Taxes
Canada’s Foreign Convention and Tour Incentive Program offers reduced tax incentives for international groups that hold their meetings in the country. For rebate information, requirements and forms go to the Canada Review Agency website.

Passports
Passports are required for any air travel outside the U.S. and its territories. They’re no longer cheap (for adults, $135; for kids under 16, $105), can take up to two months to process, and first-timers must apply in person. For forms and information, go to travel.state.gov/passport.

Mobile Phones
The new iPhone 4S is a world phone. It can be bought from AT&T, Verizon and, for the first time, Sprint. Even if you get your iPhone 4S from Verizon, whose CDMA network is incompatible with the GSM networks used in most other countries, you’ll still be able to make calls overseas, either through Verizon or by inserting another carrier’s SIM card. Whatever mobile phone you use, you should call your wireless provider to make sure it is ready to make and receive calls in a foreign country. You can also check with your carrier for the exact rates in the countries where you’ll be traveling. Calls will be charged on a per-minute basis. For subscribers with U.S. cell phone service, domestic voice, text message or data plans do not apply when traveling in another country. SMS text messaging is typically the cheapest way to communicate with people in the country where you’re traveling and also with people back home in the U.S.

Attendee Info
Create your own international tip sheet for attendees and include with event information.

Online Resources
The State Department posts current travel warnings and alerts on its site at travel.state.gov, which also has passport information. While the customs process has become more streamlined there are still certain restrictions and requirements. For specific dos and don’ts, choose “Tips for Traveling Abroad” on the international travel page. Lonelyplanet.com is also a useful site for international travelers with Users can click on the world map for information on global destinations, including crime and practical concerns.

> Return to “International Understanding” feature article.

Fast forward a few years, and I began managing executive meetings and VIP hospitality arrangements in conjunction with U.S. and international motorsports events. Getting the delegates from the hotel to the meeting site and then on to the racetrack didn’t seem to be a great challenge. However, I quickly learned this was novice thinking. Throughout the years, Murphy’s Law and attendee transportation have danced around each other like competing gangs in “West Side Story,” where anything that can possibly go wrong usually does.

Whereas attendees usually remember an event’s food and beverage, whether good or bad, planners are likelier to recall the meeting’s transportation. Happy or sad, a smooth ride or a broken-down bus, you will remember.

Planning Ahead

Having a backup plan is a necessity when coordinating air and ground transportation. Unless attendees are driving to the meeting or renting a car once they land, airport transfers are usually their first meeting experience. Air dictates ground, and ground gives the first impression.

Understanding your attendee level and demographic is the first step in determining the most efficient, least expensive method of transportation. Does the group include your association’s executive director and board members? Are they mostly male traveling with colleagues, or female association members traveling alone? If the attendees are executive management, consider hiring separate sedan cars on standby, or in lieu of group shuttles. If your event is an annual meeting hosted by the association’s national headquarters, consider grouping association members coming from the same city, state or chapter. Chartering a group flight can be less expensive in both airfare and ground transfers; a 55-passenger bus is more economical than booking multiple 11-passenger shuttle vans.

However, it often is challenging to arrange flights for a large number of people on the same airline, the same day, at the same time. If attendees are flying on different airlines yet landing during a similar time period, it is possible to group them on shuttles. Analyzing your flight manifest for potential groupings is then crucial to saving costs.

It’s equally as important to understand the airport’s terminal system and map out the distance between gates, concourses and baggage claim. For example, if two delegates are landing in the international terminal, concourse E, and four are landing in domestic terminals, concourses A and B, it might not make sense to have all six attendees share a shuttle. Consider how long it takes to walk from gate to gate and how rapidly the airport’s transit system operates. Research airport information on the Internet by visiting the airport’s official website and by reading blogs and social media sites that provide traveler feedback. A group coordinator at the city’s convention and visitor’s bureau also might provide excellent information about travel time, both inside the airport and once attendees depart baggage claim.

