By Laura Smith

Biting into a salty, crunchy pretzel or taking a lick off the top of a cold ice cream cone can instantly put you in a better mood. Everyone has a favorite treat they reach for to satisfy a sweet tooth or a late-night craving. We all know what the packages look like on the grocery-store shelves, but to really know what you’re digging into, take a tour of these group-friendly food factories. They offer behind-the-scenes looks at the manufacturing of some of America’s favorite foods and share their fresh treats with visitors straight from the assembly line.

Cabot Cheese

Cabot, Vermont

The central Vermont woods might not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking of dairy products, but that’s where Cabot Creamery is creating award-winning cheddar cheese, rich butter and more. Tours begin with a short film on the history of the creamery, which is also a farmers’ co-op, and the town. Visitors then head down a long hall, nicknamed Cheddar Hall, to see large vats and a finishing table where cheese is sliced. No hairnets are required — the view is through windows. Guests then visit the towers where cheese curds are pressed into solid form and the packaging area where products are sent down the assembly line and prepared for final shipment.

Throughout the tour, guests sample all Cabot specialty cheeses, mustards, jams, pretzels and more. The creamery’s store sells sour cream, cottage cheese, yogurts, cheddar powder (for popcorn) and, of course, 31 types of cheese. Some of Cabot’s popular cheddar flavors include smoky bacon, garlic and herb, habanero, chipotle and chili-lime.

“I think they enjoy the whole thing,” Laurie Callahan, senior manager of retail stores and tourism, says about tour guests. “If they’re coming to the plant in Cabot, they love cheese [and] we have the world’s best cheddar,” she says. Proof is in the many awards the creamery has received.

Where: 2878 Main St., Cabot, Vermont

When: Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (changes seasonally)

How much: $2 for anyone 12 and older

Need to know: Reservations for large motorcoach tours are encouraged; call ahead to confirm cheese-making days, 800-837-4261

More info: cabotcheese.coop

Snyder’s of Hanover Pretzels

Hanover, Pennsylvania

Snyder’s of Hanover has been making crunchy, salty pretzels since 1909 when Harry V. Warehime, founder of Hanover Canning Company (Snyder’s parent company until 1980), began producing the legendary snack. Today, Synder’s is a top pretzel baker in the world, selling 10 million bags a week. A Snyder’s of Hanover tour, which has been offered for 24 years, gives guests a look at what it takes to make the famous Hanover pretzels and chips.

A factory guide leads guests on the hour-long tour through the mezzanine level, giving guests a bird’s-eye view of the factory. The tour begins overlooking the warehouse, where guests watch robots bag and box pretzels while hearing fun facts about the factory. For example, the factory uses more than 100 tons of pretzel salt per month, and 25,000 pounds of flour is delivered every day. Guests then head to the packaging room to see seven of the largest ovens in the world, measuring 150 feet long. The tour concludes in the potato-chip processing area where potatoes are washed and peeled and Synder’s tortilla chips are cooked. Guests receive a complimentary bag of mini pretzels at the conclusion of the tour.

Where: 1250 York St.,

Hanover, Pennsylvania

When: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

How much: Free

Need to know: Reservations required at least 24 hours in advance; 800-233-7125, Ext. 8592

More info: snydersofhanover.com

Sweet’s Candy

Salt Lake City, Utah

Family owned for five generations, Sweet’s Candy is the product of the Utah-based Sweet family, a fitting last name for the company that produces more than 200 types of candy and is a top maker of saltwater taffy.

Curtis Anderson, who runs the 5-year-old Sweet’s Candy tour, says guests get excited about the family ownership of the company as much as the candy itself. More than 30,000 people take the tour each year, getting an inside look at the candy-making process. They walk the floor of the factory, getting close enough to the sweets that they can smell them.

On the tour, groups see orange sticks (orange jelly covered in chocolate), cinnamon bears, taffy and all things chocolate. The tour takes a spin through the raw materials area, taffy kitchen (where guests see taffy being whipped and poured over giant cooling wheels), chocolate-melting room, jelly bean room, enrober (a chocolate waterfall) and three packaging areas, where 300 pieces of candy are packaged each minute. Guests get to try free samples of candy fresh off the line, and can purchase overstock sweets in the factory store at a slight discount.

Where: 3780 West Directors Row,

Salt Lake City, Utah

When: Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

How much: Free

Need to know: As many as 100 people can take a tour at one time and appointments are required; 801-886-1444. Parking lot has designated spaces for buses.

More info: sweetcandy.com/factorytour

Ben and Jerry’s ice cream

Waterbury, Vermont

Cherry Garcia. Half Baked. Chubby Hubby. Ben and Jerry’s might be known as much for wacky ice cream names as it is for the ice cream itself. The factory tour in Waterbury takes guests through colorful halls with a mooing cow soundtrack in the background to the Cow Over the Moon Theater, which shows a short film about the company history and fun facts about the ice cream. Guests are then led to a mezzanine level to look out over the production floor where the approximately 60 different types of ice cream are made. Finally, guests head to the flavor room where they receive a generously-sized free sample of the Ben and Jerry’s ice cream of the day.

After the tour, visitors can also taste current flavors at the Scoop Shop, see the cow pasture and stock up on souvenirs at the gift shop. One popular attraction is the flavor graveyard, where each retired ice cream flavor has a tombstone dedicated to the tasty legacy it left. The tour, which has been in operation since 1986, can accommodate 40 people and usually gets about 300,000 to 500,000 guests a year.

Where: 1281 Waterbury-Stowe Road, Waterbury, Vermont

When: Daily, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (with some seasonal changes); ice cream is made Monday to Friday.

How much: $3 adults, $2 seniors, children free; packages that include coupons and a T-shirt are $21.

