INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
Combating the ‘AIG Effect’ by putting a face on the travel industry
The U.S. Travel Association is hunting for grassroots spokespeople to tell the story of the meetings and travel industry . . . and it’s dangling a $5,000 prize in a national contest to find them.
After AIG and other federal bailout fund recipients were roundly criticized for scheduling meetings that many people felt were inappropriate, even companies and associations that hadn’t gotten any federal money started cancelling meetings left and right.
They feared the “AIG Effect”—getting smacked down simply for having off-site meetings. Because of the AIG Effect, the entire travel and meetings industry has taken an unjustified hit.
“When business travel decreases, the unintended victims are the American workers and the communities that rely on travel for jobs and tax revenue,” said Roger Dow, president and CEO of U.S. Travel. “It is time to give those workers a face in our skewed national discussion.”
If you have a little star power in you—or if one of your employees does—you have until April 24 to submit a video to U.S. Travel. Who knows? You might be the spokesperson for the “Faces of Travel” campaign.
The State Department took in 54,000 passport applications on Passport Day in the USA (March 28), the first time that State Department offices stayed open on a Saturday as a convenience to prospective travelers. A normal day sees 48,000 applications.
Passport Day called attention to a looming June 1 deadline. That’s when most U.S. citizens will be required—for the first time—to have passports or passport cards when returning to the U.S. by land or by sea from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda.
Apply for or renew a passport.
What will petrol do this summer?
Everybody in the travel industry—especially those in drive-dependent locations—recalls the nightmare of last summer’s gasoline prices. The national average then was a painful-to-remember $3.81.
Right now, the average is $2.05. So what do the soothsayers at the U.S. Energy Information Administration predict for this summer? Click here to see whether sweet dreams are in store.
More time to see a moon rock and a great blue whale
In an effort to keep the cash registers ringing in museum shops, three of the most popular Smithsonian Institution museums on the National Mall will extend their summer hours. The initial plan calls for two extra hours a day at the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of Natural History and at least one extra hour at the National Museum of American History, where a new exhibition about the Star Stangled Banner is a major draw.
AROUND THE SOUTHEAST U.S.
‘The 30 Greatest Southern Songs,’ plus or minus a few
Want a good way to start a barroom fight, or at least a good argument? Start compiling a list of the best songs ever written about the South.
The lead story in the April/May issue of Y’all Magazine takes on that challenge, even though the editors did waffle on occasion. For instance, No. 4 is “Every Alabama Song,“ and No. 12 is “Almost Every Song Written by Bob McDill.”
How can you go wrong with Alabama’s “Dixieland Delight” and “Tennessee River” or McDill’s “Louisiana Saturday Night” and “Good Ole Boys Like Me.”?
“All of these songs are important because they’ve drifted into pop culture. They’re used on license plates and in state tourism campaigns. They’re part of the region’s and the nation’s fabric,” said Associate Publisher Keith Sisson.
Sisson, who’s always up for a hot discussion over a cold beverage, notes that the magazine’s staff is open to recommendations to amend the list. Send them to SouthernSongs@yall.com. The April/May issue is on newsstands now and will be online by the end of April.
View the complete list.There’s a new welcome mat at Monticello
April 15 meant something other than a rush to mail income tax returns at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Charlottesville, Va. It also was opening day for a new 42,000-square-foot visitors center. The center has four new exhibitions. One explores the four-decade creation of Monticello, which Jefferson designed himself. Another, called "Thomas Jefferson and the boisterous sea of liberty," uses 21 flat-panel screens to illustrate Jefferson's core ideas about liberty.
Market that wedding as a mini-vacation opportunity
Here’s a CVB marketing idea gleaned from a Kentucky Tourism Council newsletter . . .
The Bowling Green CVB reaches out to venues that host weddings and receptions to obtain brides’ names and then sends brides a postcard. The card offers to send the brides’ out-of-town guests visitor information in hopes that they will hang around after the ceremony and champagne punch. After all, why should the bride and groom be the only ones to have a good time?
IMPORTANT STS DATES
+ STS Marketing College: July 26-31, 2009; Dahlonega, Ga. Registration form.