Big Challenges

Airport transfers are probably the most challenging to coordinate, not only because they are influenced by airline delays and slow baggage return, but also because attendees new to the city or airport might get lost trying to find their way to the main terminal. Attendees will walk by large directional signs and placards with their last name in big, bold letters, especially if they are reading email on their smartphones or are trying to read airport signage. It is important to provide concise directions from the gate to baggage claim in your pre-conference materials, and explain in detail who and what attendees are looking for once they reach baggage: Is it a meet-and-greet representative wearing a transportation company’s shirt or a sedan driver in a traditional suit?

Be sure to include an emergency, off-hours phone number in case a flight is delayed or canceled. If you are using a travel agency to book group air, this company usually can provide an 800 number  answered by a representative familiar with your group. If attendees are booking their own air, provide a meeting manager’s cell phone number or the number to the association’s on-site office. The more communication you can encourage between attendees and the transportation coordinator, the better. Tip: Hire a transportation or destination management company that freely offers this contact number; don’t hire a company that can’t or doesn’t want to communicate.

Once the delegates are safely to the hotel or meeting venue, the next step is making sure they are expertly shuttled to any off-site functions. This coordination is a bit less challenging than airport transfers; generally the entire group is meeting at the same location at the same time. However, if your conference uses multiple hotels, it’s important to time the shuttles so all delegates arrive at approximately the same time. You then can start your meal functions and entertainment on schedule rather than waiting for a late bus to arrive. Translation: You save costs on multiple elements of the meeting and are not paying overtime charges to a demanding entertainer.

Nineteen years later, I’m still not sure I’ll ever have a foolproof plan for transportation coordination, but I do know this: Having a Plan B, C and maybe even D makes me sleep a little better when I go to bed at night.

Monica Compton, CMP, is a writer and event-marketing consultant with Pinnacle Productions Inc., based in Atlanta. She has 19 years experience as a global meeting planner, managing a variety of programs both domestically and internationally.

By Don Sadler

This spring, an Iceland volcano that spread clouds of atmospheric ash throughout Europe made air travel unsafe and resulted in unprecedented travel chaos worldwide. Starting April 14, virtually any flight scheduled into or out of European airspace was suspended. Within a week, nearly 100,000 flights had been canceled, and the chain reaction affected as many as 7 million travelers worldwide.

With the exception of the events on Sept. 11, such a widespread travel disruption was virtually unprecedented, says Tim Daniel, executive vice president of International SOS, a travel and medical crisis response company. “SARS and the H1N1 virus were big, but not as big as the volcanic ash cloud.”

During the crisis, International SOS had a 60 percent increase in the number of calls received from international travelers, corporate travel managers and security directors at its alarm center network. The company quickly launched a special micro-site that provided real-time information to members about available flights, lodging options and other helpful information.

The volcanic ash cloud crisis was unique in several respects. First, it was constantly evolving and there was no clear end in sight, which severely tested travel managers’ abilities to assist stranded employees. Also, unlike disruptions caused by natural disasters like hurricanes or earthquakes and acts of terrorism, this was not a life-threatening situation. But anyone who spent days stranded overseas or anyone responsible for coordinating meetings or events for stranded travelers will tell you that the volcanic ash event wasn’t life-threatening, but it was certainly a reality check regarding safety and crisis planning.

Takeaways

Before it fades too far into memory, it’s important to think about what travel managers and event planners learned from the crisis and how they have changed “business practices as usual” to lessen the impact of a similarly massive travel disruption in the future. “The ash cloud crisis was a major wake-up call for the industry that has caused everyone who has anything to do with international travel and events to re-examine everything they’re doing and how they do it,” says Daniel.

In hindsight, it’s clear that organizations with business continuity or crisis plans in place were much better prepared for the situation than those that had to deal with it on the fly. The first takeaway from the crisis is that travel managers need to create a plan now that details specific policies and procedures to be followed in the event of any kind of unforeseen travel disruption, whether it’s a major global crisis or relatively minor local issue.

