Meeting News - December 3, 2007 - (Page 16)

MN Exclusive Research For air travel, planners prefer short hauls, hub cities arrival of JetBlue at the Long Beach airport caused ess is clearly more when meetings involve air the rates of other airlines serving all three airports travel, as planners prioritized short, nonstop to drop,” said Megan Rodriguez, spokeswoman for ﬂights and low airfares for their attendees, according the Long Beach Area Convention & Visitors to a recent survey of 422 meeting professionals Bureau. Hilton Head, SC, has improved its air access. conducted by MeetingNews. In 2007, Delta began offering service directly into the Corporate planners often need island’s airport. In addition, “the Savannah/Hilton to streamline air travel. Libby Head International Airport just completed a major Ricks, marketing and public relations director for expansion that increases capacity, which means fewer Coalition America, in Atlanta, noted, “Many of our delays and more ﬂights,” said Charlie Clark, spokesattendees don’t have the time or patience to ﬂy mul- woman for the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamtiple stops, so it is important to have our meetings in ber of Commerce. larger cities with lots of ﬂights.” Added Julie Hovis, Another issue for planners is air delays. Sixty perplanner for Investment Planners Inc., in Decatur, IL. cent conﬁrmed that their attendees have had more “Our reps are interested in short or direct ﬂights. ﬂight delays in 2007 compared to prior years. MN They like to stick with the carrier of choice. Exclusive Weather is probably the most common cause Research Many attendees also request a big-city venue for delays, and it triggers a domino effect; for within 45 minutes from major airports.” instance, the Northeast snowstorms in February Associations share these air travel challenges. brought air trafﬁc across the country to a standstill. Benny Ellerbe, executive director of Optimist InterThe domino effect doesn’t stop there. Ellerbe national, in St. Louis, reported, “For our board and noted substantial problems with hotel bookings due smaller meetings, we tend to select hub cities with to late arrivals, while Hovis described a program lower-cost options and fewer connections.” that she had to rearrange altogether when a key Planners typically prefer major crossroads cities speaker was held up. “We had to make changes to such as Chicago and Atlanta. In recent years, how- the speakers and presentations [and then] ﬁt everyever, other destinations have improved their air thing back together.” access to enable them to compete for meetings Smarter scheduling alleviates air travel problems, business. An example is Long Beach, CA, which is as Ricks explained: “When creating an agenda, served by three airports, including Long Beach, Los I always make the ﬁrst night a casual night with regAngeles International, and Orange County. “The istration, so if someone has delays they won’t miss By Nancy Lazarus L Fly Versus Drive In 2007 and 2008, are you trying to hold more meetings in destinations where many attendees can drive to? Corporate Planners Yes 46.9% 53.1% No Association Planners Yes 53.9% 46.1% No Source: MeetingNews survey of 422 meeting planners Air Travel Delays Worsen To what extent have your attendees experienced air-travel-related delays or hassles getting to your meetings in 2007 versus recent years? Corporate Planners Somewhat more delays 36.4% A lot more delays A lot fewer delays 3.8% Somewhat 3.1% fewer delays 36.0% 2.7% 2.3% A lot fewer delays Somewhat fewer delays 30.5% About the same number of delays About the same number of delays A lot more delays 21.4% Association Planners Somewhat more delays 22.6% 41.2% Source: MeetingNews survey of 422 meeting planners anything important.” Other planners suggested holding meetings concurrently with major industry events to minimize the amount of travel necessary in a calendar year. Alternatively, planners are increasingly taking up videoconferencing and webcasting as backup scenarios for key speakers—or even as replacements for face-to-face meetings. Those surveyed were evenly divided over efforts to hold more drive-to meetings. However, the planners interviewed here were not ready to forego air travel, despite its inconveniences. Said Marion Hendricks, director of marketing for Herbeau Creations, “We are a national plumbing company based in Naples, FL, with showrooms and sales reps all across the country. Air travel is a necessary part of the way we do business.” But there are classic beneﬁts, as Hovis noted:“Most attendees enjoy the change of scenery. Many like to bring spouses to a location away from the ordinary.” H Contact Nancy Lazarus at nancy.lazarus@nielsen.com www.meetingnews.com 16 MeetingNews December 3, 2007 http://www.mimegasite.com/mimegasite/research/index.jsp http://www.meetingnews.com

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Meeting News - December 3, 2007

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