Need to know: Adults get in free if they check in on Foursquare before visiting. A large parking lot can hold several motorcoaches. Reservations for groups of 10 or more are highly encouraged.

More info: benjerry.com/scoop-shops/factory-tours

Tabasco pepper sauce

Avery Island, Louisiana

One drop of world-famous Tabasco Pepper Sauce can leave a person sweating with its combination of tabasco peppers, vinegar and salt. In Louisiana, everything is made with a little kick to it and Avery Island’s most famous product is no exception. The Tabasco Sauce factory is surrounded by the Cajun bayou and offers up-close tours of how the spicy condiment is made.

The tour begins in the lobby where guests can watch clips of commercials and TV programs that feature Tabasco products. They then head to an exhibit area where a guide explains the process of making the sauce from picking peppers to completion. Visitors then watch an eight-minute film on the history of the company and Avery Island, and move to the production room where they see the machinery that bottles the sauce. The tour ends in the interactive room. Here, guests can play games related to Tabasco and see one of the actual vats stirring the pepper sauce. Guests receive three miniature Tabasco bottles — original, green pepper and chipotle — upon completion of the tour.

Guests can visit the country store after the tour is over and buy all things Tabasco, including Tabasco-branded clothing, kitchenware, decorations, cookbooks, golf bags and Cajun food such as crawfish etouffee. Free samples of unusual Tabasco-infused products like spicy Tabasco Coca-Cola and Tabasco ice cream are also available.

Where: Avery Island, Louisiana

When: Daily, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; tours run every 15 to 20 minutes.

How much: Free; $1 to enter island

Need to know: Tours can take up to 40 people at a time. The factory has a large parking lot that can fit a motorcoach.

More info: tabasco.com

By Larry Anderson

To commemorate 200 years since the founding of Catonsville, Md., an unincorporated community in Baltimore County, the local historical society organized hour-long local bus tours. “Our goal was to let residents know about the history of their community,” says Joan Bender, president of the Catonsville Historical Society and organizer of the tours. “A lot of them don’t realize the city is 200 years old, and we wanted to educate them to the historical background of the community. It was really interesting that people were so responsive.”

A bus tour to a local destination can open passengers’ eyes to a greater appreciation of their community. Bus tours can be built around learning more about a community’s history or around appreciating its natural wonders. A tour can provide an opportunity to see something — to really see it — for the first time, to learn the history behind that old building you pass on the daily commute, or to revisit a field trip you took as a child.

There’s more to see and do closer to home than many of us think, and a bus trip is a great low-hassle way to get there. Just leave the traffic snarls for the bus driver to deal with.

On the Catonsville Historical Society bus tours, about 230 residents boarded chartered school buses and visited Spring Grove State Hospital Center, the country’s second-oldest psychiatric hospital, where wounded soldiers were treated during the Civil War, and the Knights of Columbus lodge, where the Catonsville Nine burned their draft cards in 1968 to protest the Vietnam War. Each tour stopped at 12 historical sites, including older churches and a church-run school that John Wilkes Booth attended in 1852.

Bender says planning for the bus tour began four years before the beginning of the 200th anniversary celebration. A retired registered nurse, Bender has been involved in volunteer work for 35 years. Previously, she organized a Decorator Show House event for the Baltimore Symphony. “The skills I learned from doing the show house helped me in organizing something like this tour,” she says.

The Catonsville bus tour cost $5 per person, a price made more affordable because a $10,000 grant from the county arts commission helped defray expenses. The historical society ran ads in the local newspaper to promote the event. A local Girl Scout wrote a script for the tour as a Gold Award project, based on information supplied by the historical society, and the narration was made available on an audio CD so other local residents could retrace the tour in their cars. The arts commission grant also helped pay for the CD and a companion booklet.

Recouping Lost Tourism Dollars

Promoting local group tours can be a boon for local businesses and attractions, as well as a way to recoup tourism dollars lost as the lingering economic doldrums depress out-of-town travel. When local residents go on a tour, they see things they have never seen before, says Duse McLean, author of the “Pocket Guide To Seattle” and an expert on the largest city in the Pacific Northwest. When her pocket guide was first published several years ago, McLean began giving urban walking tours of Seattle neighborhoods one Saturday each month as a way of promoting book sales. She also works as a guide for bus tours. McLean says walking tours are more in-depth than bus tours, give people a better understanding of an area and are much more personal. But you can cover a larger geographic area with a bus tour.

Tours in Seattle often center on city parks designed by John Charles Olmsted, stepson of Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed New York’s Central Park. The younger Olmsted and his company, Olmsted Brothers, designed parks and residences in Seattle from 1903 to 1937.

“Locals tend to take specific tours rather than general tours, whereas the reverse is true for tourists,” says McLean. “Locals also arrange tours for out-of-town visitors.” Local tours can be popular auction items for fundraisers or business groups. Examples of local Seattle tours include the Architecture Foundation, Historic Seattle, food tours and a tour last year of the University of Washington campus honoring the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, Washington’s first World’s Fair.

Your Own Backyard

There are plenty of good arguments for planning a bus tour or outing in the local community instead of taking a trip. It’s simpler (no lost luggage or missed connections) and less expensive in difficult economic times — lodging is free and travel expenses are minimal. The word staycation has even been added to the latest edition of the dictionary.

Debra Villasenor, owner of South Bay Tours, San Jose, Calif., believes the popularity of local bus tours is an extension of a broader tendency to stay close to home. “It’s the culturally popular thing to do these days to focus locally,” she says. “You see it in the trend toward farmers markets and a focus on eating locally produced foods. There is a trend toward local commerce, and discovering your local area and what’s in your own backyard.”

