Archive: April 2010
Cell phone: check. Cable television: check. Mortgage: check. Gogo Inflight Internet: check. Frequent fliers can now add in-flight Internet to their list of automatic withdrawals each month. Gogo Inflight Internet now allows customers to pay a flat $34.95 monthly rate that renews automatically, allowing frequent travelers to pay for uninterrupted Internet service when flying. Gogo, powered by Aircell, is the most widely used in-flight Internet provider in the country.
Gogo may roll more amenities into its [...] Read more
The Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau created its “Meeting Guarantee Program” 10 years ago, promising to refund costs incurred by any association or organization that isn’t completely satisfied with any aspect of service from the CVB. Earlier this month, the Central Association for College and University Business Officers (CACUBO) became the first group to be granted a refund under the program.
Tammy Martin, 2009 CACUBO conference chair, received a check for $3,000 from the Northern [...] Read more
This year it’s Beijing, but next year, the Global Travel and Tourism Summit is headed back to the United States. Las Vegas will host the annual summit, which is one of the leading international travel and tourism events, May 15-19, 2011, at the Aria Resort and Casino. “We are honored to host the 11th Global Travel and Tourism Summit,” said Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority president and CEO Rossi Ralenkotter. Las Vegas, which has [...] Read more
Branson Airport, a relatively new airport in the Ozarks, now offers nonstop service to Nashville, Tenn. and Gulfport/Biloxi, Miss. The public charter flights by Branson AirExpress start May 17 and are offered Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Introductory one-way fares to the Nashville International Airport and Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport are $49 and $59, respectively. The airline also flies to Shreveport, La.; Austin and Houston, Texas; Des Moines, Iowa; and Terre Haute, Ind. Branson added a $420 [...] Read more
Florida has been a leader in the national effort to send the message that meetings, travel and tourism are essential to the country’s economic health. Last week, the Florida Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus brought its case to Tallahassee, where hearings were held on a Senate bill to divert Tourist Development Tax funds. City and state legislative bodies throughout the country are targeting hotel taxes and tourism dollars in an effort to replenish shrinking [...] Read more
A few years ago, green meetings were a novel idea, and planners struggled to find hotels, venues and suppliers for their events. Things have definitely changed.
“The focus is no longer on green as being unique, but green as being an expected practice,” says Tracey Messina, executive director of Convene Green Alliance, an organization of association and meetings professionals committed to lessening the environmental impact of the events they host. Established in March 2008, CGA has [...] Read more
Some cities have green leaders, pushing recycling efforts and water-saving programs. But Chicago has Mayor Richard Daley, who has pushed his city far beyond the sustainability and eco efforts put forward by most. Greening Chicago has been on his agenda for a long time, from his 1989 tree-planting program that added 500,000 trees to the city to his ambitious 2008 Climate Action Plan that aims to reduce greenhouse gases by 25 percent below 1990 levels [...] Read more
In the current economic climate, sponsorship money is hard to come by, and the numbers prove it. Last year, money spent on sponsorships fell 1 percent, according to the IEG Sponsorship Report. It marked the first time sponsorship spending declined in the 25 years since IEG, a sponsorship-consulting firm, started tracking it.
It’s not all bad news, though. Money spent on sponsorships for associations actually rose in 2009 by about 3 percent. IEG tracks sponsorship in [...] Read more
By Don Sadler
The results are in, and Detroit’s airport nabs the top spot in the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 North America Airport Satisfaction Survey. The survey, released in February, measures overall airport satisfaction, which includes the check-in process, security checks, food and retail services, and more. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County (DTW) scored highest for large airports, while Kansas City International (MCI) ranked first for medium-sized airports and Indianapolis International (IND) for small ones.
The survey [...] Read more
Hotels, convention centers, restaurants and transportation providers in San Jose, Calif., are helping the city lead the charge for greener meetings. In the past year, a number of citywide initiatives were instituted to help reduce the carbon footprint large events have on the city and the environment.
Hotels across town are beefing up their efforts to save energy. Hotel Valencia instituted an “Ozone Laundry Plan” that cuts down on the water, energy and gas used to [...] Read more
