Las Vegas, Oct. 17, 2013 – Yesterday, IMEX America and the U.S. Travel Association brought a trio of US Mayors, destination CEOs, and industry association heads together for a dynamic, first of its kind Forum designed to continue advocacy efforts on behalf of the meetings and events industry in the US.
Bringing high level government participation to the event were Mayor Vincent Gray of DC linked via live video, as well as in-person panelists Former Mayor of Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman, and Mayor David Coss of Santa Fe. In addition, Lt. Governor of Nevada Brian K. Krolicki joined in the luncheon preceding the Forum.
The first ever Policymakers Forum was held as part of the third annual IMEX America trade show at the Sands Expo®, taking place in Las Vegas this week. The invitation-only Forum provided an atmosphere for frank and productive conversation where challenges and issues were put on the table and proactive ways to increase value for local governments and economies, business travelers and the meetings industry alike were outlined.
Welcoming the guests, Ray Bloom, Chairman of the IMEX Group, opened the session by stating: “Today’s Forum demonstrates the importance of ongoing political advocacy in our industry and reminds us of the full economic power of meetings and events, and their role in building knowledge economies.” He was followed by Roger Dow, President and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association who briefed participants on the key priorities of his organization including improving the visa and entry process for international visitors; increasing awareness on the need to improve America’s travel infrastructure, and supporting the meeting segment of the travel industry. Though there remains much to be done, Dow also spoke of the more recent progress made in building understanding of the industry, “Six to seven years ago the travel industry was not all that relevant and was seen as more frivolous vs. other industries such as manufacturing, technology and healthcare. This time, when the government shut down the White House called the U.S. Travel Association to come in for a meeting and asked us our thoughts on the impact that could be expected to the tourism sector.”
Furthering the thought of the value connection between the government and meetings, Dow was followed by Jon Gray of Rockport Analytics who shared new research data, commissioned by the U.S. Travel Association, on the benefits of government meetings and conferences. The government meetings and spend data shared showed some decline but on the flip side these results also showed that 92% of those surveyed in the government “believe there is a benefit from meetings.” This benefit, the data also showed, stems from important efforts like employee development and training, key knowledge transfer, private sector business development and standards and regulation application — all supported by meetings.
Following the sharing of these important facts and figures, Dow then introduced and moderated the main element of the Forum, a Mayors Panel featuring Mayor Gray linked live via video feed from Washington D.C., along with Mayor Goodman, and Mayor Coss. This provided a unique opportunity to hear multiple, high-level policymakers share their first-hand perspective on and commitment to meetings and conferences as part of their local economies. Mayor Gray was, not surprisingly, asked to provide an update on how the District is doing in the wake of the government shutdown. In doing so he obviously acknowledged the strain it is placing as the government is the #1 employer and tourism the #2 but on the same note that DC is very much open for business and new exciting developments such as a new Marriott Marquis convention hotel, City Center, new public transportation line and improved wharf area are moving forward.
Mayor Coss commented on meetings held by the Los Alimos Labs, Sandia National Labs and others as being critical to their tourism and hospitality economy as well as the partnership local service providers and venues have forged with his office to help educate Senators on the negative impact of a per diem government hotel recommendation that was less than the average per night hotel room rate. Finally, Mayor Goodman was asked to share his experience of leading Vegas through the AIG effect aftermath to its present status as a meetings mecca which he stressed took large levels of resolve and in-depth market research to create a winning recipe to attract a business crowd. He also praised the full room of industry professionals on “Walking the walk by taking time out from the busy show to come to the Policymakers Forum and learn something new to do their jobs better when returning home.”
Following the Mayors’ remarks, a rapid-fire association executive panel introduced by Karen Kotowski, Chief Executive of the Convention Industry Council (CIC) and moderated by Larry Luteran, Senior Vice President Group Sales and Industry Relations for Hilton, continued the conversation. Panel participants included Deborah Sexton, President and CEO of PCMA, Paul Van Deventer, President & CEO of MPI, and Rod Cameron, Executive Director of Development for AIPC. They explained that whilst the industry had successfully come together to demonstrate the economic significance of the meetings industry, the next step is for the global community to develop coherent messaging on the value that meetings bring in fostering knowledge transfer, career development and economic growth.