South Bay Tours organizes a variety of guided tours, including wine tours of the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Santa Clara Valley, home to more than 100 local wineries. Sommeliers are often onboard to lead these tours, which are especially popular in the summer and fall when grapes are harvested. Sightseeing tours go to San Francisco or take the Roaring Camp Railroad Steam Train in the Santa Cruz Mountains followed by a trip to Santa Cruz beach, or to Monterey, where attractions include the world-famous Monterey Bay Aquarium and a 17-mile drive along the Carmel coast.

South Bay Tours is the destination management company for Team San Jose, and provides tours, events, transportation and other services related to off-site events for convention groups. “A lot of the groups we get are corporate groups that want to travel in the local area,” Villasenor says. San Jose’s businesses include Internet giants Google and Yahoo. “Budget has a lot to do with it, and also time constraints because they don’t have as much time to give to outings as they have in the past,” she adds.

The most popular tours among locals are wine tours and wine-and-mansion tours. For example, locals like to visit the Filoli House and Garden in Woodside, Calif., for a garden and estate tour followed by a winery visit. Or they can visit a goat dairy farm in Pescadero, Calif., where they can make their own goat cheese.

Other common group tours include special birthday celebrations for people turning 40 or 50 who get together with their friends and family and go on a local wine tour with a catered picnic. Tours for reunion and wedding groups can be designed around the 30-passenger buses or larger vehicles, says Villasenor.

Hop-On, Hop-Off

People within a 150-mile radius of Chicago are taking advantage of bus tours offered by the Chicago Trolley and Double Decker Company, says Ross Avery, vice president of operations of Chicago Trolley. “Eighty percent of phone calls we take are about how to find stops that are close to train stations,” says Avery, suggesting more interest in accessing the tours from suburban areas via public transportation.

Chicago Trolley offers Hop-On, Hop-Off sightseeing tours through various neighborhoods in Chicago, providing comfortable rides in open-air, classic red-and-green trolleys or double-decker buses to connect Chicago visitors and local residents with key cultural, shopping, dining and attractions throughout the city. Knowledgeable tour guides keep guests entertained and informed along the way.

“My overall gut feeling is that we are seeing a lot more of the staycation phenomenon,” Avery says. The company is currently doing a zip code survey to see where customers are coming from to provide more specific numbers supporting the anecdotal evidence. “People aren’t going to Mexico or Florida but are coming into Chicago from Rockford (90 miles away) and Peoria (in the middle of the state) and from [suburbs such as] Schaumburg and Naperville. People are discovering their own backyard to a certain extent. My tour guides talk to people and are finding people who grew up in Chicago, but who say they learned so much from taking a tour.”

Each Chicago Trolley tour is different because tour guides customize their presentations to incorporate information about buildings on the tour and the city’s history. “We ask them to make the tour their own,” Avery says. “Every vehicle you get on, you have a different experience. One guide might be a former teacher who emphasizes history and another might be
a stand-up comedian who talks more about the fun stuff that goes on in the city. We’re looking for that different experience.” The hop-on, hop-off tours provide customers the flexibility to stay as long as they want in any location and catch the next trolley coming by.

Chicago Trolley also customizes tours for specific groups and seasonal activities. There are senior center tours, boys and girls clubs tours, and church group tours. A holiday lights tour takes groups around between Thanksgiving and Christmas with a stop at the Hershey’s Chicago store; Christmas carols are sung on the trolley. “We bend over backward to make it a good experience for everybody,” says Avery. “Some groups have called in the past and wanted to set up tours that are specific to their interests, whether it’s architecture or ghost stories, or the gangsters of Chicago. We can tailor a tour to the group’s interests.”

The Chicago Trolley vehicles can hold up to 32 people, and the Chicago double-decker buses can accommodate 70. Groups can range from as few as 20 up to a larger group that might use several vehicles following each other.

Sometimes with the hop-on, hop-off tours, the best approach is to provide a ticket to each person in a group and allow them to explore the city on their own.
“Just let them know they need to be at a certain stop at 6 p.m. for dinner,” Avery says. “Even if a group gets separated, they can wait at a trolley stop for the rest of their group.

“This is a big city, and there are issues with traffic,” he adds. “If the schedule is overbooked, you can get thrown off very quickly. It’s better to allow more time for each activity.”

Avery recommends thoughtful scheduling: “I always tell people not to try to pack too much into one day. You cannot see more than one or maybe two museums in one day. I have spent hours in the Field Museum of Natural History, and there are still things I have not seen. Also, don’t stay on too strict a schedule, which has a tendency to push people to the point they don’t get all they want out of the experience.”

There might be limits to the appeal of local interest tours, however. Consider this cautionary note from Elwyn Wheaton, owner/operator of North Conway Moose Safari, North Conway, N.H., who provides safe travel and the opportunity to see a moose: “Nearly all our customers are from outside New Hampshire. Locals don’t find seeing a moose a big deal, and with this economy they are not paying $28 each to do so.”

By Layla Bellows

Whether it’s springtime’s warming temperatures, summer’s sunshine, fall’s brilliant leaves or winter’s snowy wonderlands, there’s always a reason for groups to get into the open air. And there’s more to experiencing nature than hiking through the woods (though we recommend that, too). Wildlife tours, kayaking, botanical gardens, historic sites and scenic train trips provide off-the-beaten trail opportunities for groups of all abilities, ages and sizes to experience the outdoors any time of year.

Winter Wildlife

Of all the seasons, winter might seem like the cruelest time to get a group outside, but in some states, this is actually the best time of year to see wildlife. In Kentucky, bald eagles stop in the Land Between the Lakes region on their way south. Cold temperatures also mean it’s the season for elk tours. Though the state has more than 10,000 elk living there year-round, it’s easier to see the majestic creatures when there aren’t leaves on the trees. Between September and March, with a break mid-December through mid-January, several Kentucky state parks have tours that take visitors to places where the elk live — which isn’t always in the parks.

