Sports Travel and Tours Founder to Chair National Tour Association

HATFIELD — Jay Smith, the founder of Sports Travel and Tours, took over as chair of the board of directors for the National Tour Assoc. on March 2, before the conclusion of the annual Travel Exchange convention in St. Louis. He will lead the board until the next convention in December in San Antonio, taking the reins from Justin Osbon of Image Tours Inc., which offers European tours.

Smith has been sitting on the board for NTA — a leading business-building association for professionals serving customers traveling to, from, and within North America — for about six years.

NTA acts as an advocate on behalf of its members and the tourism industry at large. Active with policymakers in Congress and the administration, the association coordinates with its partners on a number of key legislative issues. It is governed by a 17-member volunteer board of directors, which is advised by volunteer committees. Currently, NTA is focused on a number of policy priorities, including specialty travel markets in countries including India and China, travel between Cuba and the U.S., and funding for the National Park Service Centennial.

As chair, Smith looks forward to helping the organization further stabilize after a transition over the past few years, which brought in Pam Inman as the new president.

“It made sense to me to stay through the changes and give the new incoming president the opportunity to have someone on her team who knows the history,” Smith said. “My goal right now is to be able to have the board step up to the plate and help with growing our base and membership. We need to shore up our membership base.”

Founded 20 years ago, Sports Travel and Tours has been the official travel company of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum since 2007.