According to this article in the Chicago Tribune, trade shows and conventions boosted the city’s bottom line in 2003.

“The city hosted 40 major events, drawing about 1,070,000 visitors, better than in 2002 and 2001, but still shy of the 1.2 million attendees drawn in the banner year of 2000, according to the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau.

“Adding in smaller meetings booked through the bureau, 2003 shines more brightly, with 2.18 million hotel rooms booked through the bureau, compared with 2.15 million in 2000.”

But, the article added, “The outlook for Chicago’s meeting business in 2004 is a little cloudier, in part because certain shows and conventions rotate between Chicago and other cities in a pattern that leads to weaker even-numbered years…But observers expect an uptick in other sorts of meeting business to pick up some slack. New regulations on corporate governance and audit procedures, for instance, likely will trigger more corporate board committee meetings and extended auditing sessions, said Ted Mandigo, owner of TR Mandigo & Co., an Elmhurst-based hotel consultancy.”

Hmmm, and with all those lovely room nights come lots of lovely dollars, especially since, according to Chicagobusiness.com, Chicago is the second most expensive city for business travelers (only New York was more expensive).

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The intro to this article on security preparations for the Republican National Convention in New York City says it all: “We are getting a first hand look at how hotels in New York City are transforming themselves. From luxury homes away from home — to well-guarded fortresses.”

I wonder if all the extra security goes away after the convention, or if some of it, at least, will become permanent

…or so goes the Jimmy Buffett song. Now Hawaii’s betting everyone has a cousin-—or at least a professional connection—-with someone in the islands. According to an article from pacific.bizjournals.com, “The Hawaii Convention Center is basing its new sales strategy on the premise that personal connections are better than cold calls. The center is recruiting local businesspeople with connections to national groups as ambassadors to sell Honolulu as a convention destination.”

How smart is this? When I was in Indianapolis for the PCMA conference earlier this year, that city also was doing something similar for the medial/pharmaceutical industry by creating a “Bio Brigade” of local folks in the biz to work their connections to bring meetings, and hopefully businesses, to the area.

In the article, Priscilla Texeira, who is heading the center’s Hawaii Business Ambassadors program, said, “Everybody in Hawaii belongs to some organization — church, professional or fraternal — that have national and international meetings. And just a local businessperson extending an invitation makes a difference between somebody selecting Hawaii versus San Diego or wherever.”

In its quest to book at least 34 events per year, SMG Hawaii, which took over the sales and marketing of the center Jan. 1, 2003, from the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, jumped on Texeira’s idea. “Starting July 1, she will be paid $7,000 a month for her commitment to bring in 52 events a year.” So far, according to the article, the strategy helped convince the Fuel Cell Seminar’s 2006 event from defecting elsewhere, thinking that “Hawaii couldn’t be taken seriously as a business destination.” Texeira recruited local talent in that area, who emphasized Hawaii’s connection to fuel cell technology.

“The organizers changed their minds and booked their conference for November 2006, and plan to bring 1,500 to 2,000 members.

“Texeira is now working on recruiting at least one local point of contact for each of the 700 national accounts SMG is pursuing.”

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An articleon nola.com recently touted the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience, held on Memorial Day weekend, as a boon not just for tourism, but also for meetings.

Summer can be slow in the Big Easy, which is why the five-day event featuring wine tastings and upscale dinners, originally held in July, was created to begin with. Moving it to a slightly more hospitable date, weather-wise, has brought more tourists the past couple of years, and, says the article, “The New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau Inc. has started using the event to try to persuade meeting planners to book their meetings here. The bureau has invited 36 meeting planners who represent industry associations and corporate meeting groups to town this weekend to participate in the Wine and Food Experience and see hotels and convention facilities.” It worked last year, when the foodie fam resulted in booked meetings from Jazzercise Inc., McKesson Corp., and Underwater Intervention, which is the combined annual conference of the Association of Diving Contractors International and the Marine Technology Society.