“We’ve got about a 35-minute drive  to where we’re going,” says Trinity Shepherd, a park naturalist at Jenny Wiley State Resort Park. The four- to six-hour trips begin at 5:30 a.m. with a video about the elk, and then visitors load into 11-person vans to travel across public and private lands where they’re certain to find the animals. While riding, Shepherd provides details about the elk restoration project in Kentucky.

“We have a 100 percent success rate on our tour,” Shepherd says. “When we say we see elk, we don’t mean, ‘See that little brown spot?’” The vans get as close as possible, and the passengers can get out to take pictures. A full group for regular weekend tours is 22 people, but Gil Lawson, a spokesman for the Kentucky Department of Parks, says that if notified in advance, the individual parks can organize a private tour on a different day.

Getting groups to Florida during winter months isn’t exactly a difficult sell — for people or wildlife. Just as many people choose to winter in the state, so do many animals, especially birds, rare waterfowl among them. Kayaking along the slow-moving waters of the Port Charlotte Blueway Trails is an ideal way to see the waterfowl, raptors and occasional dolphins that travel through these tidal waters (and because it’s saltwater, you won’t see any alligators). Captain Marian Schneider, owner of Grande Tours in Placida, Fla., takes group members on individual kayaks through the Woolverton Trails, a waterway through a canopy of mangroves, all part of the Charlotte Harbor Aquatic Preserve.

Although the depth of the water on this trail is about four feet and certainly safe for first-time kayakers, Schneider says her guides are in constant radio contact with their office as an extra safety precaution. They also provide assistance for tour members who aren’t paddling or sitting in the seat correctly. But the benefits of traveling with a guide extend beyond safety.

“Our guides are all certified master naturalists,” she says. “The biggest difference in going on a guided tour is you’re going to hear the history of the area, and the marine life and wildlife is going to be pointed out to you.”

In winter, the area has the largest concentration of white pelicans, the second-largest flying bird in the country, anywhere in the Southeast. Bald eagles are spotted occasionally, and white ibis, great blue herons, kingfishers, spoonbills and a number of other beautiful waterfowl are regular sights along the route. The trail is less than two miles round-trip and lasts about two hours, which Schneider says is generally enough for beginning kayakers. She follows a 10-to-1 ratio of guides to visitors and prefers a week’s notice for large groups.

Enjoy the Weather

When green leaves return to trees and vibrant blossoms begin appearing in spring, it’s nearly impossible to resist a hike. Though most of California hardly sees gray, cold months, spring is as verdant a season here as anywhere. And the colors start early: In the Santa Lucia Ranger District of California’s Los Padres National Forest, wildflowers begin painting hillsides as early as February or March.

Helen Tarbet, a field ranger at Los Padres, says Figueroa Mountain is especially beautiful. “It’s known for these hillsides that get covered every spring with poppies and lupine,” she says. Milkmaids, chocolate lilies and shooting star flowers also drape the forest in early spring. Ballard Trail, a two-mile downhill path, is a popular route, particularly since different flowers are growing at different elevations at different times of year; they begin at lower elevations and go higher up the mountains as the growing season moves on. In May and June, Tarbet recommends Davy Brown Trail, which is rife with tiger lilies because most of the trail is situated along a creek.

Most tours are easily self-guided, and many areas can be explored by car or large vans. Once a year Tarbet organizes an annual drive-and-stroll tour led by a botanist. Group leaders can also sign up for her e-mail list, and she sends wildflower updates once the season starts.

“This is a very popular self-guided tour. People will take the update, start at the bottom of the hill and work their way up,” she says. Although large motorcoach tours have never requested a guided tour, Tarbet is interested in arranging these tours if given advance notice.

Springtime is also a great time to take guided tours of historic sites while the weather’s mild. In Texas, one way to combine an outdoor journey with history is a tour along the Texas Forts Trail. A round trip to see the trail’s eight forts and the Spanish presidio is 650 miles, and groups can hop in or out at any point along the trail. In fact, West Texas Trips, an organization that works with Texas Forts Trail, has developed group-friendly loops that hit specific portions of the trail that are near several West Texas towns.

The loops were, in fact, developed after the Fort Worth CVB said groups arrived to the Metroplex region and wanted to get into the country, says Margaret Hoogstra, executive director of the Texas Forts Trail. “We specifically developed several of these loops with the intention of that process,” she says.

The red loop, for instance, takes tour groups from sights in Fort Worth, west to Abilene and south to San Angelo before heading back to Fort Worth. This loop is ideal for groups especially interested in the forts — it hits six of the eight — as well as the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame and National Cowgirl Museum in Fort Worth. Other points of interest include Abilene’s 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum, cowboy re-enactments in San Angelo, and historic locations such as the Indian pictographs at Paint Rock and Comanche Peak
Historic Site.

Representatives throughout West Texas can help customize tours based on a particular group’s interests and needs. “It’s going to be rare that the tour group operator will want exactly what we are suggesting,” she says. “We offer personalized service to make it the trip their customers are expecting.”

Year-Round Nature

Plenty of places are good stops for group tours to get close to nature no matter the season or the weather. Take the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Mich. Summer is a great time to see its 132 acres of gardens, wetlands and woodlands, and more than 100 permanent sculptures. However, the gardens host special exhibitions year-round. Each year, autumn brings ColorFall, which showcases the most spectacular fall blooms, the chrysanthemum, both indoors and out.

Winter is equally exciting at the gardens, when it features Christmas and Holiday Traditions Around the World, an exhibition of 40 Christmas trees and exhibits decked out in holiday styles from different nations and religions. Spring entices visitors with what might be Meijer Gardens’ most popular draw: “Butterflies are Blooming.” With more than 6,000 species of butterflies, this annual exhibition is the largest temporary butterfly exhibit in the country.

