OK, imagine you’re at an event again. Kind of a nice thought, no? Experts say it will probably be a smaller gathering until a proven COVID-19 vaccine is widely available, and you’ll be distancing and perhaps wearing a mask. But what’s that noise?

Your stomach is growling. You’re hungry.

So, is your host going to feed you or not? If so, how? Or is it time to whip out your smartphone and order from DoorDash? To glean how the F&B world is planning for the resumption of events, we called on Mary Cline, regional director of catering sales for Wolfgang Puck Catering (WPC), in Atlanta. WPC operates in 11 major U.S. cities.

She begins on a hopeful note. “There will still be reasons to celebrate,” she says, brightly. What things will be different? They will span menu planning, preparation and service. In the short term, WPC expects a catering focus on “prepackaged, high-quality foods and meal kits,” she says, which hosts can have delivered or get at curbside to minimize the touch points. Menu choices will be pared down, just as they probably are now at your favorite local restaurant doing takeout or delivery only.

Back at the catering kitchen, Cline says, “We’re ready with kitchen floor decals for distancing, additional hand washing and face masks. And we’re constantly asking ourselves, ‘What can we do to be even more safe?’”

Once we’re past the re-entry stage, feeding attendees will once again become less like a picnic and more like a banquet. Many have speculated that the buffet and food stations will be lost in favor of plated meals only—brought from the kitchen by masked and gloved servers to round tables meant for six or eight at half capacity. Or maybe by robots? Cline has other ideas. “Many moons ago,” she says, “we always had an attendant serving. So now we do that again, with an acrylic barrier between the food and guest. In other words, it becomes a serviced buffet. Or you’ve got a chef cooking right in front of you, behind a screen. And at food stations, an attendant could invite a limited number of distanced guests at a time.”

More: #HospitalityStrong Your Coronavirus Resource Guide

Ah, but what about the sine qua non of elegant gatherings—the passed hors d’oeuvres? “That can be done, too” she asserts. She envisions items on individual plates handed to you by a gloved server.

“I’m interested to see what creative ideas come out of this in the industry. Events people are really ingenious,” Cline says.

Though home to only around 5,300 residents, the town of Vail is world-famous for its skiing—Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski resort in the United States, has more than 300 trails and 40 lifts. The town also boasts stellar hotels, dining, and prominent annual events, including Vail Film Festival, Burton US Open Snowboarding Championships, Vail Snow Days festival, and Bravo! Vail Music Festival. And that only begins to tell the story, for there are an abundance of adventurous day-trip options to nearby areas.

Paragon Guides in Edwards, a 14-minute drive from Vail, offers several adventures for groups. From mid-June until the end of September, it offers three “Take a Llama to Lunch” options, consisting of hikes and meals in the company of the beloved creatures.

Also in Edwards, Bearcat Stables offers horseback rides or sleigh rides, depending on the season, and its restored historic cabins and grounds can be used for group gatherings, which can include onsite catering.

A 28-minute drive from Vail, 4 Eagle Ranch provides a unique blend of outdoor activities, including ziplining, horseback Riding, 4×4 Jeep and ATV tours, wine tasting and more. Four event venues are available, with room for up to 550 people. The ranch has an in-house caterer ready to prepare a memorable meal, with six different menu choices, ranging from simple to gourmet.

Groups looking for thrills enjoy visiting Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in Glenwood Springs, a 58-minute drive west from Vail. The mountain-top theme park is nestled in the heart of the Colorado Rocky Mountains and features a dizzying array of activities that bring out the kid in everyone, including cave tours, thrill rides, dining and special events. Group events can be arranged.

Walking Mountains Science Center in Avon, 10 miles from Vail, provides groups with opportunities to explore nature, gain a scientific understanding and learn about the many wonders of the local mountain environment through natural science and sustainability programs. No admission fee is charged.

SaddleRidge in Beaver Creek is a unique ski-in, full-service restaurant that offers groups a chance to dine in an American museum. Renowned for its gourmet Colorado regional cuisine, it features wild game, steaks and seafood, as well as an extensive collection of wines and local beers. SaddleRidge houses one of the largest private collections of Western American artifacts in the United States. Three spaces are available for rent, holding up to 135 seated guests. Beaver Creek is a 22-minute drive west from Vail.

Read more about intriguing day-trip opportunities in Colorado in Dan Johnson’s story, “Welcome to Day-Trip Heaven: Unforgettable Adventures in the Centennial State,” in the April issue of Smart Meetings.

Coronavirus cancel culture could be deadly for many third-party planners. When health and government officials started ordering groups to stop meeting in an effort to avoid fatalities in the millions from COVID-19, contractors saw their business pipeline collapse overnight. Income from events they had planned for months disappeared.