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TravelCLICK’s latest report says that Europe is selling its room nights like hotcakes, outperforming the worldwide average by 6.7 percent with a 16.2 percent GDS in the first quarter of 2004. According to the report, the hottest of the Euro hotspots, rated by GDS, are:

1. LONDON
2. PARIS
3. FRANKFURT
4. MADRID
5. AMSTERDAM
6. STOCKHOLM
7. BRUSSELS
8. MUNICH
9. BARCELONA
10. MILAN

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According to this editorial from BizBash, New Yorkers are still lighting up at private events now that the city has banned smoking. Says the article, “‘Private events spaces are not subject to the bar laws,’ said one event manager in the publishing industry. Wrong answer. In fact, it doesn’t matter if the space is public or private. What matters is whether paid employees are there. The law was implemented with their lungs in mind.”

Even tents can’t serve as ad hoc smoking lounges, it says, adding that some planners are renting out bits of adjacent parking lots as “smoking patios.” How do you handle the would-be smokers in your group?

OK, this one is just kind of fun—a virtual walking tour of France. Just in case you don’t speak French, here’s how it works: Go to this site, click on a city, then on a street. When the virtual street comes up, take a stroll using the navigation bar.

Thanks to James Spellos, CMP, at meeting-u.com for pointing this one out in his e-newsletter a while back!

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That’s when the Metro Detroit’s third annual Religious
Meeting Planners Forum is scheduled at the Sheraton Detroit Novi hotel. The planners will get to mix and mingle with representatives from metro Detroit hotels, restaurants, attractions and other hospitality industry providers in a tradeshow format. Then it’s off to lunch and a presentation on how to save money by using services from the DMCVB, then training sessions follow the tradeshow.

If you want to register, go to www.visitdetroit.com/meetingplanners.

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Puerto Rico, soon to be home to the $200 million, state-of-the-art Puerto Rico Convention Center, wants to know what planners want. So the Puerto Rico Convention Bureau has just initiated a new meeting planner feedback program, providing three ways to obtain feedback throughout the site selection and meeting implantation process.

According to a press release, the initial results from MEETINGScope, which began in March, should be available within the next few weeks. An independent research organization surveys meeting planners online after a contract is signed and after a meeting is held in Puerto Rico. They’re also trying to find out how to attract potential Puerto Rico clients who ended up selecting another destination.

“The program lets us capture a wealth of information that can help the Bureau improve its services, develop new programs catering to the needs of meeting planners, as well as letting us provide timely feedback to our partners to continually see where our meeting community is doing well and where we might benefit from improvement,” Ana Maria Viscasillas, acting executive director, Puerto Rico Convention Bureau, said in the release.

I think this is a great way to get real-time info on how to better meet planners’ needs.

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Sorry, the sailor/punster in me took over the keyboard for a minute—what I wanted to write about was a very cool thing The Fairmont Orchid is doing by partnering with the University of Hawaii-Hilo’s Kalakaua Marine Education Center to regularly monitor Pauoa Bay and the coral reef environment located off the oceanfront resort.

From the press release: “The unprecedented partnership between U.H.-Hilo and the hotel’s employee-driven Green Committee will ensure the reef and its countless inhabitants remain healthy by conducting a qualitative baseline study which includes monitoring coral growth, and measuring water temperature, salinity, oxygen, nutrient and sediment levels. After the results are analyzed, the hotel and U.H. scientists can determine the best course of action for protecting the reef and its inhabitants.

“’Our initial impression is that the coral reef environment fronting The Fairmont Orchid is very healthy, and we’d like to help the staff learn how to keep it that way,’ said Dr. Walter Dudley, U.H.-Hilo professor of oceanography.” The hotel already uses 100 percent organic water-insoluble fertilizer—which doesn’t leach into the ocean–throughout the 32-acre property.

Just another great idea from Fairmont Hotels & Resorts worldwide, all of whose 43 properties have environmental or “green” programs in place. I’ve done my share of water quality sampling and monitoring as a volunteer for our local river association, and urge you all to check into what programs are available in your area. I know Earth Day has passed, but keeping our air and water quality up takes a 365-day-a-year effort.

Comments?

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