Meeting News - January 28, 2008 - (Page 16)

International Something to Prove Group funded by ICCA, MPI, UNWTO plans standardized global system of measuring meetings’ economic impact New York—A task force funded by the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), Meeting Professionals International (MPI), and Reed Travel Exhibitions is looking to prove the economic importance of the global meetings industry with cold hard numbers. It is running a pilot program that is devising a standardized methodology, based on the UN’s tourism satellite accounting system, to record and calculate meetings-related economic data. The project’s backers hope that the initiative will lead to uniform classification of meetings-industry sectors and data collection among national statistics offices around the world. The steering committee met with representatives of the six pilot countries—Australia, Austria, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, and Spain—at the European Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings (EIBTM) trade show late last year to discuss the availability and quality of each country’s tourism statistics, which are to be mined for meetings-related data. Results of the pilot program are expected in early 2009. “It is clear that the meetings industry is a key driver of [economic] growth,” said Santiago Guerreiro, a former UN economist who is stewarding the program. “But lack of a harmonized, integrated approach to measurement is damaging the industry’s visibility, recognition, and credibility.” For each of the pilot nations, the program will investigate expenditures by meeting attendees on specific and classifiable services, the national number of meetings and participants, lengths of meetings, hotel room nights, and distances traveled to meetings. Each country will scour its tourism satellite account, which gathers tourism data under a standardized methodology. Many countries use satellite accounting for major industries besides tourism, and it is estimated that 40 governments have the means to adopt satellite accounting for meetings. “Years ago, travel/tourism was confronted with the problem of not being able to demonstrate its value, which was why tourism satellite accounting was developed,” said Reed Travel Exhibitions’ chairman, Tom Nutley.“Right now, we still have no understanding of the true value of the meetings industry. It has led to a misconception about exactly what the meetings industry contributes to the global GDP.” The task force said national statistics offices and tourism promotion organizations will be crucial partners.“We are dependent on the full cooperation of governments, statisticians, associations, and professionals to ensure the initiative goes forward,” said Didier Scaillet, MPI’s VP of global development. Edited by William Ng william.ng@nielsen.com Shanghai Knight Shangri-La to open trio of hotels in China hub Hong Kong—Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts will launch a triumvirate of heavy-duty meetings properties in Shanghai starting in mid-2010 with the 574-room Kerry Centre Hotel Pudong. The hotelier will launch the 347-room Jing An Shangri-La in mid-2011 and culminate its plan with the 600-room Jing An Kerry Centre Hotel at the end of 2011. The initial property will be located in the Kerry Centre Pudong mixed-use complex. It will be decked with a 26,000-sf grand ballroom and a 13,000-sf junior ballroom; they will be able to connect to form an ultra large space. Attendees will be Shangri-La’s Kerry Centre Hotel Pudong accommodated by two (middle tower) will be the first of three new restaurants and a properties by the hotelier in Shanghai. 65,000-sf “mega sports club” with teambuilding activities, sive meeting facilities in Shanghai,” while group VIPs will have the fivesaid Giovanni Angelini, CEO and floor Horizon Club with executive managing director. amenities and express check-in and The Jing An Shangri-La will have checkout. a Chi Spa, as well as an all-day cafe The Jing An Shangri-La, which and two restaurants. The Jing An will occupy the top 24 floors of a 58- Kerry Centre Hotel will have a Horistory tower, and the 43-story Jing An zon Club, in addition to a signature Kerry Centre Hotel will be in the lounge, two restaurants, a 33,000-sf new mixed-use Jing An Kerry Centre health club, and an enclosed garden and connected by enclosed walkways on the fifth floor that can be used for and bridges. They will share nearly events. will remain the backbone of Spain’s hospitality industry. According to the ministry, the country attracted 60 million visitors in 2007, and American tourists jumped nearly 22 percent to almost the 1 million mark; the ministry hailed it as a record year. Tourism represents 11 percent of the country’s GDP and is the nation’s largest employer, putting more than 2.3 million people to work (12 percent of the population). The plan notes an intent to ramp up development of a skilled immigrant workforce; nearly 400,000 immigrants in Spain (18 percent of the continued on page 18 www.meetingnews.com 50,000 sf of meeting and conference space located between them. The shared event facilities will be led by a 26,000-sf grand ballroom with its own lobby and drop-off area. That will be followed by a 10,000-sf junior ballroom and a roster of function rooms totaling 24,000 sf. The three hotels will allow Shangri-La to accommodate “everincreasing demand for luxury accommodations and comprehen- Spain Has 2020 Vision of Maintaining Tourism Edge Madrid—Spain’s Ministry of Industry, Tourism, and Commerce last month unveiled a plan designed to ensure that the country will remain a competitive leisure and business destination through 2020. While details of the plan were not 16 MeetingNews January 28, 2008 made available at press time, Tourism Plan Horizon 2020 outlines objectives that include attracting and retaining industry talent, expanding added-value products, promoting lesser-known areas of Spain, developing new infrastructure, and growing sustainable resources. The plan notes that “sun and beach tourism” http://www.meetingnews.com

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