THETRADESHOW (Travel Retailing and Destination Expo) will take place this year in Orlando, September 7-9, at the Orange County Convention Center. THE TRADESHOW has again lined up outstanding educational seminars for attendees. In just three education packed days, this travel trade show will provide a wide selection of educational sessions to help agents enhance their areas of expertise and capture more sales opportunities.

"We all know how quickly things can change within the travel industry and how quickly travel trends emerge. Travel agents who focus on continuing education will retain their title of travel authority and will understand how to use such changes to their advantage," said Bill Connors, CTC, National Business Travel Association (NBTA) executive director and COO. "One way to maintain the competitive edge is with a focus on the business travel market. The Fundamentals of Business Travel Management course offered at THE TRADESHOW is the perfect opportunity for agents to learn to manage travel for corporate clients."

Interested agents attending this year's THE TRADESHOW will have the opportunity to earn up to 10 CEU's from the Travel Institute and up to 40 CLIA credits.

Topics for training include:

Technology

• Excel - Agents will learn how using Excel can save them time and money and improve their office's overall organization and productivity.
• Blogs - Blogging is a new, convenient way for travel agents to reach current and prospective clients. This seminar will teach agents how to create their own blog in just a few simple steps.
• MySpace Your Way to More Sales: Using Blogs and Social Networking Sites as Part   of a Successful Marketing Program – Agents will learn tips and tricks for using social   networking sites and blogs to their advantage and will discuss how this booming technology can fit into a successful marketing and public relations program.
• Google - Using search engines like Google has made surfing the Web easier and less   time consuming. Agents will explore this free resource and learn how to search efficiently.

Home-based agents

• Ultimate Sales Seminar - This selling workshop provides specific tools and will introduce a process and style that can be personalized to each individual. By using the sales system provided, the goal changes from completing a transaction to creating a lifetime client.
• "If I'm like you – you will like me" - This seminar will teach people how to communicate with their customers, the four ways people like to be approached and then how to approach them correctly to get sales.
• Tool Box for Making a Small Fortune as a Home-Based Agent - Agents will learn marketing and other essential steps to elevate their home-based business to the next level. This seminar will cover: understanding the tools that are needed for a professionals home-based agent; legal issues for home-based agents; industry ID codes; e-commerce and database tools; how to build business through networking; the home-based agency host; selling and managing groups and much more.

Niche travel

• Green travel – This session will equip agents with the background knowledge of green travel and why it is becoming such an important niche market.
• Green travel marketing – Agents will find out what consumers want when it comes to green travel and how to successfully market this form of travel.
• Luxury – This course will teach agents how to create high-end luxury packages that will meet their clients specialized need
• Destination Cuba – Agents will cover this exotic country in-depth while they learn about its history, culture, infrastructure, transportation and policies.
• How to Reach the Flourishing Minority Market – In this seminar, agents will gain an understanding of the minority market they want to reach and how their agency will benefit.

Industry

• Legal – Agents will review the prominent legal issues that face travel professionals as they use, advertise, and sell goods and services through the Internet.
• The Fundamentals of Business Travel (CTE Program) - This session is offered by the National Business Travel Association that once successfully completed leads to the designation of Corporate Travel Expert (CTE).
• GDS – The best deals for agencies of all sizes and how to get them. Attendees will learn about GDS contracts, the future of contracts, what agents are getting now, what they can get and what they should look for.

The Travel Institute

• Negotiating for Mutual Gain – Inevitably every travel professional will need to work through a conflict with a co-worker, supplier or customer. Keen negotiating skills are necessary to achieve mutually agreeable solutions to all types of conflict. This course explores the steps of the negotiation process and a variety of successful negotiating techniques.
• Managing Change - The ability to work with, and anticipate, change is crucial to success in the travel industry. This module provides attendees with skills to handle the challenges and opportunities that come from change.