokee carving, flint knapping, finger weaving, moccasin-making, and flat or round reed basket weaving. Groups can also arrange for interactive theatrical storytelling assemblies and cultural presentations.

In the center, the Trail of Tears exhibit recounts how the U.S. government in 1838 forced the Cherokees to relocate from their ancestral lands GROUPS CAN TAKE HANDS-ON ART CLASSES AT OKLAHOMA’S CHEROKEE HERITAGE CENTER.

Photos courtesy Cherokee Heritage Center

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to present-day Oklahoma, a death march during which thousands of Cherokees died. The life-size exhibit portrays people walking the Trail of Tears.

The tour includes stops at several historic sites, including the 1844 Cherokee National Supreme Court Museum and the Cherokee National Prison Museum, which served as a penitentiary from 1875 to 1901. The striking Seminary Hall in Tahlequah was built in 1889 as the Cherokee Female Seminary, known for being the first higher-education school for women west of the Mississippi, and is still a showpiece on the Northeastern State University campus.

W W W.CHEROK EEHER I TAGE .ORG

INDIAN PUEBLO C U LT U R A L C E N T E R ALBUQUERQUE, NEW ME XICO The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center opened its doors in 1976 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as a place for the state’s 19 pueblos to come together.

While it’s a resource for the pueblo communities, it’s also an educational center for people to learn about the pueblos’ history, art and culture, said Monique Fragua, the center’s vice president of operations.

“We want to represent the living cultures,” she said. “We use the past for inspiration, but we’re people of the present.”

The center customizes group experiences. If a group is interested in art, for example, guided tours can focus on artwork in the museum’s exhibits, and the group can add a hands-on experience with a pueblo artist.

The center’s Daily Artist Program allows visitors to watch and interact with artists as they make pottery, jewelry and stonework carvings and sculptures, and the center also provides artist demonstrations in the Shumakolowa Native Arts gift shop.

Dancers perform traditional dances every weekend throughout the year, but groups can also arrange to hire a dance group for private or afterhours performances.

Andrew Thomas, a flute player who has worked at the center for over 25 years, will provide a welcome, tell stories and play his flute, and “people always remember him,” Fragua said.

The center partners with the on-site Pueblo Harvest restaurant to provide various culinary experiences, such as a fry bread workshop where guests make and eat their own fry bread.

Photos courtesy Indian Pueblo Cultural Center CHILDREN AND ADULTS DEMONSTRATE HERITAGE DANCES AT THE INDIAN PUEBLO CULTURAL CENTER.

SPRING in BLOOM GARDENS

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Mother’s Day & Music Fair MAY 12

Memorial Day & Artesian Arts Festival MAY 26-27

Father’s Day Celebration

•

FESTIVITIES • FUN Join us as we celebrate

the season with festivities, attractions and traditional arts. Tour the Butterfly Gardens, Water Pavilion and Traditional Village. Indoors are fascinating exhibits and experiences to share.

Shop and enjoy the sunlit Aaimpa' Café.

JUNE 16-17

Children’s Festival JUNE 23

Holbaˇ Pisachiˇ Film Festival JULY 14

Share in our Stomp Dance demonstrations.

Our Spiral Garden features the ancient “Three Sisters” method of planting squash, corn and beans together.

Stroll across the beautiful new Inkana’ Bridge!

GROUPTRAVELLEADER.COM UNI_18-CNC-008_Group_Travel_Leader_Apr_HP4C.indd 1

ChickasawCulturalCenter.com • Sulphur, OK • 580-622-7130

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Pueblo Harvest uses crops grown within the pueblo communities in its seasonal menus, which feature feast day stew, posole, green chile, pueblo oven bread, pueblo cookies, pumpkin pudding and wojapi, a stewedberry dessert.

In the center’s on-site Resilience Garden, groups can explore the story of pueblo agriculture from before European contact through today.

