Chapter 9
Business Travel:
Meetings, Conventions,
and Expositions
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Objectives
• After reading and studying this
chapter, you should be able to:
– Know about the major players in the
convention industry
– Describe destination management
companies
– Describe the different aspects of being a
meeting planner
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Objectives (cont’d.)
– Describe the different types of
contractors
– Explain the different types of meetings,
conventions, and expositions
– Know the various venues for meetings,
conventions, and expositions
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Development
• Meetings, incentive travel,
conventions, and exhibitions (MICE)
– Segment has grown
– Very profitable
• Average MICE tourist spends about twice
the amount of money that other tourists
– Existed since ancient times
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Size and Scope
• Industry itself consists of a number of
associations, including:
– American Hotel and Lodging Association
– National Restaurant Association
– American Culinary Federation
– International Association of Convention
and Visitors Bureaus
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Size and Scope (cont’d.)
– Hotel Sales and Marketing Association
International
– Meeting Planners Association
– Club Managers Association of America
– Professional Convention Management
Association
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Size and Scope (cont’d.)
• Associations are the main
independent political force for
industries, offering:
– Governmental/political voice
– Marketing avenues
– Education
– Member services
– Networking
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Key Players
Figure 9–1 • Major Players in the Convention Industry
Source: Walker, John R., Introduction to Hospitality Management, 3rd, ©
2010. Electronically reproduced with permission of Pearson Education, Inc.,
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Key Players (cont’d.)
• Convention and visitors bureaus
(CVB)
– Major participants in meetings,
conventions, and expositions market
– Industry sectors:
•
•
•
•
•
Transportation
Hotels and motels
Restaurants
Attractions
Suppliers
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Key Players (cont’d.)
• CVB responsibilities:
– Enhance image of tourism in the area
– Market the area
– Encourage associations and others to
hold meetings, conventions, and
expositions in the city
– Assist associations in preparations
– Encourage tourists to partake in the
areas opportunities
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Key Players (cont’d.)
• Destination management company
(DMC)
– Service organization within visitor
industry
– Offers client programs and services
• Initially concentrates on selling the
destination to meeting planners and
performance improvement companies
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Key Players (cont’d.)
• Sales managers associated with
DMCs obtain leads from:
– Hotels
– Trade shows
– Convention and visitors bureaus
– Cold calls
– Incentive houses
– Meeting planners
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Key Players (cont’d.)
• DMC sales manager staff includes:
– Special events manager
– Accounts manager
– Theme-events creative director
– Audiovisual specialist
– Operations manager
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Key Players (cont’d.)
• Meeting planners
– Independent contractors
• Contract out services to associations and
corporations as need arises
– Fulltime employees of corporations or
associations
– Role varies from meeting to meeting
• Includes premeeting, on-site, and post
meeting activities
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Key Players (cont’d.)
• Service contractors
– Provide all of services needed to run
facilities for a trade show
– Must be multitalented and equipped
– Hired by exposition show manager or
association meeting planner
– Part of the facilities management team
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Associations
• An association is a organized body
– Exhibits some variety of volunteer
leadership structure
– May concern a common activity or
purpose
• Promotes and enhances it
– Big spender when it comes to
conventions and meetings
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Associations (cont’d.)
• Trade associations
– Generally a public relations organization
– Founded and funded by corporations
that operate in a specific industry
– Purpose is to promote that industry
through public relations (PR) activities
– Largest source of post-graduate
professional development
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Associations (cont’d.)
• Professional association
– Professional body or organization
– Usually nonprofit
– Exists to further a particular profession,
to protect the public interest, and
interests of professionals
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Associations (cont’d.)
• Medical and scientific associations
– Often based on a specific specialty
– Usually national, often with subnational
or regional affiliates
– Offer conferences and continuing
education
– Serve in capacities similar to trade
unions and takes public policy stances
on issues
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Associations (cont’d.)
• Religious organizations
– Include groups of individuals that are
part of churches, mosques, synagogues,
and other spiritual or religious
congregations
• Come together to further develop their faith,
become more aware of others with the same
faith, organize and plan activities, recognize
their leaders, raise funds, etc.
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Associations (cont’d.)
• Government organizations
– Thousands in the U.S.
– Made up of numerous public bodies and
agencies
– Can be federal, state, and local
organizations
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Types
• Meetings
– Conferences, workshops, seminars, or
other events
– Designed to bring people together to
exchange information
– Formats include clinic, forum, seminar,
symposium, and workshop
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Types (cont’d.)
