Travel and tourism executives to set sail for SKAL World Congress

Over 1200 travel and tourism executives from around the world will gather to
to do business, explore the city, and enjoy a seven-day Carnival Cruise

NEW YORK, New York – SKAL International, the world’s largest professional association of senior travel and tourism executives, announced that its 2013 World Congress will be hosted by the New York City SKAL Chapter, September 28 to October 5. It will be the first time the Congress, which is expected to attract over 1,200 travel industry delegates from around the globe, has been based in New York since 1955, and the first time held in the United States since 1994. The New York Chapter is one of the largest in the world.

“We are extremely honored to have been selected as the coordinator of this Congress,” said John Ruzich, former New York Club President and present SKAL International Auditor, “Our goal is to ensure that these travel industry executives, coming mostly from overseas, have a positive experience in New York, so they continue to recommend our city as a destination to the millions of travelers’ itineraries they influence every year.”

Making SKAL International’s 74th Congress most unique is that it will be the first to be held at sea. The Carnival Cruise ship Glory will be the site for the actual association meetings and member networking.

Mr. Ruzich and an active organizing committee have been working closely with the leadership of SKAL International, which is headquartered in Spain, to ensure every aspect of the Congress makes it an event to remember. The “Glory” will leave and return from New York City with ports-of-call in Boston, MA, Portland, ME, Saint John, NB Canada, and Halifax, NS Canada. Daytrips are being arranged at each stop, as are pre/post tours within New York City and the region.

“A major advantage of having the 2013 SKAL Congress starting and ending in New York is that attendees will also have the opportunity to arrange meetings with the many New York-based travel partners,” noted Paul Kastner, current President of the SKAL New York Chapter.

SKAL International’s World Congress is an annual meeting of representatives from the association’s 450 clubs throughout 85 nations with approximately 20,000 professional members. It is the only international group uniting all branches of the travel and tourism industry to provide forums for industry leaders to meet on local, regional, national, and international levels to discuss and pursue topics of common interest and encouraging “friends doing business with friends.”

SKAL International New York was the first chapter in North America and will be celebrating its 75th anniversary during the Congress. Many of the club’s members will be providing Congress attendees incentives to visit their businesses and attractions while in the city, as tourism is an important part of their annual revenue. Non-SKAL companies who wish to reach this audience must first become a club member. Information on membership can be found at www.NYSkal.com .

A special website, www.Skal2013WorldCongress.com , has been created to present all of the Congress information to SKAL members, and continual updates will be available on Facebook and Twitter.

For more information on the SKAL World Congress, visit www.Skal2013WorldCongress.com .

PHOTO: At last week’s SKAL International World Congress held in Seoul, Korea, it was announced that next year’s Congress has been awarded to the New York City Chapter and will take place September 28 to October 5, 2013. Making the announcement were (pictured left to right): SKAL International New York Past President Carolyn Feimster, SKAL Secretary General Bernhard Wegscheider, 2012 SKAL International President Enrique Quesada, 2013 SKAL International President Mok Singh, 2013 SKAL International New York President Lisa Conway, 2013 World Congress Chairman John Ruzich