The prevailing assessment among convention and visitors bureaus at several popular meeting destinations around the country is that 2010 has progressed far better than disastrous 2009, as they see a marked recovery in group business. But last year's economic collapse and post-AIG struggle, and this year's natural, human, and political disasters, have taught them that crisis management and industry advocacy are now a focal point of their job.
Out of the tumult of the last 20 months has come a united industry defense. Many bureaus have joined the 2,000-member U.S. Travel Association (USTA), the umbrella coalition whose mission is to lead and promote, ally with Washington lawmakers, and educate the public in the economic value and business benefits of meetings.
The widespread publicity crisis surrounding corporate meetings and incentives last year was especially hard for Las Vegas. Despite remarking that anti-meetings and incentive sentiment has dissipated this year, Chris Meyer, CEM, CMP, vice president of convention sales for the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority (LVCVA), concludes that "travel has become sensitive to political events. The politicization of travel is not good for anybody."
Steve Goodling, president and CEO of the Long Beach Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, agrees. "People are more cautious," says Goodling. "There have been less stories for the media to print, but groups have gotten more pragmatic."
He says although his destination's name has the dreaded word "beach," Long Beach's relative anonymity compared with other Southern California destinations has protected it from outside shocks. "Although we're on the water, we don't have the stigma of being viewed as extravagant," he says.
Back with a Whimper
In Palm Beach, eight straight months of rising hotel occupancy and returning corporate meetings have heartened Jorge Pesquera, CEO of the Palm Beach County Convention & Visitors Bureau, but he says receptions are not as lavish, planners are working with less, and programs are shorter—as seen nearly everywhere else. The extravagance issue that trigged those changes is just one of a variety of threats to which the meetings industry is vulnerable.
Cumulatively identified as a "super trend" by Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI), a trade group of CVBs and destination organizations and a USTA member, those threats include political unrest and front-page disasters. In the first six months of this year alone, volcanic ash, floods, Arizona's immigration law controversy, and the BP oil spill have affected the meetings industry. Those events "validate the DMAI report," says Pesquera. "It reported that we'd be constantly dodging asteroids, and we are."
Bill Malone, president and CEO of the Park City Chamber & Visitors Bureau, says, "I feel like we're the whipping boy for the world's woes." The mountain destination has relied on financial meetings and incentives; when fewer of them came due to perception concerns, he says it sent a "shock to the system" through local hospitality businesses.
While Malone says corporate meetings and incentives are returning to Park City, he sees a changed climate. "There's a sensitivity. While we're not hearing any more horror stories about companies not using name tags and signs, they are doing their meetings differently," he notes. So the destination now is putting a greater emphasis on association business and athletic events.
Ironically for New Orleans, it has been a major disaster, Hurricane Katrina, that has helped the city through the recent tough stretch. Since the 2005 storm, countless groups have rallied the city, staging their meetings, trade shows, and conventions there while cultivating a positive image for themselves and New Orleans through their corporate social responsibility projects.
Because of what happened with Katrina, "we were not looked at as a [negative] destination," says Stephen Perry, president and CEO of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau. However, he senses that the issue has not been completely forgotten, noting the city hasn't seen the same volume of or intensity in corporate meetings it saw before the Wall Street crisis. He says the industry needs at least two more years of pro-meetings messaging to win back public trust.
DMAI has been proactive in telling its constituents about adopting best practices in crisis communication, and, prompted by the oil spill and Arizona travel boycotts, its chair, Dan Fenton, the CEO of Team San Jose, in late June sent a communiqué about poaching business. It's yet another facet of the volatile climate bureaus are facing. Arizona has had to embark on a costly $250,000 public relations campaign to mend its image.
"I feel a lot of empathy for Steve Moore [president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau]," says Perry, adding, "We gave a directive to our staff not to poach business from Arizona and Nashville."
A National CVB Brings Support
Beginning this month, the U.S. government is funding the country's first-ever national travel marketing agency, established under the Travel Promotion Act.
Perry is the incoming chair of DMAI and an executive committee member of the USTA. He is also on the government's U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, selected by the Obama administration to advise the President and U.S. Commerce Department Secretary Gary Locke on matters relating to national travel and tourism policy.
"We are laying the groundwork for a national structure and funding mechanism for the travel industry to be prepared when difficulties arise and to be on the offensive," Perry explains. "When a disaster or a political controversy happens, we need to get the message out that those affected are working Americans. Travel and meetings shouldn't be something that's picked on."
Rossi Ralenkotter, CEO of the LVCVA, is the chair of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, and in May, Chris Meyer, his convention sales VP, testified to Locke about the meetings industry's importance. Next to USTA President and CEO Roger Dow, "Rossi has done more for the industry than anyone," says Meyer. "And Gary Locke is a champion of travel and understands meetings, conventions, and trade shows."
"Roger has done a really outstanding job with the Travel Promotion Act," says Pesquera. As the USTA's efforts are winning political allies and clarifying Washington's view of the industry, Pesquera says CVBs will have to be nimble and dedicate resources to timely disseminate accurate response information to planners when disaster strikes.
Originally published Sept. 1, 2010