“In Michigan in March, it is a wonderful time to go into a tropical conservatory where it’s 90 degrees, and see the butterflies and hear the waterfall,” says Deborah Christopoulos, adult tour manager of the gardens and sculpture park.

The two most popular tours are indoor guided tours through the conservatory and other permanent gardens and galleries, and narrated outdoor tram tours, which take visitors through the sculpture park and outdoor gardens. It’s not uncommon for her to arrange these for motorcoach groups on a day’s notice.

“I love to do whatever the group really, really wants me to do if we have time, or if they have time, to plan it,” she says. “We have an agricultural tour, which would cover the farm garden, and then I can line that up with something else to do in our area that is agricultural-related. We have a behind-the-scenes tour, and that is more of a tour for garden clubs, groups, organizations and college students — the college students love the behind-the-scenes tour, which goes into the working greenhouses.”

No matter the season or the temperature, there’s always a way to get a group back to nature. And with the go-go-go pace of many excursions, an opportunity to breathe fresh air can make for a welcome break. Think of it like a vacation from the vacation.

For anyone who’s ever spent an afternoon exploring the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Mo., the effect is at once inspirational and unforgettable. Set on a peaceful bluff overlooking the city and Union Station, one of the country’s main hubs for troops departing to and returning from the European front, this National Historic Landmark uses striking design (led by its centerpiece, the 217-foot Liberty Memorial) and exhibits to sum up the essence of why all veterans continue to celebrate their service via military reunions.

“At these events, there’s a sense of something private and very special taking place,” says Scott McGaugh, marketing director of the USS Midway Museum in San Diego. “They are reliving an incredibly important and influential part of their lives, sometimes with a tear or a laugh and often with a good story, whether they served in the Navy or any other branch of the military. It’s emotional and memorable.”

Like any other type of reunion, it requires careful planning and attention to details, often by someone who rarely arranges more than a round of golf or a visit with the grandkids. That said, with some guidance and assistance from travel and tourism pros, it’s a process that can prove rewarding for all involved.

Re-enactments are plentiful in Gettysburg, Pa., and though the city is famous for its role in the Civil War, it embraces other conflicts through events such as a WWII remembrance weekend each September.

For starters, it helps to understand who’s actually in charge of the reunion planning, who’ll be attending and what they all expect as a result. “Most of the reunion groups now date from Korea and Vietnam, with very few from WWII anymore,” says Rob Wallace, president of San Diego Inbound Tours. Wallace, a Vietnam Vet himself, works with about 40 military reunions a year and appreciates their mindset and to-do list. “They think of this as a family get-together,” he says. “A guy might say, ‘Gee, we’re not going on vacation this year, but we are going to be at the reunion.’ They ask for a volunteer to do the research — scout out the hotels, find places to eat, figure out activities — and look for a quality property with a good rate that includes a hospitality room.”

Getting an early start can be critical, depending on the size of the group and its destination. “We have over 18,000 hotel rooms and parking is plentiful,” says Debbie Chesnokov, leisure group sales manager for the reunion market at the Branson, Mo., Convention and Visitors Bureau. Even so, given the year-round popularity of her destination (as well as many others), “They should book, if possible, a minimum of a year out, and 18 months for groups of 250 on up,” she says. And though veterans want relevant and enjoyable activities, they’re not 24/7 partiers. While planners need to review a full slate of activities and venue options (and their potential costs), it’s equally important to present groups with a realistic schedule that balances what they can do and how long it takes with reasonable down time that can be spent shopping, sitting by the pool or just relaxing in their rooms.

Finally, military groups should find plenty of nuts-and-bolts support from their chosen meeting sites, as a growing number of CVBs now offer everything from yearly event calendars and custom tour deals to dedicated military reunion staffers, all as close as the click of a mouse. With that in mind, here’s a look at some of what’s worth considering for military reunion destinations in the upcoming year.

Heading East

Few places offer veterans so many activities in such a compact location as does New England. Boston serves as a practical meeting hub and great jumping-off point for the region’s historical and recreational options. Beantown comes chock-full of terrific military venues (e.g., the USS Constitution and Charlestown Navy Yard) and calendar tie-ins from Patriots’ Day (April 18, 2011, a local holiday honoring both the Boston Marathon and the Revolutionary War’s start in nearby Concord and Lexington) to Independence Day, which culminates on the Charles River Esplanade with a patriotic fireworks show and Boston Pops concert.

The New England coastline, from Maine to Southern Connecticut, is also home to various military bases in or close to second-tier cities where prices are
reasonable and group activities abound. Similarly, groups can find plenty of military history and related activities in New York (midtown’s floating Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum); Philadelphia (the CVB Revolutionary War itinerary includes stops at Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell); Washington, D.C., (from the Smithsonian Museum to the Vietnam War Memorial) and Baltimore, where Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner while the U.S. battled the British Navy off Fort Henry in the War of 1812.

Gettysburg (Pa.) National Military Park, site of the brutal 1863 Civil War battle and President Lincoln’s subsequent address, remains a reunion staple for a variety of reasons. The area’s central location (an hour from Baltimore, 90 minutes from Washington, D.C.) along with some 2,500 hotel rooms provide an affordable option for overnight stays and big-city day trips. Moreover, the military tie-ins go well beyond the Civil War, as the town was a favorite of former WWII General and U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower. “Some of our attractions like the Majestic Theater, Allenberry Playhouse and the new David Wills House have large meeting rooms for special events, which are great for reunion groups,” says Jenny McConnell, director of sales for the Gettysburg CVB. The town, in conjunction with the National Park Service, also holds a WWII remembrance weekend each September, with living history programs and a closing reception.

