Published for the Travel Agents of Suffolk County
Our TASC Holiday party is December 15th at
Shandon Court
The party will begin at 6:00pm. We will be having a cocktail hour with Hors d’oeuvres,
a deluxe sit down dinner with open bar,
musical entertainment and more. 
Cost will be $35 for members and
$45 for non-members. 
Members are allowed to bring 1 non-member.
We ask that you RSVP by sending your payment to:
TASC, PO Box 49, Bohemia, NY 11716
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Holiday Toy Drive
TASC will once again be collecting donations for our annual toy drive at this month's meeting. We will be accepting new unwrapped toys which will benefit those less fortunate than ourselves. 
Cash or check donations will also be accepted.  
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TASC HOLIDAY PARTY
LOCATION
SHANDON COURT, 115 EAST MAIN ST., EAST ISLIP, NY

DATE AND TIME
12/15/21 6:00pm - 12/15/21 9:00pm

COCKTAILS: 6:00PM, DINNER: 6:30PM MEMBERS: $35, NON-MEMBERS: $45 RSVP IS MANDATORY
YES I WILL BE ATTENDING

RSVP
RSVP’S for the general meeting should
now be made by using the RSVP button above.

At this time you will continue to be able to RSVP to:
Honey Pressgrove’s office 631-363-9522
or email to tascrsvp@gmail.com
RSVP's must be received no later than the MONDAY
before the meeting. If you are unable to attend the meeting after you have already responded PLEASE call to cancel.


PLEASE RSVP WITH THE "YES I WILL BE ATTENDING" BUTTON ONLY IF YOU DEFINITELY PLAN ON ATTENDING OUR MEETINGS

IMPORTANT INFORMATION IF YOU SHARE A SINGLE EMAIL ADDRESS WITH A COLLEAGUE
SINCE EACH EMAIL ADDRESS IS LINKED TO ONLY 1 PERSON, ONLY THAT 1 PERSON CAN BE COUNTED WHEN YOU RSVP ELECTRONICALLY, ADDITIONAL ATTENDEES MUST PHONE OR EMAIL IN THEIR RSVP.
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Our 2021 TASC Trade Show is now in the books and I think it was one of the best in years!

Thank you to the many agents that came out and to the following suppliers who exhibited at our show.

Affluent Hospitality, AM Resorts, Andaz Resorts, Antigua/Barbuda, AutoEurope, Barbados Tourism,
Blue Diamond Resorts, Cayman Islands Tourism,
Celebrity Cruises, Delta Vacations, E-Z Italy,
Elegant Hotels/All-inclusive Marriott Resorts,
Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau,
AIC-Hard Rock Resorts, Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau, Hyatt Resorts Caribbean, Impressive Resorts, Jamaica Tourist Board, Kensington Tours,
Norwegian Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Sandals/Beaches, Scenic Cruises USA,
Silversea Cruises, St Kitts Tourism,
The Sol Group/Melia Hotels, Stan Enden Associates,
Turks & Caicos & Vacation Express

Save the Date for 2022 - Our next Trade show will be held on October 27th at the Holiday Inn Airport East

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HOLIDAY PARTY DATE CHANGE!!!!

The date of TASC’s Holiday Party has been changed to December 15th
at Shandon Court.
The party will begin at 6:00pm. We will be having a cocktail hour with Hors d’oeuvres, a deluxe sit down dinner with open bar, musical entertainment and much more. Cost will be $35 for members and $45 for non-members. Members are allowed to bring 1 non-member.

If you have not already done so, please mail your check with payment to: TASC, PO Box 49, Bohemia, NY 11716
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PRESIDENTS MESSAGE
Dear Members,

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving. I hosted my family this year and we had a great time together. We had enough food to feed double but everyone took home leftovers.
I also hope our Jewish members enjoyed their Hanukkah celebrations.

I know everyone was disappointed that Stan Enden was not able to make last month's meeting, however he is now on the schedule for our January meeting. I would like to thank the members that donated to our annual Thanksgiving food drive. Garrett was able to deliver a pick up truck load of food along with a check from your generosity to the Babylon Food Pantry at St. Paul's Church.