More: Tips for Slaying the Quarantine

While everyone agrees that flattening the curve by physically distancing (many in the industry prefer this variant, as it is essential that we stay socially connected), independent planners began asking for help, so they didn’t bear an outsized share of the burden. Many were still scrambling to adapt to a world where major hotel brands had cut their commissions by 30 percent, from 10 percent of sourcing to 7 percent. The sudden loss of bookings across the board pushed them even closer to the edge of a financial cliff.

Hotel Stimulus

In March, David Bruce, founder and executive director of Alliance of Independent Meeting Professionals, called on hotel chains to be reasonable about working with planners on meetings that are postponed or cancelled. “The industry must not play a hardline approach to this series of events. We need a stimulus from the hotel community to prod organizers to book these events for the future, knowing the uncertainties of the market,” he said.

By April it was clear that hundreds of thousands of dollars in business were lost and wouldn’t be coming back, Bruce noted. He called for a relaxing of the 7 percent commission rule at the major hotel properties, along with a more understanding approach to attrition, food and beverage minimums and force majeure clauses during these uncertain times. “The hotel chains who step up to the plate and institute these changes will be the hotel chains who recover the fastest during this process,” he predicted.

When events are rebooked, Bruce suggested offering independent planners half their commission upfront, so they wouldn’t have to wait months or longer to see the revenue. Such a remedy may be the only salvation for some.

Benchmark Resorts & Hotels announced in late April that it would offer “enhanced commissions paid up front.” To assist intermediary partners, commissions on new business will increase from 10 percent to 12 percent with 7 percent distributed upon booking. At the same time, the company introduced a Zero Risk Clause, that would eliminate attrition or cancellation fees on rooms and food and beverage for new meetings scheduled for Jun 1, 2020 through March 31, 2021 until 60 days in advance of arrival.

“We need to remember that the word hospitality is being used here and work together to combat the loss of business by all parties,” Bruce stressed. “This will not happen by osmosis. It will take the event organizer, independent meeting professional, CVB and hotelier to work together to restart a system that is clearly broken at this point.”

CARES Lifelines

Event management company Freeman was active in lobbying for government assistance through its #EventsImpact campaign, which advocated for government help for people in the industry, stabilize businesses and accelerate the recovery for live events. “CARES Act goes a long way toward accomplishing the first two objectives,” was the company’s official conclusion. A celebratory post after the bill was signed pointed to the employee retention credit, unemployment assistance (which for the first time includes self-employed and independent contractors, for up to four months), $377 billion in loans and grants for small businesses, and tax relief.

However, that quickly ran out and U.S. Travel Association stressed the importance of extending that lifeline by adding $600 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program and extending to more classes of businesses.

To Do List During the Pandemic

David Bruce, who is also managing partner at CMP Meeting Services in Dallas, said, “My goal today is feeding my family and paying my mortgage.” This is his strategic plan when no one is meeting.

  1. Take care of your clients, and they will take care of you (be honest, don’t sugar coat the news).
  2. Communicate with hotels and sales reps who have been furloughed.
  3. Keep up with what the industry is discussing.
  4. Work on future years: 2021-2023
  5. Request half of future commissions upfront.
  6. Renegotiate attrition clauses in anticipation of lower numbers.
  7. Use the time wisely.

The debut of the virtual Smart Meeting Experience launched on Tuesday in a succession of simulated meeting rooms with 80 meeting professionals learning and sharing in virtual one-on-one conversations that felt refreshingly like the face-to-face encounters of a few months ago.

Smart Meetings partnered with Conference Solutions (CSS) to provide a platform that mimicked the tables and chairs of a meeting space and agendas that matched planners and suppliers who could help each other plan for a future where we are all in the same physical room again.

A Look Ahead

As in-person events do, the virtual experience kicked off with an insightful keynote. Steve Steinhart, a sought-after sales and marketing consultant and veteran of Hyatt Hotels Corporation, shared what his clients are seeing as the “return to meeting” calendar.

“May is a wipeout,” Steinhart reported. “June still has some meetings on the books, and we are seeing new, fresh bookings being placed for July—almost all corporate, almost all with 30 people and fewer and including a new contract clause that allows cancellations with no penalty if coronavirus concerns remain.” He is seeing mounting confidence that in August, September and October meetings will go forward even if they look different. “The third and fourth quarter could be spectacular with all the postponements,” he said.

What might those meetings look like? “It will be a long time before we see a deli buffet,” he said. Automated coffee machines and boxed and packaged food items could be the norm, with creative planners finding ways to make them special.