WWW.INDIANPUEBLO.ORG

Photos courtesy IPCC TOP: COOKING INDIAN FRY BREAD BOTTOM: RESILIENCE GARDEN AT INDIAN PUEBLO CULTUAL CENTER

,

A L ASK A NAT I V E H E R I TAGE CE N T E R ANCHOR AGE,ALASK A The Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, Alaska, is not exactly a museum. Though it preserves and shares how Alaska’s 11 indigenous cultures have lived for thousands of years, the center also allows visitors to connect with how Alaska Natives live today.

The center’s daily schedule includes traditional storytelling, dance performances and demonstrations of Alaska Native games, such as the Alaska high kick and the two-foot high kick, which hunters traditionally used to signal the village about the outcome of a hunt. But guests also get to meet the people.

An elder will show groups how to make akutaq, which is like ice cream.

Although it’s traditionally made of whipped reindeer fat or seal oil with berries, visitors make it with yogurt and fruit. Groups can also take dance lessons, participate in games and watch a salmon being filleted with an ulu knife before enjoying a fish bake.

Outside the museum, a wooded trail leads to six life-size replicas of traditional Alaska Native dwellings. Guests can step into an Athabascan log cabin or a Haida clan house. At each dwelling, a village site host from that region talks about the home and the tools inside. Visitors can handle traditional hunting tools and household items, such as oil lamps made of volcanic rock.

W W W. A L ASK A NAT I V E . N E T

VISITORS CAN ENJOY TRADITIONAL MUSIC, DANCE AND OTHER EXPERIENCES AT THE ALASKA NATIVE HERITAGE CENTER.

V i s i t C h e r o k e e Nat i o n . c o m © 2018 Cherokee Nation Businesses. All Rights Reserved.

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Photos courtesy Alaska Native Heritage Center

From colorful, rhythmic dances to world-famous festivals and more, Oklahoma is chock-full of living legends and time-honored traditions. Admire the creativity of authentic Native American artists.

Walk the grounds of a traditional Cherokee village. And ignite your soul as drummers from Oklahoma’s 30+ tribal nations celebrate their cultures and heritage with the world.

Find adventures and itineraries at TravelOK.com/Group.

CONNECTICUT’S MOHEGAN SUN HAS 1,600 GUESTROOMS AND 3,600 SQUARE FEET OF GAMING SPACE.

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Courtesy Eiteljorg Museum Courtesy Mohegan Sun

asinos offer the fast-paced action of the roulette wheel and the blackjack table; off-track betting; and spinning, ringing, blinging slot machines. But these Native American-owned casinos are more than their gaming floors. Guests can shop at a wide variety of stores or dine at any number of restaurants, catch bigname concerts and big-ticket games, relax on the golf course or on the spa table.

Many of these casinos also incorporate tribal heritage through artwork and decor, tours that showcase their communities and experiences that educate visitors about their culture.

APRIL 2018

MOHEGAN SUN UNCASVILLE, CONNECTICUT Mohegan Sun covers 240 acres along the banks of the Thames River in Uncasville, Connecticut.

The Mohegan Tribe-owned resort boasts more than 360,000 square feet of gaming space in three casinos — the Casinos of the Earth, Sky and Wind — as well as 1,600 guest rooms in two hotel towers.

The casino resort is like its own city where guests can do whatever they like: golf, concerts, sports and more.

“Between dining and shopping and spas, your hotel stay, your food, your entertainment, you can get it all in one stop,” said Mohegan Sun general manager Ray Pineault.

The resort opened the 400-room Earth Tower in October 2016, adding to the 1,200 guest rooms in the Sky Tower.

In early June, Mohegan Sun will complete an expansion that will add about 240,000 square feet of meeting, convention and event space, more than 125,000 of which will be in the new Expo Hall.

The hall’s first event will be the Barrett-Jackson auto auction in late June.

The hall will further expand the resort’s already extensive entertainment options. The 10,000-seat Mohegan Sun arena welcomes big-name, big-ticket events, including U2 in July, “one of the biggest shows we’ll ever have,” Pineault said. The arena is also home to the Connecticut Sun WNBA team and the New England Black Wolves professional lacrosse team.

The centerpiece of the Earth casino floor is Wolf Den, a concert venue where guests will find free live music nearly every day of the week, and Comix comedy club has nightly shows Wednesday through Sunday.

