Meeting News - February 16, 2009 - (Page 33)

SOUTH REGIONAL with “I’m carpoolingsales-a couple of other people so we can all save the airfare. —Randy Miller, VP of sales, Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center perspective seems to be that going farther away isn’t wise.” That’s helping Columbia, SC, thrive, according to Ric Luber, president and CEO of Columbia’s Midlands Authority for Conventions, Sports & Tourism. “We have three interstates [going] through our city, and we’re an hour from another two,” he said. “That’s working for us.” Jeff Hewitt, director of sales for the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, echoed that. “For 60 percent of the U.S. population, we are within a day’s drive. What could be better for a planner who want solid registration numbers?” I ” Even salespeople at hotels, like Gaylord’s Opryland, are sticking to drive-in meetings. continued from page 21 “In this economy, there’s no question that the ‘ability to drive’ issue will be heightened when people are planning their meetings,” Miller said. And it’s not just attendees fueling the drive-to trend. Meeting organizers are equally happy to keep things local, according to Dallas Teague Snider, an independent meeting planner in Birmingham, AL. One of her clients, a Mississippi-based insurance company, was recently scouting locations for a meeting this month. After mulling sites in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Bermuda, the choice was Savannah, GA. The decision was based on economics, but it wasn’t just about minimal travel spending.It was paramount that the client made a financially responsible decision in these tough times. “Having a place for them to drive to looks better from a PR standpoint,” Snider said. “Because of AIG and others, companies don’t want to be ostentatious.” That concern over image has resulted in a welcome, and sudden, increase in business in drive-to destinations, said Pamela Shelley, director of sales and marketing at the Marina Inn at Grande Dunes in Myrtle Beach, SC. “In the last six months, we’ve seen an increase of 10 to 15 percent in our drive-in markets, including Atlanta, Greenville, Columbia, Raleigh, and Charlotte—anywhere from four to six hours from us,” she said. Larger destinations are also noticing an increase in drive-in traffic, and are marketing themselves more aggressively to local groups. “We see the regional market as one that will develop this year because of the cost of crosswww.meetingnews.com country travel,” said J. Stephen Perry, president and CEO of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau. “The current February 16, 2009 MeetingNews 33 http://www.smcvb.info http://www.smcvb.info http://www.meetingnews.com

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