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JOLT Act Could Spur International Business Travel
In March, U.S. Representatives Joe Heck (R-NV) and Mike Quigley (D-IL)re-introduced the JOLT Act (Jobs Originating through Launching Travel). Officials with the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) are urging strong bipartisan support of the act along with other government policies that facilitate international business travel.
“Opening U.S. markets to more international business travelers is exactly what our economy needs,” said Michael W. McCormick, GBTA executive director and COO. “The JOLT Act will reduce cumbersome travel restrictions that slow down international commerce. As international business travel becomes easier, faster and even more secure, trade between U.S. businesses and their international customers and partners will grow. Millions of face-to-face business meetings around the world drive increased corporate revenues, expansion efforts, and jobs creation. Accommodating last-minute but invaluable business travel to U.S. is essential in today’s extremely competitive global marketplace.”
Under the Act, countries that offer tremendous business opportunities, including Brazil - the world’s sixth largest economy with a projected $35 billion business travel market in 2013, could become eligible for the Visa Waiver Program.
2 Things To Lose At Your Next Convention
Lose The Plastic Badge Holders With a more professional look than those plastic-holder name badges, high-quality nametags are now easier than ever to create yourself through software from Imprint Plus. The kit allows you to create customized magnetic name tags by printing names onto a paper insert that rests in a gold or silver metallic frame that looks permanently engraved.
If name badges are more your thing, go eco-friendly and loose the plastic holders. Badgetec has created heavy duty cardstock that’s specially diecut to the standard name badge size. Once you print the names onto the cardstock, the badges are ready to clip on attendees—without plastic holders—using a special recyclable and reusable clip.
Lose The Balloons
Unlike balloons, eye-catching, wind-blown nylon pennants enliven any event or celebration—and are reusable. Consort Display Group offers a nylon pennant system that comes with 12-foot or 22-foot poles, 8-foot or 15-foot colored pennants, and non-tangling, swiveling brackets that allow the flags to unpredictably “dance” in the wind.
Delta Air Enhances Its Sleep Experience, Provides Group Services
Delta Air Lines is transforming the sleep experience in the air by offering Westin Heavenly® In-Flight bedding, designed and manufactured exclusively for Delta, in all of its BusinessElite cabins throughout the world beginning in June 2013. BusinessElite customers will receive a Westin Heavenly sleeping pillow and a comforter with extra luxurious loft. Passengers on flights over 12 hours also will receive a lumbar pillow.
In addition, Delta is making investments in several other products and services to revamp the in-flight sleep experience in BusinessElite. These include a white noise channel on Delta Radio, new amenity kits and more full flat-bed seating.
Meanwhile, Delta continues to offer services to meeting planners through the Delta Meeting Network, which offers a host of benefits, including:
•A dedicated team of specialists with personalized
service and attention to detail;
•A variety of cost-saving options to help you
stay within budget;
•Earned ticket incentives—the more attendees who
fly Delta, the more you earn for
your organization;
•Easy online management at delta.com for
your attendees; and
•A vast network of global destinations to get your
attendees to the meeting.
In order to qualify for the Delta Meeting Network program, you must have at least 10 or more participants traveling from at least two or more destinations.
Futurist J. Walker Smith Headlines At AIBTM 2013
CHICAGO—Keynoting this year’s theme “Defining the Future of Meetings…Together,” J. Walker Smith, principal of The Futures Company, has been chosen to kick off AIBTM’s 2013 exhibition on June 11th. He will present data and insights that demonstrate the continued value of face-to-face relationships in the current “kinship economy”…even in a digital age.
Walker has been described by Fortune magazine as “one of America’s leading analysts on consumer trends.” In his kinship economy, the future is an economy of social relationships, not brand relationships—it means facilitating personal engagement, not managing brand interactions.
“Face-to-face meetings are the catalyst for business growth and shortened sale cycles—despite what technologists and the digital marketplace would have you believe,” said Michael Lyons, exhibition director of AIBTM 2013. “Business is more than ever about building relationships that will never change despite social media, online meetings software and streaming media.”
Carrying the momentum of Smith’s keynote throughout the show, AIBTM 2013 will offer a highly interactive education format to crowdsource attendees’ views on best practices, innovation and new ideas to make business meetings more effective in a challenging global landscape.
