The National Business Travel Association (NBTA) today launched the NBTA Fundamentals of Sports Travel Management certificate program, the first-ever educational curriculum focused exclusively on this unique sector. Offered entirely online, this self-paced, interactive course, developed with support from the association?s Sports Travel Committee, introduces the basics of managing a sports travel program at the professional, collegiate and youth levels.
Upon successful completion of the course and final exam, participants earn the designation of Sports Travel Professional (STP), which demonstrates mastery of the fundamental concepts of managing a sports travel program.
Craig Banikowski, CCTE, C.P.M., CMM, NBTA President & CEO, said, ?NBTA members who buy for and sell to athletic teams and organizations came to us with the unique challenges they face in travel management. We developed a grassroots network to address their issues, and through that process it became evident that more education and resources were necessary. As the leading provider of education to the global corporate travel community, NBTA is perfectly poised to offer a professional development program tailored to meet the distinctive needs of the sports travel community.?
Featuring interactive elements including video, quizzes, and free-form essays, course participants will learn general sports and travel industry principles, then explore the intersection of these industries and the distinct competencies and skill sets needed to establish or enhance a sports travel management program. The course will touch on topics such as managing supplier relationships, addressing risk management, and using financial and data management to calculate and communicate the value of the program.
Nikki Watson, Assistant Director of Business Intelligence and Project Management for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), led the task force that advised NBTA on the creation of the course. She commented, ?Managing travel for athletic teams and leagues presents challenges unique to our field, and with such a large community of sports travel professionals, an education and certificate course on the basics of this profession will help us to contain costs, manage risks and more efficiently get our teams from one place to another. I am confident that NBTA?s Fundamentals of Sports Travel Management program will be valuable for NCAA member institutions and for our professional and youth counterparts, and that the candidate holding the STP designation will be the sought-after resource when filling team travel manager positions.?
The NBTA Sports Travel Committee, members of which helped to develop the certificate program, include representatives from Anderson University, DePauw University, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, NASCAR, Inc., the NCAA, the NFL Players Association, and the University of Texas.
In addition to NBTA?s Fundamentals of Sports Travel Management course, the association will also hold the first NBTA Sports Travel Conference July 19-20, 2011, in Indianapolis, IN. The conference is the first of its kind, designed to provide a forum for travel professionals working in athletics at all levels and across all sports to address the specific challenges of sports travel management.
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