New Messaging

Steinhart said savvy properties are moving ahead with new marketing messages that stress the safety, comfort and cleanliness of properties and practices, rather than pictures of beautiful, full ballrooms. In cases where hotels have laid off sales teams, convention and visitor bureau staff are stepping in to share information about the destination and be the conduit. They are having conversations about what check-in, traffic flow into the ballroom and food service could look like. They are building relationships that will last beyond the shelter-in-place period.

“We are all in this together,” Smart Meetings founder Marin Bright, said in her welcome to attendees. “The people who are creative and trying new things now will be the ones who come out ahead later.”

Everyone left the platform with a brochure full of ideas, eight more human connections, another digital tool in their belt…and inspiration. Some even won prizes.

The next Smart Meetings Virtual Experience is scheduled for May 19. Learn more at SmartMeetings.com.

Editor’s Note: On April 28, MPI announced that it was postponing its largest annual event, World Education Congress in Grapevine, Texas, to November 3-6 as a hybrid meeting “in order to accommodate travel guidelines and attendee safety.” MPI President and CEO Paul Van Deventer said the experience will be “a rallying cry for our meeting and event community to reunite for recovery.” Registration will include a ticket to MPI Foundation’s Rendezvous and is billed as risk-free because attendees can get a refund or apply to WEC Las Vegas in 2021. 

When it became clear that to flatten the curve and slow the spread of coronavirus no gatherings would be possible for months, the call came to #postponedontcancel. The reality is, that may not be possible in all instances, as there will only be so many days and venues available in the fall and winter—and no one knows exactly when it will be safe to meet again and under what circumstances.

However, companies are now coming out with new dates and creative solutions to keep people safe when they do meet. After working with the venue partners, Smart Meetings announced last week that Mid-America Event Experience will be moved to Monday, Sept. 28, at The Ritz-Carlton Denver, followed the next day by an enhanced Smart Woman Summit on Sept. 29. And the National 3-Day Experience will be June 21-23 at Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa. “We will come together again to celebrate the power of meetings and the women who inspire us,” said Marin Bright in announcing the new dates.

Welcome news for The Strip came from organizers of National Hardware Show, which was scheduled to take place in May and has been rescheduled for Sept. 1-3 at Las Vegas Convention Center. Now in its 75th year, the show garners more than 30,000 hardware industry professionals looking to expand inventory and source new products.

Visit Anaheim successfully rescheduled two shows while also securing eight future bookings for the Anaheim Convention Center. Diversified Communications and International Society for Technology in Education will take place in 2020, as will NAMM, The Foursquare Church, Future Business Leaders of America and IPC. Combined, these 10 shows represent more than $475 million in local economic impact and will generate an estimated $9.2 million in tourism occupancy tax revenue for the city.

In Asheville, North Carolina, The Foundry Hotel has seen roughly 80 percent of the property’s April and May corporate bookings confirm rescheduled dates through the first quarter of 2021. Seven of eight groups that cancelled at Curacao Marriott Beach Resort are rescheduling for late 2020 or early 2021. And 15 groups scheduled to meet at newly opened Lexington Marriott City Center in spring have rebooked for late 2020 and early 2021.

Those were by no means the only ones to quickly find alternative dates. Read on for more “postpone, don’t cancel” lessons learned.

Virtual is a Nonstarter for Incentives

Julie Blank, director of strategic accounts with Brightspot Incentives & Events, based in Dallas, Texas, had 18 incentive events affected, and although a majority wanted to rebook, only about 25 percent were able to make it happen this year. “People have worked for a solid year to earn these trips, and rewarding them isn’t something that can be done online,” she said.

In determining how to move forward, she had to consider the perception of both going and of cancelling, as she didn’t want anyone to think the company was moving too quickly or trying to get out of spending the money.

Blank found that venues were very understanding. In the end, all agreed to rebook in September, October and November with no penalties. The biggest challenge was getting companies to pull the trigger quickly because fall dates were filling up fast. “They wanted to take a wait-and-see approach, but we just didn’t have the luxury,” she explained.

The tone in communications with potential attendees depended on the industry. For tech companies, she was able to have more fun and used language such as, “Coronavirus may slow us down, but it won’t stop us from celebrating. We may not be on the beach in May but pick a pair of sunglasses until we meet in 2021.” For others, the emails took a more serious tone: “Your health is our priority, and we are making decisions based on the best information possible.”

The enthusiasm to be out in the world has been almost universal. When registration opened, 95 percent said they were ready to go. Only a couple said they would like to hold off on travel for now. “People look forward to this all year. They want to get out and enjoy once it is safe,” she said.