As you should now be aware, the date of our Holiday party has been changed to Wednesday, December 15th. It will be held at Shandon Court and will begin at 6pm. We will be hosting a cocktail hour with Hors d’oeuvres, a deluxe sit down dinner with open bar, musical entertainment and much more. Cost will be $35 for members and $45 for non-members. We are asking our guests to pay in advance so that the board members that work at the sign in table can enjoy more of the party.
TOY DRIVE - We ask that you donate a new unwrapped toy. Cash or check donations will also be accepted.

Looking forward to seeing you all on December 15th!

Respectfully,
Susan Bonesso

 
The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.
           -- St. Augustine
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UPCOMING TASC MEETING/EVENT SCHEDULE
DEC 15 - HOLIDAY PARTY/COCKTAIL HOUR/TOY DRIVE
JAN 12 - STAN ENDEN
FEB 9 - CRUISE NIGHT
MAR 9 - CRUISE NIGHT

Attention suppliers! We are currently booking our 2022 meetings at this time, get your choice date booked now.
You may contact our Programs Director, Fran Raupp at franr@baytravelandtours.com to book your program.
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Current Industry Affairs (CIA)
CDC will tighten Covid testing requirement for international arrivals. Amid concerns about the omicron variant of Covid-19, the CDC plans to tighten its testing requirement for arriving international travelers.
The CDC will require fully vaccinated travelers to produce a negative result from a Covid-19 viral test taken within 24 hours before departure to the U.S.
The U.S. currently requires international arrivals to conduct a viral test within three days of departure.
The CDC will continue to recommend that all travelers take a Covid-19 viral test three to five days after arrival. 
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River Cruise Lines cancel and modify cruises
With many Christmas markets closed, river cruise lines cancel or alter sailings. Lockdowns in Austria and Germany have resulted in Danube River cruise cancellations for the remainder of the year. Austria, home to Vienna's sprawling Christmas market frequented by most river cruise lines, entered a country-wide lockdown on Nov. 22, which completely restricts tourist entry and is expected to last at least through Dec. 13.
The bright return of holiday river cruising in 2021, heralded as the year the European Christmas markets would return, has dimmed even further as the German states of Bavaria and Saxony have also entered a weeklong lockdown. This includes the cancellation of Christmas markets in Munich and the popular embarkation port of Nuremburg for the entire Christmas season.
Crystal Ravel done sailing for the year
Crystal River Cruises has canceled its four remaining Crystal Ravel sailings this December.
Avalon, Scenic and Tauck cancel cruises
Avalon Waterways has also canceled all Danube and Main-Danube itineraries through the end of the year, citing a direct impact from the Christmas market closures.
Scenic Group has suspended all of its remaining 2021 European river cruises, which included six Scenic cruises and four Emerald Cruises sailings.
Tauck said it has canceled all holiday cruises on the Danube through the end of the year. Tauck's Amsterdam-to-Brussels Christmas cruises are scheduled to operate as planned.
Viking modifies Danube itineraries
Viking River Cruises has chosen to modify the itineraries of river voyages that include Austria. While Austria is locked down, ships will sail through the country and skip port calls there. 
"In recognition of any inconvenience caused by the change, Viking has provided guests on these modified itineraries with onboard credit to be used on their upcoming sailing, as well as a voucher to be used for their next voyage,"
AmaWaterways and Riviera evaluating upcoming sailings
AmaWaterways did not cancel Danube cruises on its four ships this week and "continues to evaluate upcoming sailings."
AmaWaterways could move passengers to another ship or itinerary, or postpone cruises to a future date. 
Guests cruising through Austria on modified itineraries will be eligible to receive future cruise credits depending on the number of days affected. 
Riviera River Cruises have said that if the "lockdown is extended in Austria, we will operate an alternative itinerary."
Uniworld working on holiday alternatives
Uniworld said its Danube Holiday Markets, Classic Christmas Markets and European Holiday Markets itineraries scheduled to depart in the first two weeks of December have been suspended. "We are working on an alternative for guests still interested in experiencing the European holiday markets this year along the Rhine River".
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Nearly two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, the world raced to contain a new coronavirus variant potentially more dangerous than the one that has fueled relentless waves of infection on nearly every continent.
A World Health Organization panel named the variant "omicron" and classified it as a highly transmissible virus of concern, the same category that includes the predominant delta variant, which is still a scourge driving higher cases of sickness and death in Europe and parts of the U.S.
Omicron's actual risks are not understood. But early evidence suggests it carries an increased risk of reinfection compared with other highly transmissible variants, the WHO said. That means people who contracted Covid-19 and recovered could be subject to catching it again. It could take weeks to know if current vaccines are less effective against it.
In response to the variant's discovery in southern Africa, the U.S., Canada, Russia and a host of other countries joined the EU in restricting travel for visitors from that region, where the variant brought on a fresh surge of infections.
The White House said the U.S. will restrict travel from South Africa and seven other countries in the region beginning Monday. That means "no travel" to or from the designated countries except for returning U.S. citizens and permanent residents who test negative. The U.S. restrictions will apply to visitors from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi.
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For current travel openings and restrictions for the Caribbean, go to: https://www.travelweekly.com/Caribbean-Travel/Caribbean-readies-for-a-wave-of-reopenings
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For current travel openings and restrictions for Europe:
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MEMBERS CORNER:
TASC sends condolences to Past President Jeaneane DeCicco on the passing of her mother; Patricia Englander. Cards may be sent to Jeaneane at 95 Winged Foot Road, Pinehurst, NC 28374
On a lighter note, TASC sends congratulations to current board member Jeff Austin on the recent birth of his first grandson; Lev.
TASC ANNUAL DUES
Your annual TASC membership renewals are now past due. They are still only $40 per year.
A Membership form is available at our website.
If they are not paid by the January meeting you will be charged the non-member rate.
Your TASC board has a new email address: TASCEMAIL@OPTIMUM.NET
If you have any member news that you would like posted in this newsletter please send an email with information to: tascemail@optimum.net
In addition to the get wells and condolences, we can also list job postings
or pertinent industry news.
If we don't know about it, we can't post it!
WWW.LI-TASC.COM
This is our website. Visit us !!!
Also visit our TASC Facebook page and “like us”.
Only TASC members will be able to post on the Facebook page.
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Supplier Rep Updates

