ABOUT

SYTA Summit is a unique networking hiatus for student group tour operators and key industry partners to connect and recharge during a four-day immersive learning experience. Since 2014, the SYTA Summit has inspired more than 700 participants—95% of whom say they plan to attend again.

WHAT WILL YOU GAIN BY PARTICIPATING IN THE SYTA SUMMIT?

The SYTA Summit leverages peer-engagement to increase connections between great ideas, trends and real-world scenarios, to find solutions that you can use to prepare your business for the future.

Over the course of four days, you’ll be inspired and challenged by a line-up of engaging speakers and successful industry leaders from diverse backgrounds who will offer thought-provoking points of view on new and old issues.

SYTA offers this experience as a respite from your work so that you may sharpen your skills, reflect and rejuvenate.

It’s time to enhance your leadership journey and reinvent your business:

Navigate emerging trends and adapt to new environments, barriers, and opportunities.
Accelerate your success with breakthrough ideas and challenge your leadership vision, knowledge and abilities.
Energize your personal leadership journey through powerful conversations, real-time collaboration and high-level discussions in roundtables with peers.

Cultivate your network of senior executives willing to hold real conversations with you and share their experiences.

WHY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA?

SYTA Tour Operators overwhelmingly asked for Southern California. Many of them have not been back since the Pandemic and their customers are asking for trips out West. Each day attendees will experience education, networking, and opportunties to explore three key destinations from a student perspective. We appreciate the support of Visit Anaheim, Visit Buena Park, LA Tourism and their local partners. The Summit Committee is developing a three day experience that brings back the best of SYTA Summit.

HAWAII POST TOUR

Attendees may extend their Summit experience with a Hawaii Post Tour to Oahu and the Big Island designed by Polynesian Adventures. The Hawaii Post Tour is not included in the Summit registration fee. Attendees may register for both or add the Hawaii Post Tour to their Summit registration. Check out the Summit Schedule for an overview of the Summit week.

MEET THE SUMMIT COMMITTEE

Debi Barr, Chair, Founder and President at Dance The Magic
Tony Hoover, Red Line Tours, Former SYTA Board of Director
Kathryn Fischer, Vice President of Sales, Transportation Charter Services,
SYTA Youth Foundation Board of Trustee
Lori Tostado, Senior Global Director Travel Trade, Legends
Michael Young, Manager Tourism Development, Visit Anaheim
SYTA Staff
Precision Meeting and Events
If you would like to join the committee, you must be able to attend the Summit. Email us at [email protected].

LIST OF PAST ATTENDEES

2023 Attendees

Alta Voyages	American Travel Consulting
Anaheim Desert Palms Hotel & Suites	Aon Affinity Travel Practice
Bob Rogers Travel	Boggy Creek Airboat Adventures
Boston Duck Tours	Branson Convention & Visitors Bureau
Branson’s IMAX Entertainment Complex & Branson Restaurants Inc.	Broadway Inbound
Broadway Plus	C & F Travel Insured International, Inc
CCIS	Cedar Fair Entertainment
City Cruises by Hornblower	Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Dance Around The World	Dance the Magic!
Destination Niagara USA	Discover Puerto Rico
Disney Imagination Campus at Walt Disney World Resort	Disney on Broadway
Disneyland Resort	Educational Discovery Tours
Educational Tours, Inc.	Educational Travel Adventures
EF Explore America	EF Explore America
Ellison Travel and Tours	Embassy Suites LAX South/Embassy Suites Los Angeles Downey
Embassy Suites San Francisco Airport South/Embassy Suites Burlingame	Empire State Building Observatory
EXP Trips	Fly My Group
Forum Music Festivals	Four winds
Gerber Tours, Inc.	Global Travel Alliance
Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau	Group Travel Network
GroupCollect	Hard Rock Cafe
Holbrook Field Trips	Homewood Suites by Hilton Anaheim Main Gate
Hudson Yards	iWaldman Consulting
Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation	Kaleidoscope Adventures
Kaleidoscope Adventures, Inc	Live Travel and Tours
Main Street Travel, LLC	Medieval Times -National
Ment Law Group	Music Travel Consultants
Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp	NYC & Company
Ottawa Tourism	Peak Performance Tours
Receptively Yours	Rein Teen Tours
Rockefeller Center	RODOTOURS, S. DE R.L. DE C.V.
SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment	Serendipity Media
Smoky Mountain Resorts	SoFi Stadium Tours / Legends
SUMMIT One Vanderbilt	Summit Travel and Tours, LLC
Super Holiday Tours	Superblue
SYTA	TCS (Transportation Charter Services)
Teach & Travel Magazine	The American Travel Group
Tour Resource Consultants	Tourism Winnipeg
Travel With Barb	Universal Orlando Resort
Universal Orlando Resort Hotels	Universal Parks & Resorts
Valentine Consulting	Viajes A Plus Inc
Visit Prince William, VA	Visit Williamsburg
Voyages A+	WeTravel
WorldStrides

HOST CITIES

Kara Mihalevich, President, Adventure Student Travel, LLC

To me, SYTA Summit is the most valuable conference that I attend. I always find the educational seminars very useful and because it is a smaller, more intimate conference, you get to build a much deeper relationship with the sponsors. This is also the only conference that I have ever really had the opportunity to get to know other attendees. I absolutely LOVE SYTA Summit!

Dr. Michael A. Mazzarisi, President, Performing Arts Consultants

The best part of a SYTA SUMMIT is that it provides the opportunity for travel professionals to meet in a conversable setting without the pressure of a 7 minute meeting or have to deal with the barrage of conference masses. Every tour operator has unique abilities, and since I am a big proponent of partnerships, SUMMIT becomes an ideal network to forge plans for new and exciting joint ventures.

Tara Hippensteel, National Director of Tourism, City Cruises

SYTA Summit provides an unique opportunity to get up close with my SYTA partners and many of our buyers. The environment lends itself to a causal, natural environment – no pressure just building my network!

Steve Maehl, Global Travel Alliance

It was over ten years ago that I attended my very first SYTA event at the 2009 Summit. I learned a lot, and made new friendships, but what impressed me the most was discovering an organization that desired to come together to collectively improve our industry and continually works together to change young lives for good through travel.