U.S. Travel Association Campaign

The U.S. Travel Association has launched a campaign in response to TARP regulations imposed on those companies accepting federal bailout money. We all believe those companies that have accepted government bailout money should follow the provisions and terms the U.S. Government has outlined in its program. But many companies are canceling its meetings due to fear of looking fiscally irresponsible, or feeling guilty of having a meeting during this unsettling period. To help save 2009, U.S. Travel Association has launched a new web site to help communities and businesses address the issue. Take a moment and look over the site. It’s worth the time.  

On the leisure front, USA Today ran a story on March 6 with the headline "Guilt trip: Luxury travelers tone it down in hard times - What’s happening at the high end of the economic travel scale is also worth noting". Many individuals are scaling back on luxury travel this year. They are taking cabs instead of using a car service, spending less on food and beverage, staying at a three or four-star hotel instead of a five-star hotel property and overall avoiding the appearance of an "extravagant" vacation.

With most conventions there are multiple price points for individuals attending a meeting, convention or trade show. If we look at a 2,000 person convention, attendees will be spread out in at least 10 hotels instead of the two or three listed in the registration program. Even if there are several designated hotels, travelers come from various economic scenarios and as such travel with different budgets. That’s why we see so many convention delegates spreading out more and more each year.

The Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau is acutely aware that corporate travel will be down this year. Leisure travel is also taking a hit, and on the convention side attrition is the name of the game. We’ll address the LCVB’s leisure strategy in the upcoming weeks plus discuss our plan of attack to drive more convention business to Louisville. As we work through those plans we encourage all our LCVB partners to work with us closely so that we all can survive 2009 and hope that our hard work will provide a more fruitful 2010.