Last month, the U.S. State Department issued a broad travel alert for Americans traveling to Europe due to heightened concerns about a potential al-Qaida attack in the region, further prompting the importance of having a travel crisis plan in place. The plan should answer such questions as:

• Are contingencies in place that anticipate major transportation disruptions and how they might impact the ability of traveling employees to make it home safely?

• Are employees required to make all travel arrangements through standard approved channels (e.g., a corporate travel manager or agent)?

• Which departments have authority to book alternative travel and lodging arrangements, approve costs and make other critical decisions quickly?

• Is there a master list of profile information for all employees — e-mail addresses, cell-phone numbers, Skype addresses, spouse or parent contact information, special medical needs, etc. — and is it current? Where does it reside?

• How does the organization keep track of traveling employees and communicate vital information to them?

• Do employees who travel abroad carry internationally enabled cell phones?

• Do employees on the road have remote access to company intranet (connectivity, passwords, protocols, etc.)?

Large companies and organizations face bigger challenges when it comes to dealing with larger travel crises. Ralph Colunga is the senior director of global travel and expense for Salesforce.com, which has up to 4,000 employees traveling at any given time, up to 2,000 of these traveling internationally.

One of the first things Salesforce.com changed after the ash cloud crisis was requiring employees to book all travel through corporate-approved channels. “It made us realize how dangerous it is to have ‘rogue’ travelers traveling outside the system who we couldn’t track,” he says.

The company also combined the expense and travel functions in order to “close the loop,” Colunga says. “This really helped us get our hands around all of our corporate travel and have a much better idea of where everyone is.”

Salesforce.com uses TravelTracker Mobile, a new service from International SOS, to monitor the locations of its traveling employees and communicate vital information to them in real time. This is a new upgrade to the original TravelTracker web-based service that enabled tracking via travelers’ mobile devices, rather than a laptop. It integrates the assistance services provided by International SOS’s medical, security and logistical experts. “This feature is particularly important when we are helping clients manage global crises,” says Daniel.

New Strategies

Some organizations and planners reacted to the ash cloud crisis with a desire to replace some meetings and events with web conferences, Skype and other types of virtual meetings, says Corbin Ball, an industry consultant and expert in meetings technology innovation who travels extensively overseas. “But I don’t see this as a permanent shift.”

Ball estimates that he has traveled for 900 presentations in the past 13 years and has never missed one due to a travel disruption. “Part of this is just sheer luck, but I’m also very cautious about how I book my travel. A lot of it is just intuition. If something doesn’t feel right, I usually avoid it.”

Here are a few more suggestions from Colunga for lessening the impact of major travel disruptions in the future, based on his company’s experiences with the volcanic ash cloud crisis:

1. Negotiate favorable contract terms with hotels and venues. Most contracts include standard force majeure (or acts of God) language that spells out under what circumstances cancellation fees will and will not have to be paid, and the ash cloud crisis was a classic example of force majeure. However, it’s smart to try to negotiate a clause in your contracts that lowers the bar for the standard that must be met in order for force majeure to apply.

2. Re-examine the refundable versus non-refundable ticket calculation. Non-refundable tickets are obviously cheaper. “But what’s the value of being able to change a ticket at no charge in the event of some kind of travel disruption?” asks Colunga.

3. Consider event-cancellation insurance. Policies can be purchased to cover both total and partial cancellations, as well as the lost revenue from a canceled event (in addition to event cancellation fees). For example, if an event normally generates $300,000 in revenue but due to a covered catastrophe, this revenue drops to $150,000, the policy would cover the difference.

