By Jake McGuire, courtesy Destination D.C.
WASHINGTON — The American Bus Association (ABA) has rolled out its 2012 edition of Top 100 Events in North America, and group leaders will receive the 40-page publication free at every GLAMER Chapter Meeting.
ABA publishes the list each year as a guide to the best and newest events and festivals for groups to visit.
The relationship between ABA and GLAMER is entering its fourth year and has become a much-anticipated publication by group travel directors who look to it for new travel ideas.
“We hear from groups at every Chapter Meeting who say that the Top 100 gave them an idea for a new tour that their group loved,” said John Sandor of GLAMER.
ABA selects top group events in all 50 states, which gives groups destinations from coast to coast.
If your group is around Nassau, Del., next November, you might drop by the World Championship Pumpkin Chunkin event Nov. 2-4, or Barnesville Minn., will welcome you Aug. 24-25 to the Barnesville Potato Days.
ABA named the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which will mark the centennial of Japan’s gift of the cherry trees that line the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., as the top event in the United States for 2012. The festival will take place March 20-April 27.
The top event in Canada is the Niagara 1812 Bicentennial, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, which will take place at Thorold, Ontario, June 15-18.
The distribution of the ABA Top 100 Events has become a driving force in creating group tourism with some events reporting a noticeable increase in bus groups as a result of the ABA-GLAMER partnership. GLAMER tracking shows that the ABA Top 100 Events resulted in more than 30,000 group tour visitors attending the events as a result of receiving the publication at Chapter Meetings.
“We are pleased to work with ABA in helping to get the word out about great tourism events and always tell our group leaders that they can select an Top 100 Events with full confidence,” said Charlie Presley, founder of GLAMER.
If you can’t wait for your local GLAMER Chapter Meeting to receive a copy of ABA’s Top 100, contact GLAMER at 800-628-0993 or groups@glamer.com for your free copy.
