Thursday, January 21st, 2021 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM Eastern Standard Time

Downloadable Schedule & Zoom Links HERE

Schedule​	Time	Details
Welcome Remarks	9:00 AM - 9:05 AM	Speaker: Julie Gilbert, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Destination Niagara and NETTRA Board Chair
​Keynote Addresses	​9:05 AM - 10:05 AM	2020 Hotel Performance Review for the total U.S. and Northeast Regional States Jennifer Foster, Business Development Executive, STR STR will present recent hotel performance for the United States and Northeast regional states.  The presentation will cover the state of the 2020 U.S. hotel industry, the overall Northeast Region and breakouts on states located within the region.  A look back at trends in previous downturns and recovery cycles will be included.  New incoming supply will be highlighted with our STR Pipeline Report.  A forecast of future hotel performance for the U.S. in 2021 and beyond will also be provided.    Behavior and Importance of Canadian Visitors, the Largest U.S. Inbound Market, in the Resurgence of Inbound International Travel Scott Johnson, Co-founder and President/CEO of XBorder Canada, Travel Market Insights, Inc. COVID-19’s impact on international travel is unprecedented!  At no time in our modern world has international travel been this deeply disrupted.  The new lens that the world is now looking through, along with other geopolitical challenges (China/US trade war, Brexit, and global economic slowdown) resulted in Canada being looked at as the first market to rebound and contribute to reviving travel jobs and tax revenue for many states and cities.  The session will look at both land and air visitors to the U.S. and show new Canadian visitor metrics for states and cities.  The presentation will include challenges ahead for restarting travel to the U.S.  A forecast will also be provided.   Tourism and National Parks: So Happy Together? Donald Leadbetter, Tourism Program Manager, National Park Service National parks are important drivers of tourism for many communities, and visitation to parks in 2020 was severely impacted by the pandemic. Donald Leadbetter, tourism program manager for the National Park Service, will discuss the unusual year that was, look ahead to another unusual year in front of us, and share some observations about the challenges of balancing tourism and conservation.   COVID & Relevance of Research in the Tourism Industry Yang Yang, Ph.D., Associate Professor & Assistant Director of the U.S.-Asia Center for Tourism & Hospitality Research, School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management, Temple University In this presentation, Dr. Yang describes the development and calibration of an analytical tool named the “COVID19tourism index” to monitor the pandemic’s tourism effects across the world. As a powerful numerical and visual tool, the index provides important information related to the potential travel and tourism recovery at the global, regional, and country levels. Compared to a benchmark of “normal” levels (equal to 100 in this case), the COVID19tourism index offers insight into the tourism industry’s recovery process along with the pandemic’s impacts on numerous aspects of tourism.
Coffee Break	10:05 AM - 10:15 AM	-
Research Colloquium:  Colloquium participants will present their research in a 3-Minute Thesis (3MT) format – designed to “cultivate students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills”, increasing their capacity to effectively explain their research in a concise manner. This 3MT format is easily consumable for the Research Colloquium audience and provides a platform for eliciting feedback from both participants and attendees.	10:15 AM - 11:15 AM	​Theme 1: Understanding visitor experiences A review of research on travel of adults with autism spectrum disorder Ayse Akyildiz*, Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management, Pennsylvania State University Bing Pan, Ph.D., Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management, Pennsylvania State University  Examining the impacts of robot service on hotel customer experiences Namrata Jain*, Department of Tourism, Event, and Sport Management, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis Bingjie Liu-Lastres, Department of Tourism, Event, and Sport Management, Indiana University–Purdue University        Emotion detection of TripAdvisor reviews of Yellowstone National Park Luyu Wang*, Department of Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management, University of Florida        The narrative of Holocaust museums in the United States Amy Spence*, Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality, New York University           Theme 2: Implications of tourists’ values and emotions The importance of wildlife value orientations for ecotourism development Birendra KC, Ph.D., College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism, University of North Texas Jihye Min*, Ph.D., College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism, University of North Texas Gijsbert Hoogendoorn, Ph.D., Department of Geography, Environmental Management and Energy Studies, University of Johannesburg Christopher Serenari, Ph.D., Department of Biology, Texas State University   Emotional solidarity as a travel motivation: Tested from emotional solidarity and interaction ritual perspectives Dongoh Joo*, Ph.D., Sport, Outdoor Recreation, and Tourism Management Program, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Kyle Maurice Woosnam, Ph.D., Sport, Outdoor Recreation, and Tourism Management Program, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Tara J. Denley, Sport, Outdoor Recreation, and Tourism Management Program, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga   Understand customers’ trust toward service robots Oscar Hengxuan Chi*, Carson College of Business, Washington State University  Shizhen Jia, Carson