Meeting News - December 17, 2007 - (Page 8)

Inside the Meetings Industry Edited by Elizabeth West elizabeth.west@nielsen.com Big EIBTM Event Invades Bar celona Barcelona—On Nov. 27-29, the European Incentive, Business Travel, and Meetings (EIBTM) conference and exhibition, one of the two largest industry shows in Europe (IMEX, held each spring, is the other), drew a record 6,900 visitors and hosted buyers, a 20-percent increase over 2006. Aside from browsing booths on the show floor, attendees prearranged a total of 41,500 appointments with exhibitors. G Incentive travel is being affected by regulatory scrutiny and company policies restricting purchasing and ruling out certain properties. G The rapid pace of development among hotels, venues, and infrastructure—particularly in Asia and the Middle East (see Destination Insider on p. 38)—could result in more competitive pricing, which in turn could prop up business-travel demand. The rising number of lowcost, long-haul airlines entering the market also will contribute to sustained demand. A S A E E n h a n c e s O n l i n e E d u c a t i o n O f ferings Trade group’s CenterU Online learning hub to debut hundreds of on-demand courses for association execs Washington, DC—Adding to members’ professional growth and learning opportunities, ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership last month bolstered its CenterU Online product with on-demand archives of past seminars that can be accessed at its online store. CenterU Online is the association community’s largest online university, with a variety of web-based courses, virtual seminars, and other e-learning tools and resources. The new on-demand archives allow members and nonmembers to search and access a vast library of past programming, from on-site conference sessions to previously held virtual seminars. These digital files can be purchased individually at $29.95 for members and $39.95 for nonmembers. A purchase includes 120 days of file access and downloadable copies of any handouts that were distributed at the original program. Future conference sessions will be available online for two weeks after each program. By the end of the year, there are expected to be hundreds of programs available in the center’s on-demand archives, including the most recent event: the Great Ideas Conference that took place Dec. 7-9 in Orlando, at Walt Disney World Resort. In addition to the new archives, the CenterU Online web pages have been updated and improved with links to virtual demonstrations, faculty bios, an at-a-glance calendar of CenterU Online’s upcoming events, and the eLearning Professionals Resource Center, which is designed for users to learn about products, tools, and services that can assist them in developing e-learning strategies. Nearly 7,000 attended EIBTM, a 20-percent increase over 2006. Day one saw the release of the annual EIBTM Industry Trends and Market Share report, compiled by Rob Davidson, senior lecturer in business travel and tourism at London’s University of Westminster, that identified key trends for the meetings and incentive market. The major findings were: G Greener event practices, as well as more action related to overall corporate social responsibility, have accelerated. G An increasing number of planners are choosing destinations closer to home, whether in the U.S. or in Europe, possibly due to ongoing anxiety over threats of terrorist activity as well as budget pressures. 8 MeetingNews Mar r i o t t t o B l u n t Envir o n m e n t a l H a r m Of Industr y Event Alexandria, VA—Marriott Hotels & Resorts Canada, a new major patron of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives’ green initiative focused on various elements of the businesstravel industry offered its own form of green contribution. It offset the carbon created by an ACTE conference last month. According to a statement issued by Susan Gurley, ACTE Canada’s executive director, Marriott Canada agreed to underwrite the cost of offsetting the carbon emissions generated by ACTE’s Canada Education Conference, which was held in Calgary Nov. 18-20. “ACTE takes great pride in leading Other show developments included Mobile Exhibition Assistant service, available to exhibitors and attendees. Through their handheld devices, users could access personal appointment schedules, search for exhibitors, view seminar listings, check shuttle bus timetables, and obtain transportation and hotel info. For the second year, the event had an “Ask the Experts” center, an informal drop-by zone where buyers could meet with industry gurus to brainstorm solutions to their personal event challenges. Finally, EIBTM organizer Reed Travel Exhibitions announced it will hold the show in Barcelona through 2013, in a contract extension. the industry in [low-carbon] conferences and executive forums,” said Gurley. “Marriott’s generosity makes it possible to extend our global [low-carbon] initiative to national conferences within. . .ACTE regions.” After the conference, ACTE submitted to Marriott Canada a complex table measuring the carbon generated by transporting and supporting 300 delegates during the three-day event. Marriott now will fund a process through a third-party provider offsetting the carbon that the conference generated. Carbon offset sponsors are becoming de rigueur for ACTE, which has forged such agreements for several conferences. This year, British Airways offset the group’s May 6-8 program in Miami, as well as the Oct. 21-23 ACTE conference in Munich. www.meetingnews.com December 17, 2007 http://www.meetingnews.com

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Meeting News - December 17, 2007

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