The Americas Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition (AIBTM) is a leading global exhibition for the U.S. meetings and events industry and takes place from June 11-13, 2013 in Chicago.
U.S. traveler sentiment rises above pre-recession high
Americans' attitudes toward travel are now more positive than the benchmark score recorded just prior to the "Great Recession," according to the latest travelhorizons survey of 2,300 active travelers conducted by marketing services firm MMGY Global.
The Traveler Sentiment Index (TSI), tracked every calendar quarter since March 2007, is a derivative of six factors that measure Americans' attitudes towards travel and serves as a predictor of travel behavior during the coming six months. While the overall TSI has been declining since last April, February marked the first time the TSI surpassed the benchmark score of 100 established in pre-recession March 2007. All six components of the TSI revealed gains in February 2013, with the overall index increasing 10 points in February 2013 (100.8) compared to October 2012 (90.4). The perceived "affordability of travel" powered the score forward, having grown from 102.6 in October 2012 to 114.5 in February 2013. The six TSI factors include interest in travel, time for travel, personal finances available for travel, affordability of travel, quality of travel services and safety of travel.
Business travel intentions also displayed a five-point jump in February, with fully 20 percent of all respondents intending to take at least one overnight business trip during the next six months – up from 15 percent in February 2012, and fully seven points from the 13 percent incidence first recorded in February 2009. This increase may signal the beginning of a robust recovery of demand for business travel services, barring any unforeseen disruption of the continued recovery of the U.S. economy, according to the TSI report.
Meetings Recovery Means Planners Lose Negotiating Power, Venues Gain Leverage
FEBRUARY 25, 2013 - The long-awaited meetings industry recovery is finally under way, shifting the negotiating advantage away from planners to hotels, according to a new study from Colliers PKF Hospitality Research.
While transient and leisure travel began turning around soon after the recession ended in 2009, hotels did not see group demand recover until 2011, according to Robert Mandelbaum, director of research information services for Colliers PKF Hospitality Research.
he major implication of the meetings recovery is that hotels now have the upper hand in negotiations, Mandelbaum told Travel Market Report. “The leverage up until now has been with planners but, due to rising occupancy levels, the leverage is swinging back to the hotel sales manager,” he said.
As a result of planners’ declining negotiating clout on hotel rates, planners are negotiating on other elements, including free Internet access, breakfast, meeting room rental fees, etc., Mandelbaum said. “From a hotel perspective, those items tend to be less profitable than rooms, so they are willing to cede in negotiations as long as they get the rate. Budget expenditures will definitely be higher but they will not be decided on until the last minute,” Mandelbaum said.
U.S. Hotels Report Strong Revenue Per Available Room in January
February 25, 2013 - The U.S. hotel industry reported increases in all three key performance metrics during January 2013, according to data from STR. Overall, the U.S. hotel industry’s occupancy rose 3.6 percent to 51 percent, its average daily rate was up 5.1 percent to $105.96 and its revenue per available room increased 8.8 percent to $54.02.
“January revPAR growth rate was the strongest performance we’ve seen since June 2012,” said Brad Garner, STR’s COO. “The results were driven both by solid ADR and demand gains with Washington D.C., Miami and New York among the top performers. The chain scale segments saw growth across all scales, with Luxury leading in both ADR and revPAR growth rates. Independent hotels also saw strong results this month.”
Hotel Demand Outlook for 2013 Remains Positive According to TravelClick
February 6, 2013 – Hotels continue to see a steady increase in occupancy and revenue performance, according to data from the January 2013 TravelClick North American Hospitality Review (NAHR). When looking at Q1 2013 through Q4 2013, the current outlook is for moderate growth, with continued improvement in average daily rate (ADR) being the key driver.
“Based on TravelClick data, ADR continues to be the main source of RevPAR growth heading into 2013,” said Tim Hart, executive vice president, enterprise research and development, TravelClick. “While both ADR and occupancy are growing – occupancy is improving more slowly while ADR is increasing at a slightly more rapid pace.”
12 Month Outlook (January 2013- December 2013)
Committed occupancy across all segments, for January 2013 through December 2013, is up 2.0 percent compared to a year ago. Based on reservations currently on the books, ADR is up 4.9 percent, compared to the same time last year. Revenue per available room (RevPAR) is up 4.1 percent.