College of Business, Washington State University  Yafang Li, Carson College of Business, Washington State University    Theme 3: Assessing and leveraging visitation rates Assessing the validity of SafeGraph data for visitor monitoring in Yellowstone National Park Yun Liang*, Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management, Pennsylvania State University Junjun Yin, Ph.d., Social Science Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University Bing Pan, Ph.D., Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management, Pennsylvania State University    The campers’ conundrum: Examining setting’s influence on campsite choice using big data William Rice*, Ph.D., WA Franke College of Forestry & Conservation, University of Montana Soyoung Park, Ph.D., College of Business, Florida Atlantic University   Agritourism Clusters as a Paradigm Shift for Operator and Travelers Benefits Oluwatoyin Adebisi*, Davis College of Agriculture, West Virginia University Dee Singh-Knights, Davis College of Agriculture, West Virginia University * Presenter
Coffee Break	11:15 AM - 11:25 AM	-
Roundtable Discussions: There are four different roundtable discussions each covering an important topic. The session is open to anyone registered for the NETTRA conference including marketers, academicians, and vendors. Each roundtable is conducted through a separate Zoom link. Please follow the link beside the Roundtable Topic.	11:25 AM - 11:55 AM	Data Analytics in Tourism Industry  Don’t get stuck in a data dirge. We are surrounded with data and numbers daily. How do you approach the process of simplifying and making it actionable to internal and external stakeholders? Don’t miss this interactive roundtable session for an opportunity to discuss best practices and real-life experiences with colleagues and thought leaders in the tourism industry. ​Moderators: Stephanie Brown, Executive Vice President, SMARInsights Erik Evjen, Director of Data Analytics and Insights, Tourism Economics   Tourism Recovery for DMOs  Moderators: Scott Johnson, Co-founder and President/CEO of XBorder Canada, Travel Market Insights, Inc. Jonathan Tesser, Vice President of Research & Insights, NYC & Company    Sustainability for Tourism Industry  The practice of sustainable tourism management, which emphasizes the long-term health and integrity of the environment and society, is multi-faceted and can look very different depending on the destination, organization, and individuals involved. Adhering to the principles of sustainability is now more complex due to the coronavirus pandemic, with an urgency to regain the economic benefits of tourism while keeping visitors and residents safe. What will sustainability in tourism look like in the immediate future? Join this discussion to examine the status of sustainability in COVID-19 tourism recovery planning.  ​Moderators: Donald Leadbetter, Tourism Program Manager, National Park Service Seleni Matus, Executive Director, International Institute of Tourism Studies, George Washington University   Tourism Academy in the Post-Pandemic Era This session will approach the topic of what the academic discussion of tourism will look like in the post Covid era. Our moderators will introduce the topic of how the pedagogy surrounding destination related events will change in the future and how we as academics have the responsibility to move the discussion forward.  There will be an overview of current practical application resources and how these resources will replace textbooks in teaching the topic from the practitioner’s perspective.   Moderators: Muzzo (Muzaffer) Uysal, Ph.D., Department Chair & Professor, Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts Amherst Ira Rosen, Associate Professor & Director of the Event Leadership Executive Certificate Program, School of Sport, Tourism, and Hospitality Management, Temple University   Diversity and Inclusion in Tourism With an ongoing global pandemic, climate-induced disasters, geopolitical unrest, and growing calls for social justice, academics and practitioners are urged to rethink models for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in tourism. This Roundtable discussion will engage urgent and timely dialogue on how tourism must organize and expand capacity for DEI. Join us! ​Moderators: Georgette James, Founder, CTTC Global Pauline A. Milwood, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Engineering, Business, and Computing, Penn State University-Berks
Networking/Mentoring Session	11:55 AM - 12:15 PM	Networking Session  The participants of the Networking Session will be randomly assigned to a break out room of five to six people. Before entering the break out room, the conference host will announce a question that can be used to lead the conversation. There will be no host to moderate the networking session. When in the break out room, you are first expected to introduce yourselves and discuss freely, either using the question posed by the host or any topic you wish. The networking session will last 20 minutes, and the participants will rejoice in the main Zoom session for the Closing Remarks.   Mentoring Session The participants who expressed interest in the mentoring session will be pre-assigned into groups of four (two mentors and two mentees) and sent a separate Zoom link prior to the conference. We highly suggest that the members of each group connect with each other in advance. If you would like to participate in the Networking Session, you can set up a different time with the group outside the conference.
Closing Remarks	12:15 PM - 12:30 PM	​Speaker: Bing Pan, Ph.D., Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management, Pennsylvania State university and NETTRA President ​NETTRA President Dr. Bing Pan will give closing remarks and announce Best Paper winner. We will also draw three participants and hand out $20 gift cards!

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