One post-coronavirus difference she expects is that contractual language for sourcing companies and venues will be tightened up, and force majeure agreements will be longer. “You don’t expect this to happen, but now it is real, and you have to have yourself covered. We will be getting more things in writing,” Blank said.

Quick-Change Artists

New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center announced that it had successfully found alternate dates for 10 shows originally scheduled for the peak of the coronavirus crisis. These shows represent more than $160 million in economic impact for the city of New Orleans.

The secret to the quick re-calendaring? Communication. To retain these events, the convention center’s sales team, in partnership with New Orleans & Company, stayed in constant contact with clients from all over the world. “This will be critical in helping the New Orleans tourism and hospitality industry get back on its feet after restaurants and businesses were forced to alter their operations to comply with the new state guidelines in the face of the coronavirus,” read a statement.

The convention center is currently working with the governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness and the Louisiana Department of Health to serve as a medical monitoring facility for those recovering from COVID-19. It will be completely sanitized and restored before returning to its primary role of hosting events.

Some 14,000 event professionals walked into Sands Expo this week to talk about advances in hotels, destinations and event services, and then an imaginative career development program broke out.

The theme for the ninth annual IMEX America, which ran Sept. 9–12 in Las Vegas, was the Power of Imagination. IMEX paired the hosted buyer appointments with Smart Monday powered by MPI sessions (900 people strong) and She Means Business content to add value for planners who came from all over the world to share best practices.

A white paper and The Year of Imagination: 15 Stories to Inspire Your Next Event booklet produced in partnership with PSAV offer a way to continue the learning after the trade show folded up shop and left through the loading docks.

IMEX Chairman Ray Bloom announced the record fundraising at SITE NITE and MPI Foundation’s Rendezvous at the show’s closing press conference and added an all-time-high spotting of changemakers to the list. “Innovation, creativity and imagination have been in rich supply here at the Sands Expo this week,” he said.

A new high of 76,000 appointments—a 3 per cent increase—were recorded and he ventured a guess that perhaps twice that many actually occurred.

Industry Milestones

The concentration of so many meeting professionals in one place was an opportunity for groups to mark their own milestones and kick off ambitious initiatives.

Event Industry Council (EIC) announced a new Center for Sustainable Events and plans to replace the old Apex standards with new EIC standards—measures that promise to be more accessible for the whole industry.

Association for Women in Events (AWE) announced that more organizations had signed on to the Events Industry Sexual Harassment Task Force Pledge, which includes proactive measures for employees and employers.

ECPAT promoted education for event planners on how to end child prostitution and slavery.

The events industry showed support for the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which are the focal point of discussions at the U.N. Summit in New York City later this month.

MPI’s Future Leader Forum was an investment in the next generation of event professionals.

Tech Focused

A dedicated technology education track covered everything from smart project management to advances in speech recognition and strategic event app usage.
The Tech Zone showcased new solutions to the things that keep planners up at night—managing marketing, registration and reporting pipelines, social media tricks and productivity hacks.

Walking the Talk

Bloom announced that the show was 100 percent powered by renewable energy, something Sands Expo Senior Vice President of Sales Chandra Allison said was the result of IMEX challenging the venue as a partner to continue to improve. “Every year, all our meetings are greener because of the knowledge learned by working with IMEX,” which set the bar of producing “the greenest meeting on earth,” she said.

A Natural Anniversary

IMEX America 2020 will mark a decade since the conference was launched. It kicks off with another Smart Monday on Sept. 14, and will be the event’s last year at Sands Expo. The talking point for 2020 and the following year at Mandalay Bay is nature.

“It is an important topic, one we can all relate to and one that warrants our full attention,” Bloom said. “We’ll be exploring what nature can do for us and what we can do for nature, and we’ll be running this theme over two years to give it the traction it deserves.”

When the meetings industry meets in Las Vegas, news is in the air. Destinations and hotels took the opportunity to talk with event professionals to make numerous announcements. The Smart Meetings team walked the floors and brought back these reports.

More: Planner Insights from IMEX Day 1

Bigger and Healthier

ALHI President and CEO Mike Dominguez predicted that more consolidation is coming in 2020 and shared his optimistic view for the economy at a media breakfast at the new Skyview Suite at The Mirage. He hinted at new partnerships coming to the global sales organization for independent hotels, including one with Delos for Stay Well rooms and meeting space, and Cirque for creative experiences. “This will be exclusive in the luxury market,” he said.

Hilton Gathers

Nicole Tilzer, director of global brand marketing with Hilton Hotels, explained the company’s roll-out of reimagined lobby bars that would be unique to each property to bring out the local flavor of the destination. “We are bringing energy back to the space and drawing people out of their rooms to socialize,” she said. Look for the roll-out to start at Hilton Austin in Texas and Hilton Cleveland Downtown.