• Main types of meeting setups:
– Theater style
• Intended for a large audience that doesn’t need to
make a lot of notes or refer to documents
– Classroom setup
• Used when meeting format is more instructional
– Participants need to take notes or refer to documents
– Boardroom setups
• Made for small numbers of people
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Types (cont’d.)
• Annual meetings
– Held every year by to inform members of
previous and future activities
• Board meetings
– Held annually and most corporations hold
meetings monthly or four times a year
• Committee meetings
– Generally held at place of business and
occasionally in hotels
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Types (cont’d.)
• Seminars
– Frequently held in hotels, as are
workshops and technical meetings
• Corporate meetings, conventions,
and exhibitions
– Mostly held for reasons of educating,
training, decision making, research,
sales, team building, etc.
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Types (cont’d.)
• Social, military, educational, religious,
and fraternal groups (SMERF)
– Often price conscious
– Majority are paid for by the individual
– Flexible to ensure spending falls within
the budget limits
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Types (cont’d.)
• Incentive meetings
– Continues to experience rapid growth
• Incentive travel programs for corporate
employees to reward for reaching targets
– Participants must perceive the
destination and the hotel as something
special
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Types (cont’d.)
• Association meetings
– Important factors:
• Destination’s availability of hotel and
facilities
• Ease of transportation
• Distance from attendees
• Transportation costs
• Food and beverage costs
– Attended voluntarily
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Types (cont’d.)
• Conventions
– Generally larger meetings
– Some form of exposition or trade show
is included
• Expositions
– Bring together sellers of products and
services at a location (usually a
convention center)
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Types (cont’d.)
Figure 9–2 • Average Expenditure per Delegate per Stay by the Convention Type. The
significance of these amounts is that given an attendance of several hundred to thousands of
guests the economic impact quickly adds up and benefits the community in a variety of
ways. Source: Walker, John R., Introduction to Hospitality Management, 3rd, © 2010.
Electronically reproduced with permission of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River,
New Jersey.
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Types (cont’d.)
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Meeting Planning
• Needs analysis
– Determines purpose and desired
outcome
– Key to a productive meeting is a meeting
agenda
• Provides framework for making meeting
objectives (e.g., budget, site, facility, etc.)
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Meeting Planning (cont’d.)
• Budget
– Not a simple task
– More successful if meeting planner is
involved from the beginning
– Knowing how much there is available to
spend will help set parameters
– Working budget is used as a guideline
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Meeting Planning (cont’d.)
• Request for proposal
– Written request for proposal/quote
• Site selection
– Several factors evaluated (e.g., location,
service, room availability, etc.)
• Site inspection
– Meeting planner is shown all facets of
the hotel
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Meeting Planning (cont’d.)
• Negotiation with the convention
center or hotel
– Includes negotiating room blocks and
rates
– Most important interaction is normally
with catering/banquet/conference
department
• Frontline associates can make or break a
meeting
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Meeting Planning (cont’d.)
• Components that make up an
enforceable contract:
– An offer
• Exactly what the offering party is willing to
do, and what is expected in return
– Consideration
• Payment exchanged for contract promise(s)
– Acceptance
• Unconditional agreement to terms
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Meeting Planning (cont’d.)
• Contract must be made by parties
who are legally able to contract
– Activities specified in the contract must
not be in violation of the law
• Contracts should include clauses on
“attrition and performance”
– Protects facility if organizer’s numbers
drop below an acceptable level
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Meeting Planning (cont’d.)
• Organizing and preconference
meetings
– Average lead time for organizing a small
meeting is about three to six months
• Larger meetings take much longer
– Conference event order
• Includes all information necessary for set up
and conference itself
– Postevent meeting
• Held to evaluate the event
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Venus
• City centers
– Convenient to reach by air and ground
– Plenty of action
• Convention centers
– Compete to host the largest exhibitions
– Variety of exposition and meeting rooms
– Additional revenue generated by food
and beverage sales
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Venus (cont’d.)
• Conference center
– Specially designed learning environment
• Distraction-free
– Support small to medium-sized meetings
(20-50 people)
• Hotels and resorts
– Offer a variety of locations
– Many accommodate groups of various
sizes
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]
Venus (cont’d.)
• Cruise ships
– Provide a unique experience
• Many traditional challenges are still applicable
– Advantages include discounts,
complimentary meals, less distraction, etc.
• Colleges and universities
– Know the nature of the target audience
– Less expensive
It’s Tourism: Concepts and Practices
John Walker
Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.
publishing as Pearson [imprint]