Published for the Travel Agents of Suffolk County
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PLEASE NOTE - NEW DATE FOR JANUARY ONLY

Our January TASC dinner meeting is being held at
Shandon Court on
Wednesday, JAN 24TH

There will be a Cocktail hour along with a Mini trade show

Our presenter this month is

Natasha Lee Soy

Representing

The Aruba Tourist Board

Joining her will be:

First Class Aruba
Pelican Adventures
Ceremonies & Celebrations Aruba
Iberostar Hotel Aruba
Embassy Suites Aruba
Renaissance Hotel
Bucuti Hotel
De Palm Tours

Join us to win a free hotel stay in Aruba which will be raffled off by one
of the suppliers.

ATTENTION ALL MEMBERS
JANUARY MEETING DATE CHANGE
TASC HAS MOVED THE JANUARY MEETING FROM JANUARY 10TH TO JANUARY 24TH TO ACCOMODATE OUR PRESENTER WHO IS TRAVELING WITH SEVERAL SUPPLIERS. DUE TO THIS MEETING BEING HELD LATE IN THE MONTH WE THOUGHT IT BEST TO CANCEL OUR FEBRUARY 14TH MEETING AS IT WOULD ONLY BE 2 WEEKS LATER. SO AFTER THE JANUARY 24TH MEETING OUR NEXT REGULARLY SCHEDULED MEETING WILL BE HELD ON
MARCH 13TH.
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TASC JANUARY MEETING
LOCATION
SHANDON COURT

DATE AND TIME
01/24/24 6:00pm - 01/24/24 8:30pm

SIGN IN: 5:30PM, COCKTAIL HOUR 6-7PM, MEETING PRESENTATION & DINNER: 7PM MEMBERS: $30, NON-MEMBERS: $40 RSVP TO: TASCRSVP@GMAIL.COM
YES I WILL BE ATTENDING
PLEASE RSVP WITH THE "YES I WILL BE ATTENDING" BUTTON ONLY IF YOU DEFINITELY PLAN ON ATTENDING OUR MEETINGS

IMPORTANT INFORMATION IF YOU SHARE A SINGLE EMAIL ADDRESS WITH A COLLEAGUE
SINCE EACH EMAIL ADDRESS IS LINKED TO ONLY 1 PERSON, ONLY THAT 1 PERSON CAN BE COUNTED WHEN YOU RSVP ELECTRONICALLY, ADDITIONAL ATTENDEES MUST PHONE OR EMAIL IN THEIR RSVP.
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DINNER MEETING PRICE INCREASE IS CURRENTLY IN EFFECT FOR ALL
FUTURE MEETINGS
Due to rising food costs at our current venue
and for the first time in over 25 years
we found the need to raise the monthly dinner cost.
We have kept the increase to just $5.00.
Members will now pay $30 while
non-members will pay $40.
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PRESIDENTS MESSAGE
Dear Members,

Happy New Year to all!! I hope everyone had a good holiday .We have been so lucky with the beautiful and usual weather we have been having. 

This year our Holiday party was enjoyed by all, we did a Las Vegas theme party, it was nice to see everyone participating at the gambling tables. Many prizes were given away. Thank you to everyone who attended and made this evening a great success.

A special thank you to all who donated toys this year, the toys were taken to the Family Service League.

This month’s presenter will be Natasha Lee Soy representing the Aruba Tourist Board. Please join us for this meeting as she will have with her many hoteliers and tour companies. A hotel stay will be given away and an excursion (Monforte Luxury Cruise for 2 adults). Good luck to everyone who attends our January 24th meeting.

This month we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, he is best known for his advancement of civil rights and his famous speech: “I have a dream”

I also wanted everyone to know since we changed our January meeting we will not be having a February meeting as they would be too close together.

I would like to wish everyone a happy, healthy and successful 2024. I hope to see everyone at our January meeting,
 
Respectfully,
Fran Raupp
 
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PROPOSED TASC MEETING/EVENT SCHEDULE

JAN 24 - ARUBA TOURIST BOARD/COCKTAIL HOUR
FEB 14 - NO MEETING THIS MONTH
MAR 13 - SILVERSEA CRUISES
APR 10 - OPEN

All meetings are held at Shandon Court unless otherwise noted. Suppliers may contact our Programs Director,
Liz Henn at lizLBAC@gmail.com to enquire about a future program.

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VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!!!
TASC would like to recruit new board members for various open positions which will be available for the 2024 to 2026 term starting in July. Please see any of the current board members for details. If you want to see TASC continue, please try to find time to volunteer.

OUR 2023 TRADE SHOW WAS A HUGE SUCCESS!!
 
Thank you to the many agents that attended our show!
 
A huge thank you to the following suppliers who exhibited.