The resort is also wrapping up a full renovation of the Mandara Spa in the Sky Tower, and a second Mandara Spa location opened with the new Earth Tower.

Mohegan Sun has 35 restaurants and dining options on property. Ballo Italian Restaurant, Michael Jordan’s Steak House and Todd English’s Tuscany all have private dining venues.

W W W. MOHEG A NSU N.COM

The casino resort is like its own city where guests can do whatever they like: golf, concerts, sports and more.

GROUPTRAVELLEADER.COM

Courtesy Pechanga Casino Courtesy Mystic Lake

M YSTIC LA K E CASI NO HOTEL P R I O R L A K E , M I N N E S O TA The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community owns the Mystic Lake Casino Hotel, which sits on the community’s 4,000 acres about 25 miles southwest of downtown Minneapolis. When the new Mystic Lake Center opened in January, it made the property one of the Twin Cities’ largest hotels and the area’s only full-service resort.

The Mystic Lake Center expansion included a new 70,000-square-foot conference center as well as a new, nine-story, 180-room hotel tower that brought the hotel’s total number of guest rooms to 766, group sales manager Holland Tudor said.

The resort has seven restaurants, three bars and lounges, and the largest gaming floor in Minnesota, Holland said. Group gaming options include blackjack lessons and tournaments, slot tournaments and a private casino night in a ballroom.

Guests can also arrange for services at the Spa at Mystic Lake or play a round at the 18-hole Meadows at Mystic Lake golf course.

OPOS Tours and Travel can customize group tours for 10 to 200 people to educate visitors about sacred sites and indigenous art and culture.

A sustainability tour may showcase the community’s organic farm, recycling plant, beehives, honey bottling, maple bottling and green roofs on the fire station and the on-site Dakotah Sport and Fitness buildings. The Dakotah center has an indoor pool with a waterslide, an ice rink and a bowling alley.

Groups can visit Mazopiya, the natural food market where the community sells its produce and products. With the new expansion, Mystic Lake has “an amazing kitchen,” Tudor said, and

Courtesy Pechanga Casino

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: GUESTROOM WITH A VIEW AT MYSTIC LAKE CASINO IN MINNESOTA; THE SPA AT PECHANGA CASINO IN CALIFORNIA; HISTORIC ARTIFACTS IN THE PECHANGA LOBBY.

the resort offers back-of-the-house tours for guests to see what happens behind the scenes, such as meeting the pastry chef who loves to talk about his sourdough mix that he’s been cultivating for 30 years.

W W W. M YST ICL A K ECE N T ER .COM

PECHANGA RESORT AND CASINO TEMECUL A, CALIFORNIA When Pechanga Courtesy ResortEiteljorg and Casino Museum in Temecula, California, opened its new 4.5-acre outdoor pool complex in March, it was the final piece of a two-year, $300 million expansion.

The Pechanga Band of Luiseño Mission Indians owns the casino, which offers gaming, resort amenities and easy access to nearby vineyards and wineries, historic Old Town Temecula, hot-air ballooning and horseback riding.

“Guests definitely enjoy our array of amenities and also all of the rich activities the city of Temecula has to offer through our partnership with them,” said Scott Wilson, Pechanga director of sales.

The resort’s expansion built a second hotel tower,

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more than doubling the number of guest rooms and suites to 1,090.

The Cove has four pools, three Jacuzzis, dozens of cabanas, a bar that offers both swim-up and walk-up service and a new poolside restaurant, Coveside Grill, that in addition to the Lobby Bar and Grill, was one of two new restaurants included in the expansion.

The project also included a new 25,000-square-foot day spa with 17 treatment rooms and its own dedicated pool, and 70,000 square feet of new meeting and event space. Part of that is the new Pechanga Summit, an event center that can be used for concerts, live-action sports and trade shows. In addition to the entertainment at that venue, groups can often catch shows in the 1,200-seat Pechanga Theater or at the comedy club.

Groups can use the casino’s dedicated poker room, book a private room upstairs in the supermodern bingo hall or reserve the hall’s entire second level that overlooks the floor below for private parties with dedicated foodand-beverage service.