Many Happy Returns to London

At a breakfast meeting, ExCel London’s James Rees, executive director for conferences and events, showcased the many selling points of this venue of more than 1 million sq. ft. They included a record 75 percent repeat business for major events (including gatherings by Salesforce and other major U.S. companies), meeting planner materials “translated” into American English (square feet instead of meters, for example), transparent pricing, the current favorable exchange rate for the U.S. dollar versus  the English pound, and a commitment to sustainability that embraces the United Nations Sustainability Development goals.

The British government, anticipating Brexit, is doubling down on support for attracting big international events, he said. One of these will be the first indoor/outdoor eGrand Prix, a race of Formula One-type electric cars.

Tracy Halliwell, director of tourism, conventions and major events for London & Partners, referenced London’s 1,700 event venues, 143,000 hotel guest rooms (with nearly 10,000 more being added this year), cultural diversity, talent pool (including 135,000 tech sector workers) and creative energy. London, she said, is committed to being carbon neutral by 2050.

She also highlighted new developments, such as:

  • Royal Docks, where nearly $150 billion is being invested
  • Kings Cross, where Facebook, Google and other tech companies are clustered
  • East Bank and Olympic Park, an emerging cultural quarter
  • White City, the former BBC headquarters
  • Illuminated River, a project to light up the Thames at night

Strategic Celebrations

Meeting Professionals International (MPI) highlighted its ninth year as the exclusive IMEX strategic partner. Among those on the dais was Annette Gregg, a 25-year veteran in the meeting and event industry who was recently named MPI’s senior vice president of experience. In this role, she oversees event and education teams.

Other announcements included a collaboration between MPI and International Live Events Association (ILEA) that will bring ILEA members a new learning platform that features 60 educational sessions. An MPI Experiential Event series is also launching for senior meeting planners who “want to stretch themselves,” said Paul Van Deventer, MPI president and CEO. In the first offering, planners will go behind the scenes of the 2019 Country Music Awards in Nashville in November to learn how to produce a music event.

Darren Temple, chief operating officer for MPI, noted that during the past 12 months, more than 8,000 professionals have participated in MPI Academy education, which offered them nearly 45,000 potential clock hours.

This spring, MPI Academy began an inclusive event design certificate program and debuted an event marketing certificate program in partnership with Cvent. A Women in Leadership training course examines the “why” behind the lag in female executives. In collaboration with University of Virginia Darden School of Business Executive Education, MPI now offers a master’s degree program that incorporates experiential learning, simulations and industry partner mentoring.

As a charity that supports the growth of members and the industry as a whole, MPI Foundation is celebrating its 35th anniversary. During those years, it has distributed $4.2 million to communities and the meetings industry.

ICCA Takes Off in Houston

International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) reported that its 58th congress, to be held Oct. 27–30 at Marriott Marquis Houston, will offer reduced rates for members of Visit Houston to attend the NASA-themed event, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Apollo’s launch. ICCA’s new president, James Rees, said he intends to urge increased sustainability for member events.

Destination News

Las Vegas has been chosen as the host destination for the 27th World Routes Development Forum, the world’s largest commercial aviation event, in September 2021.

In Columbus, Ohio, Greater Columbus Convention Center completed a $140 million renovation and expansion, adding 373,000 sq. ft. of contiguous exhibit space. It is also the first convention center in the world to become Certified Sensory Inclusive, which provides a more inclusive experience for guests with sensory challenges.

Elsewhere in Ohio’s capital city, a 468-room expansion of Hilton Columbus Downtown, a headquarters hotel of the convention center, will bring the number of convention hotel rooms on the property to 1,000 and total meeting space to 75,000 sq. ft. A new tower, opening in 2022, will offer a rooftop event space.

The Fives, the largest event venue in downtown Columbus with a dedicated rooftop space, opens next year. North Market near the convention center is getting an 11,000-square-foot expansion, including 4,400 sq. ft. of event space and 3,300 sq. ft. of outdoor space.

New York City boasts a $1.5 billion expansion of Javits Center, which will be complete by 2021, as well as the opening of Statue of Liberty Museum, Empire Outlets—the first outlet shopping center in the five boroughs, on the Staten Island waterfront—and the TWA Hotel at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). On September 27, NYC & Company, the destination marketing organization as well as the convention and visitors bureau for the five boroughs of New York City, will host is first-ever Climate Week NYC event at Javits Center. In October, the Museum of Modern Art will reopen after a 40,000-square-foot expansion.