The Indiana War Memorial Museum is the centerpiece of downtown Indianapolis’ historic district with 24 acres of monuments, statues, sculptures and fountains honoring the U.S. military.

Most folks would easily guess Washington, D.C., leads all cities in war memorials. Next in line? Indianapolis, with monuments and museums covering a rainbow of military history, notably: University Park, American Legion Mall (the organization’s headquarters), the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, and Korean and Vietnam memorials. At downtown’s Indiana War Memorial Plaza, the Neoclassical-style main building houses two meeting rooms and a 500-seat auditorium. “It’s made from Indiana limestone and features a special room that reflects on the role Indiana provided in a variety of wars,” says Robert E. Desautels, senior manager, convention services at the Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association.

Indeed, the city shines when it comes to honoring all veterans — witness the USS Indianapolis Memorial on the city’s Central Canal and the annual 500 Festival Memorial Service that kicks off the iconic racing weekend every May. “It’s just before the weekend starts, and reunion groups can definitely tie into it,” says Desautels, who adds that the CVA helps planners find reasonable hotels and provide promotional tools.

Veterans visiting Kansas City, Mo., will find several options for incorporating the World War I Museum into their reunion program. “We can do simple tours and short ceremonies on the plaza in warmer weather, and perhaps an evening event,” says events manager Morgan Trosper. Groups can also tie into lectures, movies and exhibit openings throughout the year, and the museum is available for after-hours viewing and receptions. Kansas City also draws military groups for its proximity to President Harry Truman’s birthplace and library in Independence, Mo., and Fort Leavenworth, Kan., the oldest active Army post west of the Mississippi and home to the Buffalo Soldiers Monument.

“We honor veterans 365 days a year,” says Branson’s Debbie Chesnokov, starting with those who attend the entertainment capital’s various marquee shows. “We either have them stand up for applause or thank them for everything they’ve done,” she says. Veterans also receive discounts at Branson gift shops and restaurants, and get red-carpet treatment during the city’s annual Veterans Homecoming Week each November. “We have a grand opening ceremony and serve them free lunch during that week as well,” says Chesnokov. Branson’s headliners — Tony Orlando, Yakov Smirnoff, Barbara Fairchild and Bill Medley among them — pitch in with special performances at some of the reunion events.

Left Coast Leanings

The West Coast has a host of reunion options for all branches of military service, from Seattle and its enormous Puget Sound facilities to Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Wash. Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, outside Portland, Ore., includes Pearson Air Field, the nation’s oldest active airport (1911) as well as a vintage aircraft museum.

In California, San Diego continues to draw groups for its ease of access (San Diego International Airport sits five minutes from downtown) a wide range of hotels and restaurants, and a slew of active and historic military sites, from Naval Base San Diego to the Marines’ Camp Pendleton and Miramar facilities. The CVB provides extensive planning assistance as well, overseen by the bureau’s own director of worldwide military and defense affairs Dale Vandergaw.

Since its 2004 opening, the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier with 60 exhibits and 25 restored aircraft, has drawn some 850,000 visitors annually and become a magnet for military groups drawn by the ship’s history and its onboard, ongoing ceremonies and events. “We can do small early bird (8:30 a.m.) docent tours for up to 20 as well as after-hours events for up to 150,” says marketing director Scott McGaugh, who cites the ship’s major hanger and flight deck as group favorites. “They really appreciate the chance to see living history and share their own stories and experiences with our veteran docents,” he says.

The Civil War's official start was at Fort Sumter in Charleston, S.C. The park is commemorating the anniversary with re-enactments and living history programs

Any group looking for active military tie-ins should find matchups aplenty from the Carolinas to Texas, where the swatch of destinations includes major stops (Atlanta, Dallas, San Antonio and Jacksonville, Fla.) and second-tier gems that range from Raleigh, N.C., to Mobile, Ala.

Virginia, in particular, brings a host of well-rounded sites for military groups and their families, many of whom were once stationed in the state and have bonds luring them back. “Our big draw is during shoulder seasons, and the hotels really enjoy working with these groups,” says Debbie Hansley, convention sales manager at the Virginia Beach CVB. Besides its active and extensive port facilities, Virginia Beach offers groups a number of other military-related venues led by the Naval Air Station Oceana (famed for its Tomcat fighter jets and astronaut training), the Old Coast Guard Station museum and the Military Aviation Museum, with its spectacular collection of vintage WWII and Korean-era aircraft. “At NAS Oceana they can pull up to the base, have lunch at the Officers’ Club and watch some of the jets take off,” says Hansley.

Groups also flock to Norfolk, home of the world’s largest naval base and site of both the Battleship Wisconsin and General MacArthur Memorial. “We have every branch of the armed forces represented in our region,” says Julie Williams, group sales manager at the Hampton Roads CVB, where the affiliations range from historic Fort Monroe (first commissioned in 1609) and its Casemate Museum to Langley Air Force Base.

Shades of Blue and Gray

If there’s a major theme to this year’s reunion planning, it will likely involve the 150th anniversary the American Civil War. With many battle sites already a favorite stop for military groups, the coming months of sesquicentennial celebrations should provide an even greater incentive to revisit those destinations, and re-examine the catalysts and opening events of the four-year conflict.

First up in the war’s chronology: Charleston, S.C., home to its official start on April 12, 1861 (as Fort Sumter, under siege, fell to Confederate forces), and its inaugural skirmish, when cadets from The Citadel opened fire on the Star of the West as it secretly tried to deliver reinforcements to the Union garrison. From April 9-17, 2011, Fort Sumter National Monument will commemorate the anniversary with a series of re-enactments and living history programs along with its regular tours.

