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Related Newslog Items August 9, 2010 Egencia Meetings & Incentives partnered with Cvent to use its event management technology and venue site selection applications for strategic meetings management programs. August 8, 2010 GetThere announced a collaboration portal design that centralizes "travel, meetings, expense and social networking" functions using tabbed browsing and single sign-on. GetThere announced its collaboration suite last year. July 21, 2010 NBTA called the Obama Administration "misguided" and USTA branded as "short-sighted" the White House's target for a 13 percent reduction in greenhouse gas pollution by 2020. President Obama had announced the conservation efforts would include employee travel, prompting the National Business Travel Association to say it was "concerned this unilateral action could undermine the slight recovery the travel industry is just now starting to experience." The White House statements, according to NBTA executive director Mike McCormick, "seem to imply that cutting travel is the goal. The goal should be to use travel as cost-effectively as possible to meet the needs of the United States. Instead of unilateral cuts, I encourage government agencies to reach out to the industry and learn how to properly manage travel and 'green' their travel system." The United States Travel Association issued a response indicating "this type of arbitrary and across-the-board approach will further economic decline at precisely the wrong time. We call on the Obama Administration to work with the travel community to promote sustainable business travel initiatives through incentives."
June 9, 2010 Event registration tech firm etouches said it closed a $2.5 million first round of venture capital financing from Greycroft Partners II, Connecticut Innovations and Cava Capital. The 12-year-old meeting company said it plans to use the funds for product development, sales and marketing. It also hired former meetings and travel publisher Jim Alkon as senior vice president of sales and marketing. May 27, 2010 PricewaterhouseCoopers predicted U.S. lodging rates would increase 3.5 percent in 2011 following a 1.7 percent decline this year. The firm expects occupancy to rise this year by 1.9 percentage points and next year by 1.6 percentage points. "Transient travel has begun to recover as funds become available in business and the economic outlook becomes more stable," PwC wrote. Still, "constraints remain evident, such as corporate focus on travel management and cost containment, low levels of group meetings and high unemployment." February 24, 2010 Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide in conjunction with Tata Communications opened Cisco TelePresence meetings suites in a W property in Chicago and a Sheraton in Sydney. Two more telepresence suites will open during the first half of 2010 including the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers and Sheraton Centre Toronto, followed later by the Westin Los Angeles Airport and other locations in Brussels, Dallas, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Paris and San Francisco. January 20, 2010 Travelocity Business added to its meeting services portfolio a partnership with Meetings & Incentives. M&I services now available to Travelocity Business clients include "strategic meetings management; domestic and international sourcing, with services in Latin America and Europe; planning and registration; onsite services and production; and event marketing," according to a press statement.
January 7, 2010 The German Business Travel Association rejected NBTA's invitation to NBTA Europe and will continue to support the predecessor Paragon group, according to a VDR statement. NBTA and the Institute of Travel & Meetings announced the new NBTA Europe group on Wednesday. "The newly founded NBTA Europe will withdraw from the Paragon Partnership, a global alliance of business travel associations, and aims to portray itself independently as the European voice of the industry," according to the VDR statement, in which it also said Paragon's "influence is not to be underestimated. As a founder member of this association, the VDR will therefore continue to support Paragon and will refrain from joining NBTA Europe. We are closely monitoring the development of the new association and are maintaining a dialogue with the NBTA. However, we do not see eye to eye on the purposes and approach of the new NBTA Europe. We prefer to continue cooperating on a bilateral basis as appropriate and will therefore communicate regarding international topics. At the same time, we are considering a German-speaking alliance with Switzerland and the Austrian business travel association ABTA. The VDR intends to continue presenting international political topics in collaboration with Paragon. The VDR does not see any added value for the association and its members in founder membership of the new NBTA Europe. We want to remain independent and neutral, free of commercial interests." September 29, 2009 The Institute of Travel and Meetings announced a "strategic alliance" with meetings and events association Eventia. The agreement calls for cooperation on membership, education, training, industry relations, regulations and shared resources for events and corporate social responsibility initiatives. September 15, 2009 In-person meetings result in new sales 40 percent of the time versus 16 percent without such meetings, says a new Oxford Economics study commissioned by the United States Travel Association and Destination Marketing Association International. The research also revealed that customer meetings generate $15-$20 per dollar invested, with conference and trade show participation ranging from $4-$6 per dollar.
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