Newport Beach, California, debuted a new campaign emphasizing VIP treatment and elevated experiences for meeting planners, regardless of meeting size. “Today we put our stake in the sand that no other destination dedicates as much time, resources and talent to the small meetings market as Visit Newport Beach,” said Michelle Donahue, vice president of sales for Visit Newport Beach.

Atlantic City, New Jersey, welcomed two new hotels in June of 2018: Ocean Casino Resort and Hard Rock Casino Hotel Atlantic City add 2,500 new guest rooms to a citywide inventory of 17,500 rooms. In addition, Atlantic City Convention Center was awarded LEED Gold certification.

Sacramento, California, is in the midst of a convention center expansion that will encompass SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center and leave SAFE Credit Union Convention Center with 240,000 sq. ft. of meeting space and a 15,000-square-foot outdoor plaza to take advantage of the gorgeous summer evenings. With more than 300 nearby restaurants, the booming farm-to-fork foodie scene will be accessible for attendees to the downtown location.

New Zealand is attracting incentive groups with an “intrepid luxury” approach, which features the Tiaki Promise to encourage respect for the nation’s culture, land and fellow travelers. A strategy is in place to steer visitors away from gateways and into outlying and less-traveled areas of the country to avoid over-tourism.

At the MPI keynote kicking off the opening day, IMEX Group Chair Ray Bloom noted that this year’s show floor is larger, with a record number of hosted buyers. His good news was followed by Four Day Weekend, the improv “corporate comedy” group whose upbeat message is that “it’s not important what I know; it’s what we know together.” The group believes that the word “no” stops progress in its tracks, and that “mistakes” can actually be the jumping-off point for the best solution to any challenge.

Instead, they espouse responding to any suggestion with a positive “yes, but…” or “yes, and…”

Yes, and attendees at IMEX America 2019 bring home more than swag after touring the destination experiences and tech solutions and hitting as many of the receptions as possible on opening night. Many companies take the opportunity of having thousands of event professionals and the attention of industry media to make announcements.

Smart Meetings roamed the floors and attended the briefings so you didn’t have to. Here is what we found.

Solid Growth

Three studies released at IMEX painted an optimistic outlook for the future of the industry. CWT Meetings and Events’ 2020 Future Trends Report pegged growth in the meetings and events industry at 8 percent in the coming year despite looming geopolitical economic headwinds and an outlook of rising average air (1.2 percent) and hotel prices (1.3 percent).

The authors pointed to the protracted trade war between the United States and China, the future of Brexit, protests in Hong Kong and concern over the impact of climate change for feelings of general uncertainty in the global business community heading into 2020. However, CWT M&E is still projecting that 30 percent of marketing budgets will be spent on live events in 2020.

Additionally, the report called out the evolution of mobile event tech as a positive influence that will result in greater personalization and participation. A growing young audience is demanding authentic experiences and socially and environmentally friendly initiatives.

Similarly, American Express Meetings & Events’ 2020 Forecast predicted moderate growth. “Reports of economic and political instability have not dampened the outlook of the meetings industry. Meeting professionals are bullish about 2020, as steady growth across all meeting types is predicted for the fifth consecutive year,” the report concluded.

In addition to the emphasis on experiential elements and interactive technology, the American Express Meetings & Events report warned of a lack of available space, an emphasis on compliance management and safety and security measures.

In the incentive travel industry, the IRF 2019 Trends Study found “a great deal of market volatility with some of the largest U.S stock market swings to date,” something that can have a profound impact on incentives, rewards and recognition programs.

Net optimism was measured at 3 percent. The report, which was a partnership of SITE Index, IRF Outlook and FICP, and conducted by Oxford Economics, showed that internationally, almost a third of planners (32 percent) said the national economy was having a positive impact on programs, while 29 percent saw it as having a negative impact. North America was notably more positive in comparison to the rest of the world.

Sustainable Everything

Events Industry Council (EIC) announced the launch of Center for Sustainable Events, a resource for planners and events venues that will offer webinars, a “robust” website, face-to-face elements and a sustainability certification program. At a press conference announcing the launch, EIC officials shared the dais with executives from IMEX Group, MGM Resorts and the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat.

Amy Calvert, CEO of EIC, said, “We don’t want to be daunted by the enormity of the issue.”

Yalmaz Siddiqui, vice president for corporate sustainability for MGM Resorts, added, “In the last two years, we’ve seen a sudden and dramatic interest in sustainability and sustainable events.” He called these interested parties “a small but growing subset of the events industry.”

Carina Bauer, CEO of IMEX Group, said, “Our vision is to be a showcase for the industry.” Her vision is to position the events industry on the global stage as “a beacon of sustainability.”

