Testimonials
If you would like to submit a testimonial in regards to the Religious Travel Market and your relationship with the World Religious Travel Association, please send an email to the WRTA staff. If your testimonial is accepted, your organization website address will accompany your quote.
Jack Anderson, Vice President of Marketing for Carnival Corporation
www.worldsleadingcruiselines.com
“Whether cruising as a single, couple, family, group, or even a full-ship charter, the World's
Leading Cruise Lines (Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Cunard
Line, Costa Cruise, and the Yachts of Seabourn) provide an excellent vacation experience for faith based travelers. We are pleased to be a sponsor of the World Religious Travel Association and appreciate the choice of our lines by faith-based travelers and travel agencies.”
Malia Asfour, Director of the Jordan Tourism Board of North America (JTBNA)
www.visitjordan.com
www.seejordan.org
“As a Holy Land destination that provides a one-stop location to meet all the needs of faith-based travelers – from cruising to adventure, retreats to study tours and all the segments in between – we are delighted to sponsor the WRTA Expo. We look forward to working with WRTA to showcase fresh and unique travel opportunities for this dynamic and growing industry.”
Malia Asfour, Director of the Jordan Tourism Board of North America (JTBNA)
www.visitjordan.com
www.seejordan.org
"WRTA has emerged at a critical time in the industry, when both consumers and the trade are re-thinking and re-shaping what constitutes a more meaningful travel experience. As a Holy Land destination that offers a variety of purpose-filled vacation experiences -- from pilgrimages to retreats, conferences to volun-tourism -- we are delighted to be a Charter Member of WRTA, and look forward to working with the leadership and fellow members to develop transformative vacation experiences that better meet the needs of religious travelers."
Jim Buddendorf, President of MTS Travel
www.mtstravel.com
"MTS Travel is proud to be a charter member of The World Religious Travel Association. During our 50-year plus history, MTS Travel has focused on providing travel services to destinations of significance to those who travel for religious and relief and development reasons. We are honored to count some of the largest churches and NGOs as our clients and look forward to working closely with WRTA in bringing religious travel into its proper perspective in the travel industry. As a retailer and wholesaler of religious travel, we realize the value of working with other specialists in this arena as well as WRTA to develop win/win/win scenarios for our customers, suppliers and fellow agents."
Neko C. Grant, Bahamas Minister of Tourism
www.bahamas.com
www.worship.bahamas.com
“The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism Religious/Faith department is pleased to be a charter member of the World Religious Travel Association. In this new partnership we look forward to WRTA assisting us in delivering our message to our key audience, and it is our hope that through our association with this organization that the number of religious/faith meetings, conferences, conventions and retreats to The Islands Of The Bahamas will increase substantially.”
Mirko Capodanno, Trade Manager of Central USA and Canada for Switzerland Tourism
www.switzerland.com
www.switzerland.com/groups
“Switzerland has many religious and historically very important sites to offer and to visit. Not only in regards to the Reformation and its leaders such as Calvin or Zwingli, but also because in Switzerland lies the origin of many churches and religious fellowships which are spread throughout the U.S. today, such as Baptist, Mennonite and Amish. Besides this, there is a tremendous amount of very ancient historic sites, abbeys, museums and churches. Our goal is to approach religious group leaders all over North America in cooperation with some tour operators, and show them many aspects of our country which travelers who are interested in religious trips may not realize, and show them how to combine these best with popular tourist attractions in Switzerland such as the highest rail station in Europe, the Glacier Express Railway or the Matterhorn.”
Joe Donnelly, Director of National Sales-Travel Industry for Gaylord Hotels
www.gaylordhotels.com
www.gaylordentertainment.com
We are very pleased and excited to be a Charter Member of WRTA. The fine leadership of this terrific, new and much needed travel industry organization have become knowledgeable experts in this market and they are breaking ground in a market segment of the travel industry that is poised for tremendous growth. The assistance, programming and education that they will continue to provide to both the religious travel buyer and supplier will undoubtedly be a very valuable resource to all those in the travel industry."
John Severini, a Partner of KDS Solutions (former President of Trafalgar Tours)
www.kdsmarketingandsales.com
“The World Religious Travel Expo is a remarkable opportunity for agents and suppliers to “step out of their box” of traditional sales focus and learn innovative ways to expand their existing client base. KDS Solutions is excited to be working with WRTA and our primary focus is to leverage the huge initial demand for this fall's convention, which will enable more agents to tap into a burgeoning market to generate new customers and incremental sales. For agents and sellers of vacation travel, WRTA's Expo is a ‘must attend.'
Robert Brennan, Founder of Brennan Vacations
www.brennanvacations.com
“Both faith tourism and group travel have evolved over the last several decades with obvious synergy, so it makes perfect sense for Brennan Vacations to sponsor the WRTA Expo in order to lead and facilitate the faith travel industry’s growth. Since 1978, our goal has been simple – to provide fresh, authentic journeys of discovery by treating our customers as individuals, while providing the benefits of group travel. Our approach particularly resonates with religious groups, and I look forward to continuing the tradition through our participation in the industry’s first international faith travel tradeshow and educational conference.”
