Meeting News - July 7, 2008 - (Page 26)

Cover Story China continued from cover enormous worldwide,” said Deborah Reinow, VP of tourism, San Francisco CVB. “Everyone—from Dubai to Europe to all of Asia—is looking to the Chinese visitor to fill their hotels as well as attend the conventions they host.” Reinow anticipates that leisure tourism will be followed by meetings tourism.“This will encourage additional participation of the Chinese in U.S. conventions, and jumpstart Chinese participation in U.S.-based international meetings. Simultaneously, she added,“U.S. companies will shift more focus on obtaining more meetings, incentive, convention, and expo business.” Both NTA and TIA have been proactive on the mainland promoting U.S. tourism. “NTA is proud to join with TIA in hosting this monumental event, as the U.S. opens its doors to these new international leisure visitors,” said NTA Chairman and CEO Bob Hoelscher, CTP. “NTA tour operators participating in the China Inbound Program are ready to assist Chinese travel agents, and the initial NTA list included more than 90 U.S.-based tour operators.” TIA’s Dow said,“Welcoming more Chinese visitors to the United States will increase understanding between our two countries and facilitate ‘people-topeople’ diplomacy. This is an important step in reversing the decline of overseas visitors to the U.S. since September 11.” Planners like Jackie Chutter, president of Williamsburg-based Virginia Escape, Ltd., are eager for the business, but have not yet made the right connections. “I was approached by two different travel companies to provide a Chinese interpreter for this U.S China tour group, but I think there was a communication problem, and our services were not used.” Chutter concluded,“Language is always a problem, no matter where you live.” Some destinations, like San Francisco, are leading the pack already, with 35 percent of the Chinese tourist market.“Other destinations have been slowly coming to promote themselves,” said Reinow. But, she added,“to my knowledge, San Francisco is the only city to have tourism representatives in both Shanghai and Beijing.” Los Angeles, too, is a frontrunner, according to Mark Liberman, president and CEO of LA Inc., the Los Angeles CVB. “LA recognized early on that Chinese travelers would be a burgeoning visitor market for the city. Our Beijing tourism office has established relationships with Chinese travel agencies and tour operators that will provide us with a competitive edge and the city will benefit greatly from the economic impact.” According to the Department of Commerce, Chinese visitation is forecasted to reach 579,000 Chinese travelers to the U.S. by 2011, which represents a 52 percent increase over the current average of 300,000 Chinese visitors. Once the potential of Chinese tourism is realized, will promoting to that market nudge meetings promotion out of CVB and hotel budgets? Not necessarily, said Jorge Franz, VP of tourism, Greater Houston CVB. “We always have some funds set aside for new markets.” r and is a member of the Starwood Preferred Guest Program. —Terri Hardin AD INDEX Advertiser Page Beau Rivage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 www.beaurivage.com Colonial Williamsburg . . . .6A (insert) www.ColonialWilliamsburgMeetings.com LA Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 www.discoverLosAngeles.com/meetings Leader’s Institute, The . . . . . . . . . .8 www.build-a-bike.com Long Beach CVB . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 www.visitlongbeach.com Mexico Tourism Board . . . . . . . . . .19 www.visitmexico.com Myrtle Beach Convention Center . . .2 www.myrtlebeachconventioncenter.com Saddlebrook Resort . . . . . . . . . . . .23 www.saddlebrookresort.com Sandpearl Resort . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 www.sandpearl.com Starwood Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . .28 www.StarwoodMeetings.com/artistry Worktopia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 www.Worktopia.com/CorporateSolutions Planet Hollywood Considering Sequels Casino Resort to Launch New Branding Division Las Vegas—Planet Hollywood International Inc. announced in late June that it was creating a new division to oversee its plans for international brand expansion. But its first project, Planet Hollywood Towers, won’t stray too far from the flagship property, Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. This partnership between Planet Hollywood and Westgate Resorts, which expected to open in 2009, will expand the Planet Hollywood brand into hotel and vacation ownerships, which is currently a robust niche in hospitality development. “With the success of our Las Vegas resort, the time is right to move forward with plans for rapid expansion of our brand,” said Robert Earl, Chairman of Planet Hollywood International, Inc.“With the upcoming completion of the PH Towers by Westgate, it was the perfect time to begin looking outward and move toward the larger goals we had set in motion.” The Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, which launched last November, is a joint venture partnership involving Planet Hollywood International Inc., Bay Harbour Management LLC, and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. the property has 2,496 rooms, more than 75,000 sf of meeting space, New Sands Property Changes Meeting Outlook for Lehigh area Lehigh Valley, PA is about to get on the map for meetings The Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, scheduled for a June 2009 opening, is expected to raise the quality of meeting space available in the area, and attract groups with a 300-room luxury hotel (rooms are modeled on those at the Palazzo in Las Vegas), 46,000 sf of meeting space spread over 18 rooms, 3,000 slot machines, and upscale shopping. “What the Sands is going to do is change the demographic of the business we’re able to go after,” said Marc Kaminetsky, national sales manager with the Lehigh Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau. “High-end pharmaceutical companies and technology companies will be potential customers.” He also envisions the Sands being used by groups for evening activities, dinearounds, and spouse programs.“It is going to be an incredible project once it’s completed,” Kaminetsky said. “With our location we’re going to be able to draw meetings business from New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia.” r —Julie Barker www.meetingnews.com The Index to Advertisers is published for the convenience of our readers. Every effort is made to list advertisers’ names, web addresses and page numbers correctly. The publisher is not liable for errors or omissions. 26 MeetingNews July 7, 2008 http://www.beaurivage.com http://www.ColonialWilliamsburgMeetings.com http://www.discoverLosAngeles.com/meetings http://www.build-a-bike.com http://www.visitlongbeach.com http://www.visitmexico.com http://www.myrtlebeachconventioncenter.com http://www.saddlebrookresort.com http://www.sandpearl.com http://www.StarwoodMeetings.com/artistry http://www.Worktopia.com/CorporateSolutions http://www.meetingnews.com

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Meeting News - July 7, 2008

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