Changes and improvements began very quickly. It was at the tender age of two, during the 1959 conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, the association changed its name to the National Association of Pharmaceutical Tour Directors. At the 1960 conference in New York City, the association went co-ed by adding the first three females to the organization. In 1964, the conference made a return visit to New York and for the first time the association began to formally identify itself with tour program operations by changing its name to the National Association of Professional Tour Directors. In 1965 another significant change took place. The association opened itself to membership across other industries when the first non-pharmaceutical company joined the organization.

Over the next 13 years, growth was modest with about 27 companies as the total membership. In 1978, after the first twenty years, the association changed its name to: The Guest Relations Association- Plant and Industrial Tour Directors. In 1971, the Industrial Tour Directors became Institutional Tour Directors to further broaden the membership and the industry. It was not until 1978 when the members decided the best name to capture the full breadth of the industry was to call itself the Guest Relations Association.