The Mid-Atlantic is also rich in Civil War celebrations, starting with West Virginia’s Harpers Ferry National Historic Park. In October 1859, abolitionist John Brown conducted a failed raid on the federal arsenal here, was captured and convicted of treason, then executed in nearby Charles Town. Eighteen months later Union troops unsuccessfully tried to burn the facility and, due to its strategic railroad and riverside location, the town changed hands between Union and Confederate armies eight times until fighting ceased. A full slate of events begins April 16, 2011, with a ceremony commemorating the arsenal fire.

Other prominent players in the war’s sesquicentennial celebration include Hampton Roads, Va., where 19 troops died in June 1861 during the Battle of Big Bethel; Rich Mountain, W.V., where General George McClellan’s Union forces defeated the Confederates in July 1861; and Manassas National Battlefield Park in Virginia, where the first Battle of Bull Run took place in late July 1861. Beginning July 21, 2011, the park plans a series of programs, lectures, music, tours, and living history and historic weapons demonstrations as part of its anniversary events.

On April 30, 2011, Gettysburg, Pa., begins five years of events to commemorate the town’s Civil War history (its annual Civil War re-enactment is one of the American Bus Association’s top 100 events). Meanwhile, those looking to mark the Civil War’s start west of the Mississippi might consider a trip to Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, outside Springfield, Mo., where more than 2,500 troops on both sides perished in the conflict’s second major test in early August 1861.

Before the Trip:

1. Make sure expectations are realistic.

2. Select the destination wisely and try to interest children in it before leaving. That way, the destination is of greater interest once the family arrives. This can be done with interesting books, movies and stories.

3. Keep kids involved in the decision process, getting everyone in the family to participate in selecting a destination and vacation activities. When children have a voice and a choice, they feel more invested in the trip and stay more positive even when involved in an activity they might not have chosen on their own.

4. Know if the type of travel is suited to the family’s needs. Escorted tours are typically for adults, and parendts should know whether their children would respond well to vacations such as a river cruise before moving forward with planning.

5. Pack lightly.

During the Trip:

6. Understand children’s limitations and be flexible, especially with time schedules when traveling. Don’t feel compelled to do everything on an itinerary if children need more leisure time. Depending on children’s personalities, parents need to make sure there is down time for their kids to either rest and recharge or expend pent-up energy. Schedule time to just laze on the beach or go off by yourselves and visit a park or zoo.

7. Keep children occupied. Take a DVD player with kids’ favorite movies, which are great for plane rides, long bus trips or simply to relax after a day out. Give them an allowance each day so that they know what they can spend, and provide them with a journal and a camera so that they can record the vacation. Keep snacks and games on hand for motorcoach rides and for travel in foreign countries.

8. Don’t leave children unattended.

9. Let children know that behavior counts. When traveling with other people, be sure children are polite and respectful.

10. If traveling significant distances, arriving the night before an itinerary begins is always recommended, especially for families with younger kids. Children need to acclimate to their new time zone, get plenty of rest and wake up the next morning with as normal a routine as possible.

FIT FAMILIES

Family vacations are usually filled with fast food breakfasts and desserts after dinner because, well, it’s vacation. But more families are turning their focus to staying on the health-and-wellness track while traveling with the kids. Group tour operators who add more activities to the itinerary may see a boost in parents interested in booking tours. Some vacation rental companies provide activities at little to no extra cost. Options include:

Gym for All — Mom might want a treadmill and dad may want a basketball court, but what do the kids want? More fun. Consider penciling in a day at a full-service recreation center with activities everyone can enjoy. On the Oregon Pacific Coast, Discover Sunriver Vacation Rentals provides full access for guests of its properties to Mavericks at Sunriver, 30,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space with a pool, rock-climbing walls, spinning rooms, tennis courts, rafting river and golf courses.

Outdoor Pursuits — Getting outside can be the easiest way to get easy exercise. In the South Carolina Low Country, one company combines education with exercise. DeBordieu Rentals lets guests get involved in sea turtle exploration and protection. Families can spend a day tracking sea turtle nests along six miles of beaches in DeBordieu Colony.

Cycle the City — Exploring an area by bicycle is a fun way to see parts of a city you don’t see in a car — and it’s a lot more active. A few towns with bicycle-friendly paths and programs include Emerald Isle, N.C., Outer Banks, N.C., and South Haven, Mich., where almost everything can be reached by bicycle. In Luray, Va., families staying with Allstar Lodging can rent bikes from Hawksbill Bicycles and explore a 2-mile greenway along Hawksbill Creek or go on a longer Civil War Battlefield bike tour.

When Ted Bravos graduated from college, entering the travel and tourism field was the furthest thing from his mind. Instead, he joined the Peace Corps and planned to teach biology in Africa. The Vietnam War cut that plan short; he spent 13 months serving as an infantry officer for the Marine Corps. After returning to the United States, he promised himself he’d do something fulfilling with his life, and after some searching, that something turned out to be travel. He worked professionally for several years as a tour operator before founding the International Tour Management Institute (ITMI) in 1979, the country’s first school for tour guides. We talked with Bravos about the school, the growth in themed tours and his favorite trips of all time.

You’ve said that people are training to become tour directors throughout their entire lives. What do you mean by that?

For the right people, the people we accept to our training program, they already have the people and problem solving skills, the communication, organization and leadership skills. They have raised a family (or raised a husband), been in business, and they have something we cannot train in our class and that’s common sense.

What advantages do certified tour guides have over those with no formal training?

ITMI takes someone’s life skills, and plugs those skills into something they have not formally done before … to give them the tools and confidence to do the job. Then we take it to the next step: We show them how to get a job. The course is not just how to be a tour director, but how to become employed.

Do seniors make up a large number
of your students?