ALSOL HOTELS
ANTIGUA/BARBUDA TOURISM
ATLAS OCEAN VOYAGES
AUTO EUROPE
BARBADOS TOURISM
BARCELO RESORTS
CAYMAN ISLANDS DEPT OF TOURISM
COLLETTE TOURS
DAN HOTELS
GLOBUS JOURNEYS
HOMERIC TOURS
INCLUSIVE COLLECTION BY HYATT
ISRAM TOURS
JAMAICA TOURIST BOARD
MSC CRUISES
NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINES
PALACE RESORTS
PERILLO TOURS
ROCKY MOUNTAINEER
ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES
SANDALS - UNIQUE VACATIONS
SCENIC USA CRUISES
STAN ENDEN ASSOCIATES
STAR CLIPPERS
THE TRAVEL CORP TOUR BRANDS
UNIWORLD CRUISES
VIRGIN VOYAGES
 
Thanks for supporting TASC!
 
Tentative date for our 2024 TRADE SHOW - WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13TH

SAVE THE DATE!!!
On July 10th, TASC will be celebrating our 45th Anniversary. Further details and venue to be announced in the upcoming months.
We are also looking for volunteers to assist with the planning committee for this special event.
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Current Industry Affairs (CIA)
A number of trade organizations have suspended sales of American Queen Voyages over ongoing service issues.
While leaving the door open for resumption of the relationship, Signature Travel Network, Pleasant Holidays and AAA Travel say they are no longer offering the U.S. river cruise line due to unresolved service issues.
AAA sales of the line were done through vacation wholesaler Pleasant Holidays, which is 95% owned by AAA affiliate Auto Club of Southern California. Virtuoso has also removed American Queen Voyages from its preferred supplier list.
Earlier this month, Signature made the decision to remove American Queen Voyages as a preferred supplier for the second time in less than a year, while both Pleasant Holidays and AAA Travel stopped selling the cruise line in November.
Signature had previously removed American Queen Voyages as a preferred supplier in March 2023 but later restored its status after American Queen addressed the issues that led to its removal.
"Unfortunately, as a result of recent sales support and leadership changes, AQV has not delivered the contractual obligations that are required to be a Signature preferred partner," Howard said. (American Queen Voyages president Cindy D'Aoust departed the line in October after only serving in the role for about a year.)
Pleasant Holidays has partnered with American Queen Voyages since 2012, offering domestic river cruise and expedition packages to its clients. The company said it hopes to resume sales by the end of January, but that in the meantime, Pleasant Holidays will turn its attention to selling other U.S. river cruise products, for which demand is currently still strong.
"Unfortunately, we suspended sales of 2024 and 2025 American Queen U.S. river cruises in November 2023 and have not reopened sales in 2024," said Jack Richards, CEO and president of Pleasant Holidays, adding that sales were suspended on Nov. 9.
"Demand for U.S. river cruises is very strong in 2024. Pleasant Holidays continues to sell U.S. river cruises with our partnership with American Cruise Lines, who has 19 ships and 50-plus itineraries," Richards added.
AAA Travel said the company would be willing to consider resuming sales if the ongoing service issues were addressed.
"We stopped selling American Queen Voyages in November 2023 and have not resumed sales to date due to service issues," said Paula Twidale, senior vice president of AAA Travel. "If outstanding service issues can be resolved, we will consider resuming sales."
Signature also said it would be willing to revisit its latest decision if the line once again fixed its ongoing issues. The consortium said that "timeliness of commissions were a contributing factor" in both decisions to remove American Queen as a preferred supplier.
Travel advisors' experiences
Some travel advisors say that while their overall experience working with and booking American Queen Voyages has been mostly positive, there have been issues of concern over the past two years.
Casey Smith, a AAA Travel advisor based in Denver, said he sold a decent amount of U.S. river cruises, including American Queen Voyages, up until November, which is when Smith said AAA Travel told advisors not to book the line due to "customer service and refund issues."
Smith said in an email that clients of his who had booked two cruises with American Queen last year experienced significant issues with their first cruise in October, including "lapses in communication, a mishandling of their precruise package and travel documents not being issued until the very last minute (less than a week before their departure)."
"With less than a month to go before departure, and still no final documents in sight, I followed up with AQV," Smith said. "After multiple phone calls, I finally had one of their agents inform me the prestay package had been canceled (no notifications were sent to me or the clients)."
American Queen did ultimately refund the client for the precruise extension, Smith said, as well as compensation for changing the flights. The second cruise those clients took with American Queen operated without incident, Smith added.
"Outside of that booking for October, I've never really experienced issues with AQV, their staffing issues or excursions," Smith said. "Most of the feedback I get from clients who sail with AQV is completely positive."
Lisa Fitzgerald, a river cruise specialist and owner of Fitzgerald Travel in Spofford, N.H., also added that most of her dealings with American Queen Voyages have been positive and that her commissions have been paid on time and in full.
But Fitzgerald, who said she only sold three American Queen cruises in 2023, also said that there have been noticeable challenges with the line, particularly since the pandemic, during which Hornblower Group, American Queen's parent company, made significant changes within the company.
In September 2021, Hornblower Group merged American Queen Steamboat Company and Victory Cruise Lines to form American Queen Voyages, which consisted of the former's four-ship river cruise fleet and the latter's two-ship Great Lakes and ocean fleet at the time.
"I sailed in March '22, post-Covid, and staffing was so short. It was just after the integration with Hornblower," Fitzgerald said. "That was a huge system failure and obvious service failure -- too much too soon without operational issues sorted out first. American Queen was pulling people from other ships, from other departments."
Fitzgerald said that while she and a fellow advisor she was sailing with were able to notice the line's staffing issues onboard at the time, few passengers took note and that the staff onboard worked very hard to provide a quality sailing experience.
"I do hope they do well in 2024 for the Mississippi," Fitzgerald said. 
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Both Brazil and Turkey have currently dropped their requirement for United States citizens to obtain a visa for travel to their respective countries.
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For those of you who were not aware, the requirement to obtain a visa exemption prior to travel to Europe or aka ETIAS has now been postponed until 2025. Here is a good web site to share that we thought was very helpful.
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At least two cruise lines have said they will reroute itineraries in the Middle East to avoid the Red Sea and Yemen area, where several shipping vessels have been attacked by Houthi militants in recent weeks, according to reports. 
Silversea will change the itinerary of the Silver Moon, turning the 10-day sailing, which began Jan. 6 in Aqaba, Jordan, and was bound for Muscat, Oman, into a roundtrip sailing, according to a spokesman for parent company Royal Caribbean Group. Guests will now disembark in Aqaba at the end of the cruise, and the cruise company is in the process of changing return flights for guests.
Royal Caribbean Group's global security team continues to monitor the situation, the spokesman said.
Silversea did not comment about the status of subsequent sailings.
MSC Cruises has also decided to reroute one of its ships. The MSC Poesia is on a 115-day world cruise from Rome that departed on Jan. 4. The ship was scheduled to cross through the Suez Canal on Jan. 16, but a spokeswoman said the line will amend the route for the first part of the cruise and circumnavigate Africa instead of passing through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. The later parts of the itinerary will remain unchanged, she said.
Other cruise lines have taken a wait-and-see approach, since their ships are not yet in the region. Spring is a busier time for cruise ships in the Suez Canal.
The attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen have led several shipping giants to avoid passing through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, a key shortcut between Asia and Europe, according to the New York Times. The report quoted an analysis from logistics technology company Flexport that said at least 389 container vessels are taking the long route around Africa.
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MEMBERS CORNER:
HELP WANTED
Storefront travel agency is looking for an
experienced part-time agent.
Call Empress Travel of Bayport
at 631-363-9522 for full details.
TASC ANNUAL DUES
2023-2024 TASC membership renewals were
due as of 7/1/23. They are still only $40 per year.
Membership forms are available at the
TASC dinner sign in table or you may download one from our website. www.LI-TASC.com 

