American Tourism Society to Hold Conference in Czech Republic

American Tourism Society to Hold Conference in Czech Republic

The American Tourism Society (ATS) will have its Annual Fall 2011 Conference in the Czech Republic spa town of Luhacovice, Oct. 23 to 27. The conference will be followed by a product development tour to Moravia and Slovakia from Oct. 27 to 30.

David Parry, ATS chairman and chairman, Academic Travel Abroad, said, “We are confident that our U.S.-based ATS members will find that, true to our mission of Presenting Tomorrow’s Destinations, this conference will showcase another region in the Czech Republic and Slovakia that Americans are less familiar with, but which has great tourism potential for this market.”

Pavel Kosar, director of Czech Tourism North America, said, “Czech Tourism is especially pleased that the ATS delegates will be able to experience and tour the beautiful region of Eastern Moravia -- starting with Luhacovice, the biggest Moravian spa town with a distinct architecture, and the iconic town of Zlin, famous for the historic Tomas Bata’s factory and museum.”

ATS will bring its ATS Tourism College Program to students at Zlin University. The well-respected ATS Tourism College has received much praise from the host countries of the past three conferences in Egypt, Germany, and most recently, Kosovo in October 2010.

The ATS Tourism College program consists of three tracks, the first where ATS tourism professionals spend a day teaching students at the local university tourism programs; the second, the students are invited to attend the ATS conference sessions; the third are the educational sessions at the ATS Conference focusing on how to promote and sell to the U.S. market, geared to the local and non-U.S. travel professionals.