We would like to welcome several new supplier reps that have recently been assigned to the Suffolk County area.

Apple Leisure Group - NEW
Brian Ehlers, behlers@algvacations.com

Carnival Cruises
Grace Ambrosia, gambrosia@carnival.com

Celtic Tours - NEW
Kathy Writer, kathyc@celtictours.com

Collette Vacations
Tracy O'Neill, toneill@collette.com

Holland America
Ann Hall, ahall@hollandamerica.com

Norwegian Cruise Lines - SHE'S BACK!
Lori Innamorata, linnamorata@ncl.com

Oceania Cruises
Thierry Vuolo is still the local rep for many agencies on LI, her email remains tvuolo@oceaniacruises.com
Maggie De La Cruz, mdelacruz@oceaniacruises.com covers less active accounts from her Florida location

Playa Resorts - NEW
Pedro Spignolio, pedro.spignolio@playaresorts.com

Regent Seven Seas - SHE'S BACK!
Janelle Valentino, jvalentino@rssc.com

Royal Caribbean
Molly Paolini, mollypsupport@rccl.com

Sandals/UVI
Kimberly Daino, kdaino@uvi.sandals.com

Seabourn Cruises
Ann Hall, ahall@seabourn.com

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Executive Board
President
Susan Bonesso
(email) susanbtravel@optonline.net
Vice President
Fran Raupp
(email) franr@baytravelandtours.com
Secretary
Liz Henn
(email) lizLbac@gmail.com
Treasurer
Ginny DeFeo
(email) gindef@hotmail.com
Director Owner
Will Porrier
(email) willjohn39@aol.com
Director Affiliate
Gavin Simmons
(email) gsimmons@uvi.sandals.com
Director Agent
Jeffrey Austin
(email) jaustin@vacationwiser.com
Past President
Garrett Simulcik
(email) gsimulcik@cruiseplanners.com


Rogers Travel


Bay Travel & Tours


LBAC Travel


Empress Travel


Ginger Peachy Travel


Sandals


Vacation Wiser


Cruise Planners



631-289-5252


631-447-6440


631-648-8032


631-698-7767


631-563-2001


631-526-3301


631-499-4483


631-274-5490



Committee Chairpersons