2 posts tagged “pcma”
While the “AIG Effect” appears to be waning for corporate meetings, the Hospitality Community awaits passage of the proposed Travel Promotion Act of 2009. The term “AIG Effect” is the term coined during the fallout from the meeting AIG held in San Diego which received much negative international media coverage immediately following their bailout from the Federal government late last fall.
It seemed that every corporate meeting fell under public scrutiny with cities like Las Vegas being demonized by our President’s words "You can't get corporate jets, you can't go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer's dime," in February this year at a Town Hall meeting in Indiana. Most corporations were forced to scrutinize their intent with planned meetings while reconsidering the perception of their location.
How do we quantify the economic impact of such statements?
Click here to read the rest of the story which was just published in the PCMA Heartland Chapter Fall 2009 newsletter. Contact me at christine.pennel-jones@experient-inc.com if you would like additional resources related to your meetings or conventions.
Experient has expanded into China!
Our very own Ping He will be traveling to Beijing, China in a few weeks to meet with our partner, CITS & make preparation for Caterpillar International & their top 100 distributors for a 3-week trip to the Summer Olympics. Ping also oversaw a very successful meeting for the Miami-based Terralex, a global association of law firms.
Historically, China has been a difficult country in which to conduct business as nearly every transaction required for group travel within China must have approval from the Chinese government, because they are a Communist country. Experient has partnered with CITS, as they have great connections within the Chinese government which makes the approval process flow more smoothly.
Ping shared with me on the phone this morning that NOW is the best time to start planning for meetings in China because they have built an entire infrastructure to support the Summer 2008 Olympics in Beijing, including a state-of-the-art conference center which will house all press for the Summer 2008 Olympics. Connected to the Conference Center is a 3,000 room hotel. This infrastructure carries the hotel & conference center community into the 20th Century & insures that the needs of today's meetings are addressed in a relevant manner. Ping even added that the Beijing conference center is actually more advanced technologically than most comparable facilities in first-tier destinations within the United States. Both Northwest & Delta offer several daily flights into Beijing from the United States.
Also consider that Shanghai which is preparing for the 2010 World Expo.
International Meetings is a robustly growing market as the economic stage is truly being flattened. (Consider Thomas L. Friedman's recent book "The World is Flat" in which he presents a compelling argument that the convergence of technology has flattened the globe through instant accessibility, in addition to other factors.) In light of this "flattening world," Ping He will be one of the main speakers at 2009 PCMA on International Meetings. Ping brings a very relevant set of skills to the table as she moved to the United States in 1994 from China.
Email me by clicking here for for article which appeared in MeetingsNet on how we've been able to tap into the "growing, but hard-to-crack, Chinese market."
Is your organization considering meeting in China or any other international destination? Email me by clicking here if you need more information on how to make your planning easier.
