the April 2009 Issue in PDF Format - Trade Show Executive

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Feature CVBs Adjust Strategies as Economy Squeezes Event and Travel Revenues By Hil Anderson, senior editor Carlsbad, CA – The economic downturn is forcing convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) of all sizes to retrench and revamp their strategies for marketing to show organizers. The changes are often made on the fly as economic developments make headlines at a dizzying pace and anxious city governments eye hotel revenues and tourism budgets to help pay for vital services. “This is an unusual confluence of circumstances that is not covered in the playbook,” said Maura Gast, executive director of the Irving CVB in Texas and chair of Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI). The speed in which the U.S. economy faltered seemed to blindside many companies in most industry sectors. Along with pink slips handed to thousands of workers, companies everywhere tightened their travel budgets and scaled back on expenses for events ranging from segment-leading trade shows to incentive trips for top employees. Coupled with vacationers dialing back on travel since last Summer’s gasoline-price shock, CVBs found themselves caught in a position where logic called for increased advertising and marketing but their primary revenue source was being squeezed. “When travel is off, those of us who are funded Executive Summary • Less travel and event revenues mean less money for CVBs • Downturn affecting each CVB differently • Need to remind politicians about the value of visitors • Keep current customers secured • No time for sales departments to hibernate 22 April 2009 Trade Show Executive www.TradeShowExecutive.com
y travel taxes will feel the impact,” Gast told Trade Show Executive. “And in cases where the destination marketing organization (CVB) may be getting a share of a city’s general fund revenues, then they are also going to feel the pain.” Effects Vary The direct impact of the recession on CVBs has been varied, much as the effect on trade shows has been seen on a show-to-show basis. But there is plenty of retrenching and odds are the typical bureau will be required to accomplish more while having fewer resources available to them. The Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority (LVCVA) has had a hiring freeze in effect for more than a year as the volume of visitors to the city slipped and its take of the visitor tax has declined with it. “We are suffering the same as everyone else faced with budget adjustments,” said Chris Meyer, vice president of convention sales. “We live off of the room tax.” Cut Social Services or Divert Room Taxes? Room taxes are generally earmarked specifically for convention bureaus. Lawmakers, however, can have the legislative authority to divert the revenues into other uses, such as education and public safety. “Everyone is going through budget difficulties,” said Shawn Stinson, director of communications for the Salt Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Do you cut social services or roads or tourism? It’s a tough decision.” The consensus among CVBs is that the best way to protect tourism funds from being raided by local governments is to reinforce the fact that conventions and trade shows are moneymakers and are vital to their economy. “It’s ‘educate, educate, educate,’” said Gast. “And if you haven’t been having this discussion with them all along, it is probably too late to start.” The exhibition industry has been aggressively publicizing the economic impact of trade shows, which was $1,072 per attendee based on DMAI’s 2005 research and adjusted for inflation. Such spending is something that can’t be ignored as city leaders try to keep agencies running and police officers, teachers and firefighters on the job. “Otherwise, cities are going to have to provide the same levels of services to their constituents and probably have to raise their taxes to do it,” Gast said. No Time to Go Dark with Marketing Campaigns Gast added that even though the entire U.S. economy was down, the competition to lure away meetings and exhibitions was still fierce and cities cannot allow their CVBs to “go dark” until the economy improves. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist in January vetoed a $9.9 million cut in the budget of Visit Florida, the state’s public-private tourism marketing agency, saying that, “Without their marketing, I’m concerned about what would happen to tourism in Florida.” At the same time, there are potential hazards to the event industry and tourism, including the potential cancellation of construction projects such as hotels and convention center expansions. Lawmakers also will be tempted to hike hotel taxes as was the case in Nevada this Winter. Stinson said the Utah legislature is considering eliminating a grant program that helps CVBs pay for out-of-state marketing programs. “That is definitely on the table,” he said. Protecting the Base The marketing response by CVBs to the current situation has largely been one of securing existing customers as opposed to launching expensive new marketing campaigns. “We have to get back to basics,” said Gast. “We have to take care of the customers we have.” “There is a lot of ‘reaching out’ by convention bureaus going on,” Gast said. “You can’t control a lot of things, but you can do your best to take care of the customers you have and make sure you collectively get through this.” In Las Vegas, the sales staff has taken that strategy to heart. Meyer said LVCVA representatives have been crisscrossing the U.S., making in-person calls on clients and thousands of telephone calls to their prospective attendees through the Convention Call program. “We have to do a lot more with fewer people,” he said. “But we have not had to lay anyone off, which is wonderful.” While maintaining relationships with existing customers is a top priority, CVBs are also keeping up their outreach to new clients. Major trade shows and conventions are booked several years in advance so sales representatives are facing pressure to bag a big-ticket show for future years. But in the short run, associations were chartered to serve their industry and are unlikely to cancel an event regardless of how bad the economy is. They also rely on their exhibition to pay their operating expenses for the year. There are, however, a myriad of short-term bookings to be had that can be an important segment of a CVB’s business. “The large trade shows are the ones that everyone in the public focuses on because they are big and easy to see. But all of the board meetings, sales events and incentive meetings that come and go through here every day are the ones that drive the hotels,” said Meyer. The Internet provides CVBs with a cost-effective means to reach out to large numbers of meeting planners. The value of a face-to-face meeting with a client is such that CVBs cannot cut out travel completely. “Now is not the time to go dark,” Gast said. “We want to keep people traveling and messaging, but we all have to weigh these decisions against revenues. Where do we make changes, and what changes can we make that we can recover easily from?” Reach Maura Gast at (972) 252- 7476 or mgast@irvingtexas.com; Shawn Stinson at (801) 534-4913 or sstinson@ saltlake.org; Chris Meyer at (702) 892- 2855 or cmeyer@lvcva.com www.TradeShowExecutive.com Trade Show Executive April 2009 23
Page 1 and 2: News, Views and Tools for Trade Sho
Page 3 and 4: THE LAS VEGAS CONVENTION AND VISITO
Page 5 and 6: PLANNING YOUR NEXT EVENT? TAKE ADVA
Page 7 and 8: ORLANDO Orange County Convention Ce
Page 9 and 10: Contact www.TradeShowExecutive.com
Page 11 and 12: meeting in HOUSTON is a walk in the
Page 13 and 14: STEP IN. STEP OUT. STEP IT UP. STEP
Page 15 and 16: Is your best choice for Internation
Page 17 and 18: of those companies with at least 5,
Page 19 and 20: LAS VEGAS NEW YORK LOS ANGELES SAN
Page 21: Trade Show Executive’s Exposition
Page 25 and 26: Room Taxes Range from 7% to 17%, Ac
Page 27 and 28: The success of your meeting is meas
Page 29 and 30: Faurot options for using online tec
Page 31 and 32: Daytona Beach, Florida - Way More t
Page 33 and 34: Bob: You have had a truly diverse c
Page 35 and 36: Come ready to play in our new front
Page 37 and 38: A Special Report on Private Equity
Page 39 and 40: Experience what Can-Do can do for y
Page 41 and 42: “Our able advisers at Berkery Noy
Page 43 and 44: Research Roundup By Nicole Burnes,
Page 45 and 46: Trade Show Executive’s Research R
Page 51 and 52: Will Your Show Take Home the GOLD?
Page 53 and 54: Brought to you by and these Sponsor
Page 55 and 56: Trade Show Executive’s Always Ten
Page 57 and 58: Visit www.SMART-reg.com or call (88
Page 59 and 60: Providing Fail-Safe Registration an
Page 61 and 62: Visit www.SMART-reg.com or call (88
Page 63 and 64: Exhibition Services & Contractors A
Page 65 and 66: The key to business success is no s
Page 67 and 68: Our guests get here from Atlanta’

the April 2009 Issue in PDF Format - Trade Show Executive

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?