W W W. PECH A NG A.COM

HARR AH’S CHEROK EE CASINO RESORT CHEROKEE, NORTH CAROLINA Harrah’s Cherokee Hotel and Casino has come a long way in the 20 years since the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians opened its new facility in the rolling Smoky Mountain hills of Cherokee, North Carolina. The Photos courtesy Pechanga Casino Eastern Band entered the modern era of gaming in 1997 with an $83 million, 175,000-square-foot casino, and over the past NATURAL COLORS AND TEXTURES DECORATE THE LOUNGE AND LOBBY AT PECHANGA CASINO. two decades, the now-sprawling resort has come to rival the casinos of Las Vegas.

Today, Harrah’s Cherokee has more than 1,100 hotel rooms and a gaming floor with 4,000 slot machines, table games and a renowned World Series of Poker room.

The Eastern Band owns the 56-acre resort 50 miles west of Asheville, and Harrah’s operates and manages it. Last year, the tribal council approved plans to move forward with a $200 million expansion to build another hotel tower, which would add 600 to 800 guest rooms, and CHOOSE THE PERFECT GETAWAY FOR YOUR GROUP 100,000 square feet of convention space. Crews could break ground this spring.

For more information on incentives for you and your group or to In September 2017, the resort opened its new book your group, call toll free 1-877-778-8138 UltraStar Multi-tainment Center just off the casino floor. The 50,000-square-foot center offers a fullor email bwebb@harrahs.com. service restaurant, 16 bowling lanes, an arcade and a VIP area upstairs with another eight bowling lanes, pool tables and an outdoor patio with a fireplace.

Groups can check out concerts and other performances at the 3,000-seat Harrah’s Event Center or book services at the 18,000-square-foot Mandara Spa. Shoppers will find name-brand fashions and CHEROKEE, NC MURPHY, NC handmade Cherokee artwork, and outdoor enthusiasts have plenty of activities to choose from, including hiking and whitewater rafting.

Must be 21 or older to enter casino floor and to gamble, and must present a valid state or federal photo ID upon

TWO CASINOS

TWICE THE FUN

request. Know When To Stop Before You Start.® Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-522-4700. An Enterprise of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. ©2018, Caesars License Company, LLC.

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APRIL 2018

The resort has eight restaurants and bars, including Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Chefs Stage Buffet and Brio Tuscan Grille.

W W W.C A ES A R S .COM / H A R R A HS- CHEROK EE

ONEIDA CASINO AND RADISSON HOTEL AND CONFERENCE CENTER G R E E N B AY, W I S C O N S I N The Oneida Nation’s main casino in Green Bay, Wisconsin, is surrounded by lush, green woods yet sits directly across the street from the Green BayAustin Straubel International Airport.

In 2014, Oneida Casino wrapped up its first expansion since opening 20 years earlier. The project added 17,500 square feet, which included an eight-table private poker room; Vince Lombardi’s Legendary Sports Bar and Grill, named for the Green Bay Packers’ famed coach; and a three-station food court that today features Boar’s Head deli, Chicken Fry Fry and Grill Masters.

GROUPTRAVELLEADER.COM

The renovation project also included a new Players Club and the Oneida Cultural Corridor, which features items and artwork from the Oneida Nation Museum. The entire property also received a facelift that included new paint; new carpeting; and HVAC upgrades.

The renovations boosted the number of slot machines from 890 to 970, and nearly half of those are now in nonsmoking areas. In addition to slot machines, the casino offers nine types of table games, including blackjack, craps and roulette. The bingo hall can seat over 700 players, and in the Off-Track Betting room, guests can wager on and watch live thoroughbred, harness and greyhound races from top tracks around the country.

At the attached Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, the lobby’s soaring stone fireplace and woodwrapped walls set the stage for the hotel’s Oneidainspired decor. The property has 354 guest rooms and suites, 30,000 square feet of meeting space and an indoor pool; dining options include the Pine Tree Grill and Purcell’s Lounge.

Courtesy Oneida Casino GREEN BAY’S ONEIDA CASINO HAS BOTH SLOTS AND TABLE GAMES.