4. Use social media tools wisely. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other social networking sites were used extensively by stranded employees and their organizations to communicate and share the latest information during the ash cloud crisis. But there was so much misinformation flying around, these tools were sometimes more harmful than helpful. An alternative is to create your own internal social media site that can be used by both traveling employees and the company to communicate key information safely and confidentially. A standard corporate intranet may do the trick, but Salesforce.com has created an application called Chatter for just this purpose. “Chatter is an internal social networking system that resides behind a company’s firewall,” Colunga explains. “It has proven to be very effective for exchanging messages between traveling employees and headquarters in real time, versus a static website.”

5. Keep travel profiles up-to-date. As noted earlier, a master list with detailed profiles and contact information for every employee who travels should be kept current and in a safe place. “Employees should also carry a buddy badge or wallet card with them that has emergency contact info for the company, country-specific information for where they’ll be traveling, information about medical support services, etc.,” says Colunga. “This is really simple, but it’s amazing how often it’s overlooked.”

Duty of Care

The central question to consider as you create a travel crisis plan is: What is our organization’s duty of care to our employees? Duty of care is a legal concept that presumes that companies and organizations have an obligation to take reasonably practical steps to safeguard their employees against reasonably foreseeable dangers, whether in the workplace or while they are traveling.

“Companies should strive to meet the highest prevailing duty of care standards when it comes to their traveling employees,” says Daniel. “And the best way to demonstrate duty of care is to create an integrated travel risk management plan, and then follow these procedures carefully in the event of a travel disruption.”

While no one can predict when or where the next major travel crisis might happen, few people question whether or not one will occur, says Daniel. “This (the volcanic ash cloud) won’t be the last time a major travel disruption like this happens.”

Shortly following the volcanic eruption, Don Sadler talked to meeting planners traveling internationally to find out how the disaster affected them. You can read that story here. To read more on what to include in contracts to protect your organization when a flight cancellation affects a meeting, read “Road Warriors Beware” by our legal columnist Barbara Dunn.

Like so many of you “road warriors” out there, I have learned to expect the unexpected when it comes to airline travel these days. In the last few months, travelers struggled to cope with a multitude of flight cancellations in the wake of the volcano eruptions in Iceland and severe weather across this country.

In addition to inconveniencing so many passengers, the recent airline flight cancellations had a significant impact on the meetings industry.

We had a number of clients contact us to say that their meetings had been affected as a result. Some were unable to hold their meetings, as they could not get their attendees to destinations. Others arrived at their destinations but found that no rooms were available because previous groups had not been able to depart and stayed over as a result. In other instances, function space was not available because a previous group had extended or adjusted its meeting times.

This brings up the burning question: What are the duties and rights of a group when a flight cancellation impacts a meeting? The short answer is: It depends on what the contract says, if anything, about transportation interruptions.

Provisioning up

A group’s duties will be evaluated against the contract’s force majeure provision. A force majeure provision should be included in each and every contract signed in connection with a meeting. There are three components I focus on when reviewing the provision. First, I review the grocery list of items that could occur such as acts of God, weather, strikes, wars, threats or acts of terrorism, travel advisories or diseases. It is important to ensure that transportation interruptions or flight delays or cancellations are included on the list. It is also important to include a catch-all provision at the end of the list such as the following: “or any other cause beyond the parties’ control.”

The second and most critical component is the standard of impact. If any of the items on the list occur, what has to happen to performance in order to trigger the protections of this provision? Does performance have to be rendered impossible? Or illegal? Inadvisable? Commercially unreasonable? Depending on what requirement is included in a contract, a group may have a difficult time exercising its right to cancel the agreement without liability. Standards such as “inadvisable,” “commercially unreasonable” or “materially affected” make it easier to invoke protections for a group, especially with respect to flight cancellations. Another option is to specify a certain percentage of attendees who would be discouraged from attending the meeting. Based on surveys of passengers affected by flight cancellations, this option offers another way of establishing that a group has met the requirements of the provision.