Your TASC board has a new email address: TASCEMAIL@OPTIMUM.NET
If you have any member news that you would like posted in this newsletter please send an email with information to: tascemail@optimum.net
In addition to the get wells and condolences, we can also list job postings
or pertinent industry news.
If we don't know about it, we can't post it!
WWW.LI-TASC.COM
This is our website. Visit us !!!
Also visit our TASC Facebook page and “like us”.
Only TASC members will be able to post on the Facebook page.
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Supplier Rep Updates

We would like to welcome several new supplier reps that have recently been assigned to the Suffolk County area.
 
Antigua & Barbuda Tourist Board - NEW
Gavin Simmons, gsimmons@visitaandb.com
 
Celebrity Cruises - NEW
John Balboa, jbalboa@celebrity.com
 
Classic Vacations - NEW
 
Disney - NEW
Cassie Potter, cassie.potter@disney.com
 
Globus Family of Brands
Francina Mason, fmason@globusfamily.com
 
Holland America Cruises - NEW
 
Jamaica Tourist Board
Victoria Harper, vharper@visitjamaica.com
 
Palace Resorts - NEW
Cara Hayes, chayes@palaceresorts.com
 
Paul Gauguin Cruises
Elizabeth Story, estory@pgcruises.com
 
Rocky Mountaineer - NEW
 
Royal Caribbean - NEW
Drew Poisson, dpoisson@rccl.com
 
Scenic Cruises - NEW
 
Uniworld Cruises - NEW
Chris Mastrota, chris.mastrota@uniworld.com
 
Virgin Voyages - NEW

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Executive Board
President
Fran Raupp
(email) franr@baytravelandtours.com
Vice President
Liz Henn
(email) lizLbac@gmail.com
Secretary
Angela San Felippo-Szemico
(email) angelaLBAC@gmail.com
Treasurer
Ginny DeFeo
(email) gindef@hotmail.com
Director Owner
Honey Pressgrove
(email) empress965@aol.com
Director Affiliate
Kim Daino
(email) kdaino@uvi.sandals.com
Director Agent
Jeffrey Austin
(email) jaustin@vacationwiser.com
Past President
Susan Bonesso
(email) susanbtravel@optonline.net



Bay Travel & Tours


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631-447-6440


631-648-8032


631-648-8032


631-698-7767


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631-921-5166


631-499-4483


631-289-5252