Miguel Naranjo, program officer for United Nations Climate Change Secretariat, sounded the most urgent note. “Sustainability is the only way to ensure that your business will continue to exist—it’s not just something that’s nice to do anymore.” He said that, given the current rate of temperature rise, the planet has only a dozen years left to avoid irreversible consequences.

Good Works Recognized

ICCA and BestCities Global Alliance, have selected three winning associations as part of their Incredible Impacts Programme. The winners—European Lung Foundation in conjunction with European Respiratory Society, International AIDS Society and the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect were called out as being, “leading examples of excellence within the global meetings industry.” Events were praised for excelling in legacy development, diversity and accessibility. Each initiative will receive a $7,500 grant toward future projects.

Technology Announcements

Marriott International announced the launch of a new Marriott Bonvoy Events MarriottBonvoyEvents.com platform for meeting and event planners. For those who have bookmarked Meetings Imagined, the concept is similar. Visitors will find detailed information about meeting infrastructure at the brand’s portfolio of more than 5,700 participating. The platform will also serve as a source for inspiration, including articles on the industry, tips and trends from meetings experts, success stories, destination highlights and promotions from hotels around the world. Planners can even submit RFPs for participating hotels.

A Points Calculator makes it easier to estimate the number of Marriott Bonvoy points earned for each meeting or event held at participating hotels.

Bishop McCann announced a partnership with Immersion Neuroscience to offer Return on Experience technology that pairs an app with a neurosensory worn by attendees on a wristband to give real-time feedback about engagement so planners can modify in the moment and plan better for future events. The system is available as a license and trainers can help to optimize implementation.

Destination Reports

News came from a number of CVBs.

  • Jason S. Gannon, managing director of LA Stadium and Entertainment District at Hollywood Park, reported on behalf of Discover Los Angeles that the first phase of the 298-acre entertainment complex for the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers is on schedule and on budget to open summer 2020 with lots of areas big and small for meetings experiences. The facility is booked to host Super Bowl LVI in 2022, the College Football Championship Game in 2023, and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic Games in 2028.
  • Discover Puerto Rico announced record high visitation and occupancy spending, with more hotel openings planned for the remainder of the year and a five-acre entertainment venue, District San Juan, scheduled to open in 2020 next door to Puerto Rico Convention Center.
  • Mike Waterman has returned to the sunshine state, where he started 30 years ago to serve as chief sales officer for Visit Orlando. He reported that in addition to an ongoing expansion at Orange County Convention Center and additional gates at Orlando International Airport (MCO), the city is expecting more hotel openings over 2019 and 2020 than it saw in the last 20 years.
Smart Meetings CEO and founder, Marin Bright.

What happens when you gather some of the most inspirational women in the meetings industry on a bracing April day in Chicago and ask them what they think are the most important issues the industry needs to face today? The Smart Woman Summit did just that in a ballroom at Wyndham Grand Chicago Riverfront—with the goal of harnessing the superpowers in the room to inspire action.

Let Hospitality Lead the Way

Smart Meetings founder and CEO Marin Bright opened the discussion with memories of the state of the industry for women when she started Smart Meetings magazine 17 years ago. “I was often the only woman in the room,” she said. “I didn’t emulate the men in the room. I was all woman, and I owned it.”

Today, more women are taking their place in business on their terms, and that is a good thing for families and businesses.

Bright pointed out that numerous studies have shown that when more women are in leadership positions, their companies outperform all-male boards and executive teams, have higher sales and better return on capital—66 percent better in some cases. The reason is simple. More diverse points of view result in more insight into what customers want, how problems can be solved and new ways to communicate.

Bright challenged the women in the room to lead the way to this more integrated and productive future. “The hospitality industry—which anyone who has stood in line for the ladies’ room at IMEX knows is 70 percent women—can be the perfect example for the rest of the world by finally moving more representative faces into management roles,” she said.

How to Get to More

Carol Frohlinger

For tips and strategies on reaching the goal of a more integrated hospitality C-suite, Bright introduced master negotiator Carol Frohlinger, co-author of Her Place at the Table and Nice Girls Just Don’t Get It.

Frohlinger advocated behaviors that reinforced a right to be heard and respected—powerful body language, for instance. When negotiating everything from kitchen duty to raises, she advised avoiding a questioning tone that indicated lack of confidence. She also talked about what is worth negotiating for. The surprisingly comprehensive list includes stretch assignments, advocating for yourself, asking for resources, boundaries, compensation, respect, time and flexibility. “Sometimes being able to control our schedules is the most valuable thing,” she said.