Who really is a senior today? What does that mean? There are individuals in their 20s and 30s who act like old people and seniors who have such vitality, enthusiasm and energy they seem decades younger. It’s really about maturity, life experience and attitude. Seniors also seem to have the time and flexibility for a tour director or tour guide lifestyle. They want to make a difference in other people’s lives and in their own lives. It’s not just about the free travel and money. People today live longer and healthier lives, and they don’t want to just sit at home.

Themed and special-interest tours are growing. Why is that?

People want more than just looking out the window of a tour bus. They want a hands-on experience where they can learn a skill or make a difference by volunteering their time. It could be a cooking class in Tuscany, winemaking in South Africa, an archeological dig in Peru, ecology voluntourism in our national parks … jet boating, bungee jumping [or] ballooning over the Serengeti. Intergenerational tours with parents, grandparents and children are becoming more popular as a way to connect families, and student and youth tours are perhaps the fastest growing segment of our industry.

What should tour operators be looking for when hiring tour guides?

Tour operators screen new tour directors the same way we do for the institute. Personally, while I am interviewing someone for ITMI, I ask myself two questions. First, from the perspective of a tour operator: Does this individual seem to be someone I can trust with my valuable tour clients, to make certain they have the best possible tour experience they could have, and bring them back happy so they want to buy more tours from my company? The second question, from the perspective of the tour client: Would I want to be stuck on tour with this person? Do they seem organized, knowledgeable and confident? Do they treat me like a person, not a number? And do they seem like someone I would enjoy traveling with for two weeks?

What are some of your graduates doing today?

ITMI has graduates leading tours in every corner of the globe including Antarctica. Some of my graduates lead safaris in Africa, cruises on the Nile and Amazon River, and treks through Australia and New Zealand. [Some] lead dive tours to the Galapagos, Caribbean and Great Barrier Reef. Culinary, wine and music tours, national parks, fall foliage, adventure tours, student tours, meeting and event planning, conferences, conventions and incentive travel, [and] I’m just getting started.

What’s your favorite tour to lead?

Well, that’s like asking a parent which of their children do they like best. After all these years, it’s not so much the destination as the people. Travel is the greatest university in the world, and often my best teachers are my tour clients. In two weeks, I will direct a two-week tour to one of my most favorite places in the world, the Grand Teton Mountains of Jackson Hole, Wyo., and through the Indian and cowboy country of Montana to include Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monuments. Because much of this trip follows the historic California and Oregon Trails, I get to re-live and play out one of my childhood fantasies of being the head of a pioneer wagon train heading out West.

What are some of the new group destinations in the country and what are some old favorites?

As old favorites like our national parks become filled to capacity, tour operators and tour clients look for other less-known but equally attractive destinations. In the West, Monument Valley, Canyonlands, Sequoia and King’s Canyon, and Lassen Volcanic National Park. The Northwest Territories, Yukon and maritime provinces of Canada and colonial Mexico are real sleepers. New England, especially [for] fall foliage [tours], is perhaps the most popular destination. California and the Southwest national parks a close second.

What’s your most important piece of advice for new tour guides?

Be careful of getting bogged down in the technical aspects of running your tour. Remember to be yourself. There are so many things that happen on tour that are outside your control, such as weather, airline delays, a bad meal, etc. How you relate to people, especially when there is a crisis, is something you do have control over. Your personality is reflected in the personality of your tour group.

Personal accounts are free, include features such as photos and blogs, and allow users to create settings that only let friends see the site.

hipmunk.com

This super simple flight-search site offers a sorting feature most other sites would prefer to hide: agony. You can sort by price, stops, duration, departure times, arrival times and overall agony of a trip. Flights are displayed on a single-page bar graph, color-coded by airline. Pop-up windows display details without taking you away from the page. And a cute chipmunk in aviator’s goggles adds a light touch to a search that often does leave you in agony.

Atlantis Casino Resort, Reno, Nev.

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Biloxi, Miss.

Westin Casuarina Hotel, Casino and Spa, Las Vegas (animals less than 40 pounds)

Terrible’s Sands Regency Casino Hotel, Reno, Nev. (one pet up to 50 pounds)

Red Rock Casino, Las Vegas (dogs less than 30 pounds)

Aliante Station Casino and Hotel, Las Vegas (dogs less than 25 pounds)

Birmingham’s new $25 million park has turned a four-block corridor next to its still active downtown rail line into 19 acres of rolling landscape with 600 newly planted trees, native wildflowers, a two-acre lake, streams, a rain curtain and wetlands. Many of the walls and seating areas are constructed from bricks and objects unearthed on the site when construction began. An outdoor film series is among the events planned for the park.

During the last decade, Birmingham has been adding attractions, including public art, that pay homage to its past and builds on its image as a leading city of the 21st century. The city also gained a reputation as a shopping mecca, which continues to grow as yet another mall comes on the scene. The Shops of Grand River celebrated its grand opening in late October with 330,000 square feet of retail shops including Talbots, Chico’s, Black and Decker, Polo Ralph Lauren, Izod, Banana Republic and more. The mall is near the Barber Motorsports Park and Vintage Motorsports Museum and the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World and Nature Park.

“One of the strongest ways to reinforce a destination’s brand is by weaving a community’s cultural-heritage story into its overall community message, effectively developing a truly distinctive locale,” says Michael Gehrisch, president and CEO of Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI). At DMAI’s annual convention, Gehrisch announced a new partnership between DMAI and Americans for the Arts. The goal of the partnership is to improve the relationship between DMOs and cultural institutions within their cities.

At next year’s DMAI convention in New Orleans, one DMO will be honored as the Arts Destination of the Year, recognizing the city for effectively and innovatively using the arts to market its community. Eligibility requirements and application information will be available soon on the DMAI website, destinationmarketing.org.