Group sales are the driving force behind occupancy growth in 2013, up 2.2 percent. At this time, it appears that group occupancy is showing the strongest gains in the second and third quarters. The transient segment – made up of individual business and leisure travelers, which has been responsible for the majority of hotel sector growth in the past is up 1.2 percent overall. Business demand, which includes weekday transient negotiated and transient retail segments, is down 2.5 percent while leisure demand, which includes transient discount, transient qualified segments and transient wholesale, is up 3.9 percent.
Group ADR is up 2.8 percent and transient segment ADR is up 6.1 percent compared to last year. Business and leisure rates are up 7.1 and 5.8 percent respectively.
First Quarter (January 2013- March 2013)
For the first quarter of 2013 committed occupancy is up 1.4 percent and ADR is up 4.9 percent.
Group committed occupancy for the first quarter of 2013 is up 1.0 percent while transient is up 1.9 percent. Breaking transient down further into business and leisure, business demand is down 2.4 percent while leisure is up 5.3 percent for the first quarter.
ADR is up 4.9 percent in the first quarter compared to the same time last year. This increase is driven by the transient segment which is up 6.4 percent. Business and leisure rates are up 7.3 and 6.1 percent, respectively. Group segment ADR is up 2.6 percent.
Based on TravelClick’s forward-looking data, February looks to be the strongest month of the quarter with occupancy currently up 4.7 percent and revenue per available room (RevPAR) up 8.0 percent, based on current reservations.
Hyatt Reports Rebound In Group Demand
February 13, 2013 - BusinessTravelNews.com reports that "accelerating group booking trends, both for short-term corporate and long-term association events, are encouraging Hyatt Hotels executives, they said during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call" on Feb. 13.
President and CEO Mark Hoplamazian said December was Hyatt's best month for group booking activity since 2007. Group bookings made in 2013 at U.S. full-service hotels currently are up 4 percent compared with last year's pace. The performance has negated concerns the company had last year about a slowdown of group demand, he said. During the fourth quarter, group revenues increased by 3.3 percent year over year—compared with a 6.9 percent increase in transient room revenues—and group room nights were up only 0.4 percent.
Hyatt's group bookings currently are showing a "bimodal distribution," Hoplamazian said, meaning they largely are either small corporate events with a very short booking window or large association events in the distant future. Hyatt's group booking activity in the technology, retail and manufacturing sectors are showing particular strength.
"Looking at group room revenues, the strength tends to be in the smaller room blocks and smaller-sized meetings," Hoplamazian explained. "The largest meetings are lagging. They're still positive in progression but are lagging the progress and rate increases in the smaller segments."
Group Travel Spend Expected To Rise 5.2% In 2013, GBTA Reports
February 1, 2013 - According to the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) 2012 Q4 outlook, the business travel forecast for 2013 should be more positive than 2012, provided there is continued easing of economic and political uncertainty - presenting an early indication of greater corporate confidence in spending decisions.
U.S. business travel spending is expected to rise 4.6% in 2013 to $266.7 billion, according to GBTA.
The key factors in 2013 business travel spending growth are projected to be:
•Increasing international outbound travel spending - projected to rise 5.9%
•Increasing group travel spending - projected to rise 5.2%
•Very modest price inflation—indicating that companies will be spending more real dollars on business trips.
Spending growth in 2013 should begin modestly, at 2.0% in Q1 and 2.9% in Q2, and then pick up the pace with rates of 6.4% in Q3 and 7.2% in Q4.
MPI Reports Domestic Corporate Meetings On The Rise
January 23, 2013 - Meeting Professionals International (MPI) December 2012 Business Barometer noted that domestic corporate meetings continue to grow, while government meetings continue to fall.
Meeting budgets continue to rise at a slow pace, as the corporate sector makes extremely short lead times de facto business practice, according to MPI.
40% of meeting pros have seen an increase in attendance in the past year; and 39% have seen no change. 55% predict more increases over the next year; and 35% predict no change. Attendees are now often participating online, or becoming more interested in regional meetings, according to MPI.
As corporations increasingly make CSR (corporate social responsibility) a business imperative, meetings and events are being affected by more and more demand for sustainable practices and “greening." There are an increasing number of industry standards, benchmarks and guidelines on delivering sustainable events and socially responsible programs, according to MPI.
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