The third and final component is defining what will happen if a group could cancel its contract without liability due to force majeure but chooses to perform the contract anyway. The provision should state that in such an event, the hotel will waive room and food and beverage attrition fees related to a smaller meeting and honor any lower room rates. For example, if the flight cancellations meant that only 50 percent of a group’s attendees could travel to the meeting, the force majeure provision may give the group the right to cancel the agreement without liability but the group can elect to hold the meeting and not be subject to attrition fees for a lower utilization of its room block.

A group also may want to consider purchasing event cancellation insurance for its meeting. Typically, the following are considered “covered events” under the policy: adverse weather conditions, non-appearance of a principal speaker or entertainer, terrorism (but only to the extent an event meets the policy’s parameters in terms of proximity and timing), labor disputes, airline cancellations due to adverse weather conditions or labor disputes, and floods. Typical exclusions include financial cause or lack of support for an event, war or military action, government action and terrorism outside of the bounds of the policy. By having such insurance in place for revenue-producing meetings, a group can ensure that no matter what the liability under the contract, its revenue from the meeting will be protected.

Invoking Walk Clauses

A group’s rights under a hotel contract in the midst of transportation interruptions also will be governed by the contract. In this instance, however, what the contract says is often not as important as dealing with the practical issues. For example, if a prior group has not departed due to flight cancellations, a hotel may not have enough rooms to honor your group’s reservations. In the event that guests overstay their reservation dates, a hotel generally has two choices: evict the guests or assume a new contract exists and charge the guests on a day-to-day basis. Since eviction is a rare consequence in the event of overstay (eviction is a consequence in the event of a guest’s violation of law or hotel policy), hotels typically treat the overstay as a new contract. That said, a hotel has no other option but to relocate the incoming group’s guests. Since a hotel room reservation is a contract, a hotel must provide alternate accommodations to the guest. That may mean “walking” the guest to any other hotel or, if a contract includes a “walk” clause, the terms of that clause will govern in such an event. It is important to include parameters in the clause such as the type of alternate hotel (nearby and equal or better quality), and reimbursement of transportation to and from the hotel and an alternate hotel as needed. Some groups request that guests be returned to the hotel as soon as possible and receive upgraded accommodations along with an apology letter.  Bottom line, if it appears likely that a walk situation will occur, a group must monitor a hotel’s relocation practices to ensure they meet the terms of the contract.

Maximizing Rights

As life imitates art, I recently found myself in a walk situation caused by bad weather in another part of the country. While it appeared that the hotel had appropriately followed walk procedures, its method of dealing with guests who were being relocated was less than professional. Front desk managers were not adequately trained in basic customer service in such a situation and, as a result, many attendees were upset about the situation. In order to avoid this outcome, planners should work with a hotel’s front desk staff to ensure attendees are treated appropriately.

With regard to function space, a group’s rights are governed by the contract but once again, if a previous group does not vacate the space, the incoming group has the practical problem of securing its required space. As compared to sleeping rooms though, a group should have more leverage to insist that a hotel move a previous group. Function space is rented on a daily basis for specified hours. If a group exceeds the hours it reserved, a hotel has the right to remove the group from the space.  Again, it is important for an incoming group’s planner to work closely with the hotel to ensure that this situation does not arise in the first place.

Planners can undertake a number of measures both in and out of the contract to ensure that if transportation interruptions occur, they will be properly poised to minimize their duties and maximize their rights.

What is “force majeure,” anyway?
The French term means “superior or irresistible force.” The purpose of a force majeure contract clause is to protect parties in the event that a part of a contract cannot be performed due to causes that are outside the control of the parties. Typically, force majeure events include acts of God, superseding governmental authority, civil strife and labor disputes. In the world of meetings, the force majeure clause was catapulted into the spotlight following the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Since then, the clause has become the topic of much debate centered around: the listing of calamities that could occur; the standard of impact such a calamity has to have on a party’s performance in order to excuse such party from performing the contract; and the net effect if such party chooses to perform the contract despite force majeure. Read more about contract negotiations and terminologyat ConnectYourMeetings.com.

