Washington, D.C. - August 28, 2012 – The U.S. Travel Association today announced that it is transitioning its Marketing Outlook Forum (MOF) conference to the Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA). The 37-year-old MOF has been the premier gathering of research professionals in the travel industry interested in learning more about travel trends and forecasts. TTRA announced that it would rename the event the Global Travel Outlook Conference and will feature experts from the United States, Canada and Europe discussing current trends and issues that impact the industry. The new conference will launch October 25-26 in Chicago.

"The Marketing Outlook Forum has long been a signature event for our industry, and we are pleased to entrust it to TTRA," said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association. "TTRA's strong partnership with research and destination leaders assures that the latest travel insights will continue to be provided through this valuable conference."

The 2012 conference program is led by a steering committee chaired by Dr. Sheila Flanagan, Dublin Institute of Technology (Ireland) and chair of the board of TTRA, with support from Dr. Suzanne Cook, a senior advisor to the U.S. Travel Association and the longtime principal of the Marketing Outlook Forum.

For more information on the event, visit the TTRA website at www.ttra.com.

The U.S. Travel Association is the national, non-profit organization representing all components of the travel industry that generates $1.9 trillion in economic output and supports 14.4 million jobs. U.S. Travel's mission is to increase travel to and within the United States.  Visit www.ustravel.org.  Follow us on Twitter @ustravel

The Travel and Tourism Research Association is the leading organization supporting the global community of practitioners, educators and users of research which engage in transforming, sharing and applying tourism research knowledge and practice worldwide. TTRA's mission is to promote quality travel and tourism research and marketing information. It has chapters in the USA, Canada, Europe and Asia-Pacific.