Nearly 600 new members joined the American Bus Association in the past 18 months, helping the association raise the awareness and voice of the group travel industry. ABA�s membership now stands at more than 3600 bus and tour operators, travel industry members � including attractions, destinations, hotels and restaurants, and association members who provide goods and services to the industry. The surge in members is the result of a concentrated effort to garner interest and excitement in the industry and ABA.

Peter J. Pantuso, president and CEO, American Bus Association, said, �The group travel industry has changed. And ABA is changing as well, becoming more useful and valuable to and for our members. We believe the group travel industry needs a strong voice and working on their behalf in Washington. And with each new member who joins ABA, our voice becomes stronger and we are able to do more for the industry.

Examples of this include ABA�s presence on Capitol Hill. Just a few years ago, buses weren�t included in any public policy, and if they were, it wasn�t good for business. In recent Congressional sessions, ABA was able to work with lawmakers on Capitol Hill and help foster legislation that has led to security grants and ADA grants for operators. In fact, in both cases, ABA members received more than 95 percent of all grant monies appropriated for the intercity bus industry.

ABA has also worked diligently with those in the travel industry to help their businesses. Just last year, ABA was a founding partner in the National Travel, Tourism and Recreation Coalition for Surface Transportation (NTTRC), designed to serve the interests of the travel, tour and recreation industries in the next round of surface transportation legislation, also known as TEA-21 reauthorization.

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Other ABA member-oriented programs and services include our online advocacy tool where members can connect directly with Congress, the ABA Foundation, Destinations � ABA�s award-winning magazine, Motorcoach Marketer, the industry source for all aspects of tour planning, a partnership with an online transportation bid company; a web-based Marketing and Communications Toolkit that incorporates useful information to help increase awareness of the industry and market their businesses; and ABA�s Safe Operator Program that reminds consumers that even in tough economic times, it�s imperative to hire a safe, quality operator, and not just the one with the lowest bid, among many, many others.

ABA is also proud to provide the annual American Bus Marketplace for members. The five-day event brings together sellers and buyers of travel for a series of 7-minute business appointments, similar to a huge �speed-dating� event. The show is the largest in the industry with nearly 80,000 appointments and millions of dollars of business deals resulting from the event.

Pantuso said, �It�s ABA�s goal to help increase business opportunities for our members in the industry. To do that, we are always looking at ways to improve what we do for our constituency and what is good for the industry. We�re not working in a static industry, and I don�t believe we do anyone any good as a static association. We�re here for our members.�

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Media Contact: Lori Levy +1 800-283-2877 llevy@buses.org