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Mar. 05, 2009
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Travel group campaign responds to trip cancellations

Las Vegas not only city being hurt by drop in conventions

By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU

The U.S. Travel Association is using this ad to fight negative publicity.
Courtesy of U.S. Travel Association

WASHINGTON -- Enough already with business event bashing, the nation's travel leaders are saying in a campaign launched Wednesday aimed at stopping an industry slide.

The U.S. Travel Association is pushing back against a tumble brought on by the recession but made worse by bad-mouthing from a handful of members of Congress and President Obama.

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    • While those remarks were aimed at trips taken by companies that have accepted federal bailout dollars, tourism leaders say fallout has spread throughout the corporate world.

    The result has been millions of dollars in meetings and events being cut back, canceled or being left on the planning board. Las Vegas is a major victim, as it expects to lose $20 million in trips from Fortune 500 clients.

    A survey by Meetings and Conventions Magazine showed more than 20 percent of companies that have not received bailout money have canceled events, with fear of bad publicity a big factor.

    "What has occurred is we have a witchhunt mentality, and this has a huge cost, not just in dollars but for the people who work in the industry," said Roger Dow, president of the U.S. Travel Association. "A climate of fear is killing (destination) communities, and it has to stop."

    Organizers would not say Wednesday how much they will spend on the advertising and grass-roots effort. But they said they will be getting creative.

    One plan is to seek out a "face of the travel industry" in an American Idol-style star search.

    "We have all heard about Joe the Plumber. We are looking for Joe the Bellman," said Geoff Freeman, U.S. Travel Association senior vice president of public affairs. Open auditions will be held and hopefuls will be invited to submit 60-second clips on why they should be chosen.

    Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. said Wednesday she has "had enough" of politicians using Las Vegas as a punching bag, hurting the local economy in the process.

    "I've sat back as Las Vegas has been maligned, insulted, and lied about for the sole purpose of making political points," she said in a House speech, revisiting criticism from recent days of the proposed Mob Museum, the maglev train to Southern California and federal funding for a UNLV effort to study quality of life in the desert Southwest.

    "I've been waiting for common sense to prevail," she said. "But I'm here to say that this nonsense, the bashing and lies about Las Vegas have got to end and they have got to end now.

    "Stop bad-mouthing Las Vegas and stop telling businesses and major companies to stay away from Vegas. You are hurting our economy, you're forcing major layoffs of employees in the hotel industry."

    Freeman said the goal of the new industry campaign is to "tone down the rhetoric," and to derail punitive bills.

    One such bill, announced last week by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., would prevent bailed-out banks from "hosting, sponsoring or paying for conferences, holiday parties and other entertainment events."

    The bill was introduced after Chicago-based Northern Trust Bank, which received $1.6 billion from the Troubled Assets Relief Program, was found to have hosted several expensive parties and concerts in Los Angeles during the Northern Trust Open, a PGA event last month.

    Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., also have bills that would limit what TARP recipients could spend on meetings.

    Dow said companies getting federal assistance must use the money "efficiently and productively." The travel industry is lobbying the Treasury Department and Congress to embrace guidelines on how bailout beneficiaries should handle travel and business meetings.

    "What we have now are moving targets on what is acceptable, and that just paralyzes everyone," he said.

    Freeman said hotels, airlines and tourist destinations have worked their way through tough times like the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks when travel for business and pleasure dried up significantly.

    "But the industry is less prepared to be a government target where the government discourages people from buying its products," he said. "Who knew it would go from tobacco to liquor to meetings and events?"

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    philip di filippo wrote on March 06, 2009 05:02 AM: Hello Las Vegas, Is anybody home? We are deep into a recession with companies not only looking for federal bailout money but laying off workers by the millions. I think that if companies are having second thoughts about their travel budgets, those are the companies that are fiscally responsible. Its a risk that cities take to build big convention centers and all the infrastructure. Its a form of gambling on whether if you build it people will come. Las Vegas, you of all places built on "Gambling" should understand and appreciate that! So stop whining, buck up and go back to fleecing the rollers that come to your cities during good times and bad.


    The Man wrote on March 05, 2009 08:12 PM: Hmmm... Mr Reid "the Man from Nevada" is pretty silent on this matter other than to say his boss was sorry, he thinks....

    Thanks Harry for sticking up for the home town team...


    Suzanne wrote on March 05, 2009 04:46 PM: Las Vegas has always been bashed by mainstream America. When I retired from dancing in 1983, I went to the Bay Area where I had a disgruntled client tell me to go 'back to Las Vegas with all my whore and tramp friends!' I even took down some of my theatrical photographs because some clients thought it was tacky I danced in Las Vegas. But Las Vegas has always survived this kind of bashing, no matter what generation is doing it. It will survive this current round as well.


    Obongoloids wrote on March 05, 2009 12:54 PM: YES WE CAN! Lose a million plus jobs!


    Standing in the welfare line wrote on March 05, 2009 10:50 AM: When you are an unemployed service worker during the 2012 elections make sure you remember whose comments led to less tourism/conventions to destinations such our city...................................


    Trisha wrote on March 05, 2009 09:29 AM: Obama started this mess with his stupid statement, and never re-tracted it. Like Ken said, this guy just a lawyer and politician his whole life. He has no business sense, ala Lenin.


    Ken wrote on March 05, 2009 08:52 AM: johnfromdowntown -- nice try and I am certain the DNC will send you a cookie for the effort.

    “You can’t get corporate jets. You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer’s dime, ”

    What in that statement is positive about conventions? Or even neutral?

    This man with no executive experience whatsoever before 2009 needs to watch what he says. On several occasions he has spouted off without thinking through the consequences. That sentence should have been rephrased. But as it stands, other companies realized that places like Vegas should not have been considered for conventions.

    You can try to absolve Obama all you want but he is responsible.


    johnfromdowntown wrote on March 05, 2009 07:48 AM: This is an attempt to mis-characterize Obama's statements. He is saying that any entity that accepts a government bailout shouldn't be rewarding the poor job the executives did to get to the point that they need a federal bailout. Obama has never said a negative word about conventions. Too Bad Adelson, your business model stinks and taxpayers shouldn't have to support it.


    brucew wrote on March 05, 2009 06:02 AM: Federal fundingto study the quality of life in the desert southwest? Is she kidding? Give me the money - I'll be happy to tell you that currently the quality of life in the desert southwest sucks.


    ashed Out wrote on March 05, 2009 05:34 AM: Typical idiots in Washington only think short term when they open their mouths to say "what is right for the moment" and get us all wrapped up. "Hey Washington, if you cant even run the post office at a profit, how do you expect run private business' that you're involved in? Shut up and let us solve our problems the way we did after 9/11