The 12th International Mediterranean Travel Mart took place in Tel Aviv, Israel, in mid-February, showcasing many destinations not traditionally at the top of American meeting planners' minds, but which are reaching out to the meetings and incentive market.
More than 14,000 people attended the show, nearly 7,000 of them travel professionals from around the world. And the many European and American meeting and travel planners in attendance were treated to a showcase of up-and-coming destinations including Croatia, Bulgaria, Hungary, India, Korea, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Slovakia, South Africa, and Thailand. In all, 19 other countries participated as well.
Being the host country as well as an exhibitor, Israel found many travel professionals newly interested in planning trips there. "I was able to pick up a great deal of information, and most importantly, I was able to see all the changes in Israel since the last time I was there 20 years ago. I feel I can now sell Israel to clients with confidence," says Alice Tillem, president of Hillside Travel, Inc. in Hicksville, NY. Keith Dillon from Pawtucket, RI-based Collette Vacations agrees. "I will be speaking with several of my groups to encourage them to promote Israel as their next destination."
Interestingly, the American Tourism Society (ATS) is holding its conference in Israel for the first time this month. Don Reynolds, executive vice president for ATS, notes that "the conference in Tel Aviv is a logical next step to ATS' expansion of its Red Sea/Mediterranean Regional Council." ATS held its 2005 Spring Conference in Amman, Jordan, in March 2005.
According to several meeting planners, globalization is making international meetings more of a necessity for their clients.Nicole Bumpus of National Events, Inc., in Washington D.C., comments that there has always been a need for U.S. clients to host events and meetings in major European cities, "but more and more requests are for China, Japan, India, and elsewhere. The world has gotten to be a much smaller place.I have requests from Japanese firms wanting to host events in Canada, and U.S. clients wanting to host events in Korea, and you have to provide informed options to keep up with their needs."
Bumpus adds that with prices of popular international destinations increasing relative to the U.S. dollar, "It is hard to justify the budgets necessary to host events in some Western European cities.Plus you have to offer a new draw—something intriguing that your people have not seen or experienced before."
A Few Perspectives
Paul McDonagh, New York City-based business development executive for Visit Britain, says that many incentive customers have indicated that they are looking for new destinations after having primarily stayed within North America for the past five years. There are also many associations that are interested in expanding internationally in response to the growth of their membership base outside the U.S. McDonagh notes that U.S. association business is strong for cities like London, Manchester, and Glasgow.
Dori Marx, New York City-based executive manager of the Austrian Business & Convention Network, notes that there are several economic and social dynamics driving the demand for international meetings, such as a rebound of global mergers and acquisitions. According to Marx, because Austria is centrally located in Europe, the country is receiving its fair share of pharmaceutical, financial, and other corporate meetings; interest for incentives has increased as well. "As so manyplanners have put it, 'Clients are getting a bit of cabin fever from U.S. destinations,'" says Marx.
Slovakia has also seen increased interest from American corporate groups especially at the regional meeting and incentive fairs of the past year (IMEX in Frankfurt; EIBTM in Barcelona; Business Tourism Fair in Florence) and in connection with joint promotional efforts with Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic (together they are known as the European Quartet). "Corporate business is the core client base year-round for Slovak properties that are part of international hotel chains (Radisson SAS, InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Best Western, and others). There are more than 130 U.S. companies that do business in Slovakia, and the number is growing," says a statement from the Slovak Tourist Authority.
For Chris Lazarus, representative of Slovakia Tourist Board and Concorde Hotels' sales team in New York City, the year 2005 also showed an increase in corporate groups traveling to Europe from the U.S. Lazarus says that the trend is continuing in 2006 and corporate groups are attempting to leverage the economies of scale when they negotiate room rates. "Many companies are consolidating their corporate [individual] and group segments by only working with hotel companies that are in their individual business traveler programs," he says.
Richard Rheindorf of the German Convention Bureau's sales team in New York City recently returned from sales calls in the Midwestern U.S. "There is definitely an interest in Germany as a meetings and incentive destination. The cities which are mostly requested are Berlin and Munich." American corporations and associations are bringing groups of all sizes to Germany, notes Rheindorf. Last year, Germany was rated Europe's number-one meetings destination by ICCA.
Kevin Ford, New York City-based account manager of the Switzerland Convention and Incentive Bureau, adds that his organization is seeing consistent growth in the corporate meetings market segment. Overnight stays in Switzerland from North America grew by 6.8 percent in 2005. He attributed this to factors including perceived safety and security, better value, excellent infrastructure, and Switzerland's central location in Europe.
The Keys to Confidence
For many planners, safety and security are some of the top issues when planning an international meeting. Los Angeles, CA-based meeting planner Emma Nielsen says that when it comes to conferences in developing nations, the most important issues for her are security and safety."In recent years, I have found that even companies based in Hong Kong, which have a greater understanding of regional security issues than perhaps a U.S.-based company, have become more cautious in terms of which countries and cities they will consider. Prior to September 11, 2001, security wasn't an issue at all. Conferences in Pakistan and Indonesia, for example, took place without any consideration of possible threats, but now companies are avoiding, if possible, these locations."
Other issues planners focus on are cost and managing the expectations of participants. Randi Glass, senior manager of finance and administration for the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management in Toronto, Canada, notes that "levels of service, standards of excellence (hotel-star ratings, for example), and quality and variety of food are highly variable. It is up to the planner and her team to ensure the participants are well informed as to the limitations of an emerging destination. Personally, my greatest challenge is adapting to the local customs regarding time management. For example, what 'right away' or 'soon' means in Canada likely has a very different meaning in the Caribbean or Malaysia."
Bumpus adds that "the trick is to be as flexible as possible and then have an honest dialogue with your local contacts about your needs and expectations. I have found that if you are respectful of another's culture, they will work with you and ensure your needs are met."