WWW.ONEIDACASINO.NET

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sound-off

STAFF

WH AT’S A ME ANINGF UL PER SONAL INTER ACTION YOU H AVE H AD WITH LOCALS WH IL E T R AVELING?

Many years ago, I was traveling in Jordan with a small group of journalists. We were walking through the market in a small town — I don’t even remember where now — when a shopkeeper invited us into his store. But he didn’t want to sell us anything; he just wanted to talk. He pulled out a half-dozen chairs, poured us small cups of tea and began asking us questions about our lives in America and our experiences in Jordan. We spent about a half-hour with him and left with an unplanned, inspiring personal connection to the country.

— Brian Jewell, EXECUTIVE EDITOR

On the night of my arrival in Nice, France, for a trip with Collette, three of us left the bar at the Hotel Ellington when a young Frenchman asked if we wanted to join his group in the courtyard. We spent an hour or so over beers talking with five or six young locals about the essence of travel. They were heartbroken over recent terrorist attacks in Paris and felt that the appearance of uniformed security guards had robbed France of its innocence. And two of them talked about how much they had enjoyed a road trip they’d done in America. It was pure serendipity that they asked us to join them and absolutely delightful once we did.

Once during a trip to Italy, a friend and I stayed at a remote bed-and-breakfast in the mountains above the Amalfi Coast. It was the first time during the trip that we felt genuinely immersed in Italian culture. Even though few of the locals could speak English, everyone we encountered was warm and welcoming, and occasionally, we were able to communicate using Google translate. We later discovered a wonderful pizza parlor in the village, which quickly became our favorite hangout. The owners would always encourage us to use their Wi-Fi and stay as long as we liked. By the time our stay came to an end, we almost felt like part of the community. We saw some pretty incredible sights throughout our travels in Italy, but that little village in the mountains left the strongest impression.

— Savannah Osbourn, STAFF WRITER

Two summers ago, I met a dude at a random bar in Prague who had Czech and British parents, so he spoke English fluently.

It was really cool talking to him about the city and how their culture is different from ours in America. I never forgot our conversation in that basement bar, and we still talk every once in a while to this day.

— Kyle Anderson, SALES ASSISTANT

Graham and I love taking our cameras out and just walking around a city. We were doing this in Savannah [Georgia] last year and found a young woman on River Street sitting in a shop window and smoking a cigarillo on her break. After talking to her for a bit, I ended up asking if we could take her portrait. This shot has become one of my favorites because of the way her personality shined through, from her chipped nail polish to her undercut hairstyle.

— Ashley Ricks, CIRCULATION MANAGER

— Mac Lacy, PUBLISHER

EDITOR’S NOTE Welcome to Staff Sound-Off, the monthly column where our staff members answer questions about their travel practices and preferences.

We hope you enjoy these tips. If you have a question you’d like to see us answer, send it to me and it may appear in a future issue.

BRIANJ@GROUPTRAVELLEADER.COM 58

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NEW FOR 2019 ASK ABOUT OUR AMENITY PROGRAM

Group Dining

All-Inclusive, Truly Luxury River Cruises As the most inclusive river cruise line, group travel with Scenic is perfect for your clients without a thought of the cost. By including all shore excursions, drinks throughout the day, the services of a butler, all meals, tipping & gratuities, up to 5 dining options and airport transfers… the list of Scenic’s Signature inclusions is long. With our truly all-inclusive experience plus our NEW Group Amenity Program, we want to work with you to ensure a successful Group.

Royal Panorama Suite

e-bikes

Contact the Scenic groups department at 1.844.279.6124 | scenicusa.com Terms and conditions: 2019 groups at 2018 prices expires April 30, 2018. $1,000 per person Scenic Savings for sailings 8-10 days. $1,500 per person Scenic Savings for sailings 11+ days. 1 for 9 Tour Conductor credit plus our new Amenity Program. Contact us for details. These offers are not combinable with National Geographic departures or any other offer. For more information visit scenicusa.com. Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours | One Financial Center, 4th Floor | Boston, MA 02111 Ad Code: 18_SC0002 January 2018