Madison Tollstam, CTA

You knew me as Madison Tollstam but now I would like to introduce myself as Madison Tollstam, CTA. Fancy, right? I took the step to become a certified tourism ambassador otherwise known as CTA to work on not just my certifications but my network.

One of my main goals as I have taken on this role here in my home state, is to create connections that I'll be able to pass to the next individual or even just carry with me to my next stop. These connections especially locally, are crucial and help with bringing business to your hotel. For example, the CVB (Convention Visitors Bureau) submits leads through a portal, I have had mentors reach out to me for their clients in order to bring business to our hotel. That is just a piece of the benefits though.

Becoming a CTA, we had a couple weeks to read a binder stuffed with information about our region. In this case, Lansing, MI. We then had a four hour class where we would run through exercises and different modules to become more familiar with any location in the Mid Michigan Region. Our goal is to drive business to our city but at the same time turn any experience into a positive one. After the class is over, we were given 30 minutes to complete an exam, the certificates had already been printed so no pressure but still. It was however an open book exam, twenty eight questions, you can miss seven.

This certification is attached to you, not your title. I am able to move around with it and renew it as long as I'd like! To renew it you have to record points, these are from tourism related articles, events, volunteer opportunities and so on.

I'm excited to #lovelansing in a new light!