Plan Your Meetings

News Brief Archives

Latest: March 2010

President Obama endorses first-ever Travel Promotion Act

After seeing 2.4 million fewer overseas visitors in 2009 than in 2000, the United States is finally making the commitment to reposition itself as a frontrunner in the global travel market. On March 4, nearly a year after its introduction, the Travel Promotion Act (TPA) was signed into law by President Obama, making it the [...]

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10 dirtiest U.S. hotels

March 5, 2010

This may be a buyer’s market, but not every hotel offering a good deal is a safe bet. To get the real “dirt” on a property before booking, check out TripAdvisor’s 10 Dirtiest U.S Hotels of 2010. The list is based off of customer reviews that rate their overall experience at the hotel, including the [...]

Competing hotels bid to pick up business from disgruntled Hilton HHonors customers

March 4, 2010

If you’ve been saving up Hilton HHonors loyalty points, they’re now worth less than you’d expect. However, competing hotel chains such as Starwood, Carlson and Best Western are picking up the slack, offering loyalty points and other incentives to make up for what Hilton has devalued. Read the full story here.

Update on Chile’s main tourist districts

March 2, 2010

Despite experiencing an 8.8 quake in the early morning hours of Feb. 27, Chile’s tourism infrastructure has suffered little overall damage, and the extreme northern and southern regions of Chile (the Desert and Patagonia regions) were not affected by the quake at all. Easter Island, which lies 2,300 miles off the coast of mainland Chile, [...]

‘Don’t defend the rate; defend the value of meeting’

March 2, 2010

If 2009 was “the perfect storm” that disrupted the meetings industry, then Danielle Babilino insists she was the poster child for everything that could have gone wrong.
“I represent the five-diamond, five-star Wynn/Encore in Las Vegas, which opened in December 2008,” explained the senior vice president of hotel sales at the 2010 Meetings Exploration Conference opening [...]

Meeting publication merry-go-round

March 1, 2010

Planners complaining of receiving too many publications may see their reading list thinned out dramatically over the next several months.
Penton Media filed for bankruptcy protection on Feb. 10 and submitted a “pre-packaged” Plan of Reorganization to eliminate $270 million of the company’s debt. Penton Media publishes such titles as Medical Meetings, Financial & Insurance [...]

Names in the news: March 2010

March 1, 2010

New hires and promotions throughout the meetings and hospitality industry.

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