Meetings Industry Finds Strength in Adversity

When President Obama warned corporations in 2009 against spending taxpayer money to travel to Las Vegas, the meetings industry saw it as a call to action. Clearly Washington just didn’t get it about the positive economic impact of meetings, and something needed to be done.

It was a low point that the meetings industry has since turned to its advantage.

That was the consensus among top meeting and travel executives during a discussion hosted by the Associated Luxury Hotels International recently in Las Vegas. Much of the discussion revolved around the importance of the meetings industry and how it is perceived in Washington.

‘Don’t go to Vegas’
“When the president said, ‘Don’t go to Las Vegas’ [a few years ago], it was the best day for our industry, because it gave the opportunity for the industry to introduce itself,” said Geoff Freeman, COO of the U.S. Travel Association.

“It was the adversity that brought all of us [industry organizations] together, and it allowed us to build relationships with the folks in Washington to help them better understand what the industry does.”

Reaping the rewards
That adversity has since “paid dividends,” Freeman said, “to the point where the Obama administration has embraced travel in ways that no other administration has – from putting out a national travel strategy, to reducing visa wait times for people getting into the country, to getting into the Gulf coast with his daughters to let everyone know that the area is open for business.”

“The administration has taken a different tone because of the lessons learned in 2009,” Freeman said.

Going forward, “we all have a responsibility to advocate for the meetings industry,” Freeman said.

Forced to find data
Cindy D’Aoust, COO of Meeting Professionals International, noted that when the economy was strong, the meetings industry wasn’t forced to find the data to prove that meetings drive growth and business results.

Now the industry has to stay focused on telling its positive story, she said. “Adversity is generally a cause to make change, and for us it was.

“All industry organizations need to work together – not just to respond but to plan ahead. We need to build the story and messages together of why meetings are important,” D’Aoust said.

Beyond boondoggles
Deborah Sexton, president and CEO of PCMA, agreed that industry groups need to continue to talk about the positive impact of meetings and travel on the economy. Some in Washington still see meetings as “boondoggles,” she warned.

Sexton also expressed concern that since the economy is improving, there is “less pressure to finish the job” of getting out the positive message about meetings. She and her counterparts are committed to doing this, she said, as they all have a desire to “come together to make our industry stronger.”