Barbara F. Dunn is an attorney and partner with Howe & Hutton Ltd. in the firm’s St. Louis, Mo., office. She specializes in hospitality law and is a session speaker at the 2010 Connect Marketplace in Louisville, Ky., Aug. 12-15. For more information, visit ConnectYourMeetings.com.

Just when meeting planners were starting to get used to the routines of air travel and airport security, along came the “underwear bomber,” who tried unsuccessfully on Christmas Day to ignite explosives he smuggled onto an airplane in his underwear.

The government response with regard to airport and in-air security was swift and, many believed, overblown, including new rules disallowing pillows and blankets and requiring all passengers to remain seated during the last hour of international flights. Airport security was also immediately tightened even more, resulting in even longer lines and waits.

While some of these rules have since been eased, the incident served as a reminder to many business travelers about the need to be well prepared before heading to the airport for a business trip. “Regardless of underwear bombers or heightened security, there are a lot of simple things business travelers can do to make their trip go more smoothly,” says Rob Hard, publisher of businesstraveldestinations.com.

Start preparing when you book

Hard believes that preparation starts when booking your flight. “My first rule of thumb is to avoid flying during peak times if at all possible, and especially between 6 and 9 a.m.” Of course, take non-stop flights when you can, but if you must make a connection, pay attention to potential weather conditions in connecting airports. “If you have a choice of connecting in a warm or cold weather city in the wintertime, choose the warm city to avoid potential weather delays.”

With most airlines now charging fees to check bags, carrying bags onto the flight is now an even higher priority for most business travelers. The Transportation Security Administration suggests packing carry-on bags in layers — for example, a layer of clothes on the bottom, then electronics, then more clothes, and then heavier items on top — to help expedite passage through security screening.

One of Hard’s favorite tips is to ship meeting and event materials to your destination or back home instead of packing them in your bags. “These will weigh down your luggage, resulting in either excess baggage fees or making it impossible to carry your bag on the plane,” he says. “Bring shipping packages and labels with you.” Many conferences are now passing out materials on thumb drives in order to make bringing them back home easier, he notes.

“Also, pack clothes that are in the same color families so that you bring fewer pairs of shoes and accessories,” Hard adds.

If you usually bring your laptop computer on flights, invest in one of the new laptop cases that are designed to be checkpoint friendly. These cases give screeners a clear and unobstructed view of your computer without you having to take it out of the bag, so there’s one less thing you have to remember to do as you prepare to enter security.

If you do have to check luggage, pack as lightly as possible so that your bag doesn’t exceed the airline’s weight limit (50 pounds for most airlines), resulting in excess baggage charges. Also use a TSA-recognized baggage lock if you lock your checked bags: These can be opened by security officers with a universal master key in case they need to inspect your luggage more carefully.

Also, don’t forget the TSA’s simple rule for carrying liquids onto planes: 3-1-1. This means bottles containing no more than 3.4 ounces of liquid can be packed in your carry-on bag if they are stored in a clear, one-quart plastic zip-top bag. One of these bags is allowed per passenger, and it must be removed from your carry-on and placed separately in the screening bin at security.

More simple steps

Other simple things you can do to make your airport experience and flight less stressful are to check in to your flight online before you leave for the airport and avoid parking at the airport (or off-airport lots) if you can. “Having your spouse or a friend drop you off will save you a lot of time and money,” says Hard. Many hotels offer free shuttles back to the airport when you’re on your way home, so be sure to ask about this before hailing a cab.

The most important step to take to minimize hassles and stress at the airport is also the most obvious one — and the one Hard says many travelers ignore: Get there early.

“Lots of people get angry and blame the security process or the screeners if they have to rush to catch their plane or they miss it, but they really have no one to blame but themselves,” he says. “Just plan on having some time to kill at the gate and bring something to keep you occupied, whether it’s work or a good book to read.

Don Sadler is a freelance writer based in Atlanta, Ga., who covers the business side of meeting planning. Reach him at don@donsadlerwriter.com.