Pledging Action

Frohlinger’s list mirrored the one developed hours later when a panel of Smart Woman Award winners—Shameka Jennings, education and events manager, National WIC association; Mariles Krok, senior director of meeting sales, Visit Anaheim; Shelley Williams, director of sales, Caesars Entertainment; and Megan Tate, vice president, meeting and event manager, Wells Fargo—led a brainstorming session to itemize the priorities of the illustrious women gathered that day.

The list included:

Being more positive (influence at least one person a day for the better and attempt to be a better person today than you were yesterday);

Pursuing professional growth (including formal and informal education and working toward promotions);

Mentoring others (giving opportunities to those who have been denied those chances in the past helps everyone);

Taking risks (as expressed in calls to “be scared but do it anyway” and “use the haters to fuel the fire”);

Self-care (finding balance and taking care of personal needs to have enough energy to take care of others);

And live with passion (that one seemed self-explanatory).

Now it is your turn to play along at work or home. What action will you pledge to take after reading the inspiring stories of this year’s Smart Woman Award winners? Share it with us at #SmartWomanSummit, and let’s cheer each other on in this important work.

It’s difficult to predict how life will change once social distancing is no longer our day-to-day reality. When we’re finally able to meet for “nonessential” activities—a designation that feels less nonessential than ever—will we still hug and shake hands, or bow and bump elbows? Will business trips decline in favor of 3-D virtual demos, virtual site inspections, and Zoom interviews? Will rows of airplane seats be separated by an empty space, ghostly reminders of the cramped closeness we’ve all occasionally complained about?

By most accounts, we’re far from finding out what’s in store anytime soon. One thing we can count on is that sanitation and hygiene will be a higher priority than ever. Hotels are upping cleaning policies, which will surely be a selling point for booking guests and events. Masks are here to stay for now; you may get dart stares if you don’t wear one during travel.

Some predictions are more nebulous, more complex. For example: How will the pandemic change our travel habits and desires?

Travel Trends Pre-pandemic

Polls and surveys in 2018 by Business Insider showed that millennials were taking the lead in travel spending, as well as changing the landscape of how vacations are taken. Millennials, more than any generation before, are likely to engage in what has become known as “bleisure” travel: mixing business with pleasure. Work trips are extended for personal experiences. Microcations have also become popular–taking shorter trips closer to home as a flexible addition to a busy work life.

Millennials account for 31.5 percent of the population, and at 36 vacation days per year they travel more than any other demographic, according to Business Insider. Travel Market Report reported that millennials spent about $5,700 annually on travel in 2018. Comparatively, baby boomers spent only $3,300 on trips. Younger travelers have distinctly different priorities in choosing travel locations and experiences, too. Millennials care about ecotourism, exploring less-discovered places, autonomy and being able to customize the particulars of their adventures. Gen Z-ers outnumber millennials, at 32 percent of the global population. They share a passion for nature experiences, but are even more influenced by social media when it comes to choosing how and where to go.

Both generations are highly driven to share it all on social media—and even to do things for the purpose of posting about them. An Expedia Media Solutions poll showed that for Gen Z-ers 87 percent of travel decisions are influenced by social media like Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

Behold the Travel Trend Convergence

The pre-COVID-19 travelsphere was not altogether a happy place. An article for NBC News pointed to pre-existing conditions of concern, and expressed hope that the challenges of COVID-19 would call them into the light:

“The pandemic can thus become a time of reckoning, allowing us to consider how to solve problems that have become endemic to the industry, like overdevelopment and over-tourism, indiscriminate pollution, environmental destruction [and] unfair labor conditions.”

All these issues can contribute to conditions that spread disease, which will be the paramount concern for hotels and destinations, as well as for their guests.

However, even before the pandemic, interest in nature travel, solo trips, and adventures off-the-beaten-path was growing.

Airbnb cited the following stats for 2020 travel: “Bookings for nature experiences are up 103 percent YoY, and it is the top trending category globally among Gen Z (190 percent) and baby boomers (177 percent). Animal experiences and hiking experiences are seeing significant growth as well.”

In an article for Forbes, travel-industry analyst Jay Sorensen joined a growing chorus of experts in predicting that domestic travel and short flights will spring back much more quickly than international, and that cautious travelers will opt for lower-contact transportation by car or train. Microcations to outdoor (uncrowded, fresh-air) destinations could sound like the perfect escapes for millennials and Gen Z-ers back to work but eager to travel again.

Travel Will Return

We’ll have adjust to new procedures and protocols, with concerns over sanitation and crowding at the forefront. But being on the road again remains in the American DNA. Will price points be dramatically different? Business Insider interviewed industry experts who predicted flights would go down in price to attract passengers and others who said  they would rise because routes were cut or passengers would be spaced out.

Until we find out what’s ahead, we might meditate on the essential nature of travel as expressed by Mark Twain:

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”