Destination Marketing in Travel and Hospitality

Travel and Hospitality Assignment

Instructions:

Imagine that you are a meeting planner who has been invited to work on planning a future convention for one of the organizations below. To prepare yourself for this opportunity, you need to look through information about an upcoming conference.

Answer the following four questions.

1. Choose a conference for a professional organization in the travel and hospitality industry. What is the conference that you chose? Highlight your answer.

• Destination Marketing Association International Annual Conference (http://www.iacvb.org/)
• Professional Convention Management Association Annual Meeting (http://www.pcma.org)
• Travel Internet Marketing Strategy Conference (http://hsmai.org)
• International Association for Exposition Management: Expo! Expo! IAEE's Annual Meeting & Exhibition (http://www.iaee.com)

2. Briefly describe the facilities being used for the conference or annual meeting. What factors should you take into account when looking at meeting facilities?

           

            The IAEE’s Expo! Expo! 2010 is being held in New Orleans, Louisiana.  The facility being used is the New Orleans Morial Convention Center.  The host hotels will include: Hilton New Orleans Riverside, Sheraton New Orleans, and Marriott New Orleans.  The Morial Convention Center has been recently renovated, and offers 1.1 million square feet of exhibit space.  As the 6^th largest convention facility in the United States, it is a great location for large expositions and conferences.  The facility offers three floors of conference space as well as the New Orleans Theater/Conference Auditorium and two ballrooms (Morial Convention Center, 2010).

            As a meeting planner, it is important to carefully consider the facility being used for your meeting or conference.  First, you must consider if the facility will be large enough to accommodate the number of guests expected to attend the meeting.  The facility will also need to have enough space for the types of events that are being planned.  For example, for a large exposition like the one being planned by IAEE, the facility would need to have a large enough space for the vendors to set up their booths, as well as large conference rooms for the meetings/training programs that will be held.  The second consideration would be the cost.   The budget of the corporation that is hosting the event must be able to afford the cost of hosting an event at a particular facility.  It would be important to consider other information as well, such as the location of the facility, the availability of dining options, and the type of security provided on-site (Angelo & Vladimir, 2007).      

3. Create a to-do list or timeline that explains the tasks of a meeting planning.

List 10-15 items total separated into three parts or phases: planning the meeting itself, choosing a location, and choosing a facility.

Planning the Meeting

1. Determine the purpose of the meeting: business, educational, or social
2. Determine how long the event should last (the number of hours, days, etc.)
3. Pick dates for the event that will be appropriate for all those involved.
4. Plan the schedule of events that will occur during the meeting (i.e. the order of events, start and end times, break times, workshop schedules, and so on). 

Choosing the Location

1. Where will the meeting be held?  Consider where guests will be traveling from.
2. Will the selected location be compatible with the type of meeting being held?
3. Determine whether transportation will be available to and from the facility.  What types of travel will be available.  Is the facility located near an airport, but terminal, or train station?

                                                                                                                         

Choosing the Facility

1. Determine the size of the facility that will be needed to accommodate guests.  If using a hotel, determine if there will be an adequate number of guest rooms.
2. Determine the types of rooms needed for the planned events.  Find out if the facility offers banquet halls, theaters, classrooms, exposition space, or any other type of room needed for the event.
3. Determine if the facility will offer the technological necessities of the meeting (i.e. internet, sound systems, projectors, lighting).
4. Find out what types of amenities or activities are available in and around the facility.  Will guests have things to do during their down time?
5. Call the facility and get a quote on the price of renting the facility.  Does the price meet the budget restrictions of the corporation or group?  Would another location be more cost effective? 

References

Angelo, R., & Vladimir, A.  (2007). Hospitality Today: An Introduction. (Sixth Ed.). 

            Lancing, MI: American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute. 

Morial Convention Center website. (2010). Retrieved on June 8, 2010 from:

            http://mccno.com.