Successful Meetings - August 2008 - (Page 15)

> Industry Trends business, but have not yet made the connection. “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,” says 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 front-runner, according to Mark Liberman, president and CEO of LA INC. The Los Angeles CVB. “L.A. recognized early on that Chinese travelers would be News & Analysis 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 to the U.S. is forecasted to reach 579,000 travelers 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, says Jorge Franz, vice president of tourism for the Greater Houston CVB. “We always have some funds set aside for new markets.” —Terri Hardin BEING REWARDED WHEN YOU RETURN IS ONLY THE BEGINNING. > Industry Events SAVE ON MEETINGS OF 49 OR FEWER ROOM NIGHTS Book multiple small meetings at a Hyatt Resort by December 30, 2008, and receive double Hyatt Meeting Dividends and rewards for your ® ALHI Plans Diamond Giveaways for Annual Meetings In order to promote its luxury properties among meeting planners, Associated Luxury Hotels International (ALHI) has announced plans to give away 1-carat diamonds at two industry gatherings this fall. Planners attending the American Society of Association Executives’ (ASAE) Annual Meeting & Exposition in San Diego Aug 16 through 19 will be able to register for the chance to win the “Seaport Diamond,” which is named for ALHI’s AAA Four-Diamond waterfront hotel in Boston. Meanwhile, planners attending the Incentive Travel Meetings Executives’ (ITME) The Motivation Show Sept 23 through 25 in Chicago can register for the chance to win the “Island Hotel Newport Beach Diamond,” named for ALHI’s ocean-side SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS AUGUST 2008 group. Please reference offer code RMMYS. hotel in Newport Beach, CA. Both diamond giveaways are part of ALHI’s “2008 Diamond Tour,” through which the hotel conglomerate has already awarded five 1-carat diamonds at industry trade shows this year in an attempt at wooing meeting planners to its over 9 million square feet of global meeting space. “We began the diamond giveaways in 2005 as a unique way to showcase our luxurious Four- and Five-Diamond member hotels and resorts to meeting professionals, association executives, and incentive specialists,” ALHI President and CEO David Gabri said in a statement. “It has proven to be very popular, so we’ve continued the giveaways this year. It’s a great way to highlight exceptional ‘gem’ properties.” —Matt Alderton mimegasite.com SAVE ON MEETINGS OF 50 OR MORE ROOM NIGHTS Book multiple large meetings at a Hyatt Resort by December 30, 2008, and receive double Hyatt Meeting Dividends, rebates for your group and ® even more rewards for your board. Please reference offer code RMMYL. Contact your Hyatt Worldwide Sales Representative, call 800 872 3600 or visit hyattreply.com/resortmeetings for more information on offers and complete terms and conditions. http://hyattreply.com/resortmeetings http://hyattreply.com/resortmeetings http://mimegasite.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - August 2008

Successful Meetings - August 2008
Contents
Editor's Note
Industry Trends
Industry Events
On the Record
Technology
Calendar
Websites of the Month
Personal Success
Technology Talk
Food & Beverage
Pre-Event
On Site
Tools of the Trade
Pre-Event
Crude Awakening
Oil’s Well
Betting on Development
The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of
No Spa, No Dice
New & Improved Bean Counting
Places & Spaces
Cleveland
Palm Springs, Desert Resorts
Midwest Meetings
San Antonio
Yucatan Peninsula
Gurus

Successful Meetings - August 2008