In This Issue

The Ultimate Theme Party: A Safari in East Africa
Plan a Party with the Presidents
How Does Your Organization Handle Holiday Parties?
Around the Industry
Krisam & GEP News

The Ultimate Theme Party: A Safari in East Africa
Interview with Marika MacGregor of Micato Safaris, winner of Travel & Leisure's "The World's Best Tour Operator & Safari Outfitter"

Sun-up at 6:00 a.m. A brilliant orange ball. Steaming coffee awaits you as your driver prepares his vehicle for your early morning game run. As soon as you are ready, it's off into the bush. The dew is fast disappearing and the predators are on the prowl.

This is true big game country, prides of more than twenty lions, including the majestic black-maned male, are not uncommon. Other inhabitants of the Mara include elephant, giraffe, buffalo, cheetah, leopard, gazelle and black rhino.

Later in the day, as you return to camp, your driver diverts from his course, and turns towards a glowing campfire high up on the hill. There, under a beautiful big acacia tree, with breathtaking views of the Mara plains, sunset cocktails are being served in chilled crystal glasses.

Ready to go? The descriptions above from Micato Safaris literature present Africa not only as an ideal choice for incentives and small meetings but as a place to truly refresh your spirit. The costs and the group sizes may surprise you. Take a look and see if that African sunset could be on your horizon.

Plan a Party with the Presidents

Stage an inaugural ball of your own. Recreate an actual White House dinner. Convene where the First Continental Congress met. In honor of the Presidential election year, it's a good time to look at Red, White and Blue venues where your guests can meet in historic surroundings and mix with the spirits of Presidents past.

Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington all offer superb sites for meetings, dinners, or parties with a presidential or patriotic theme and with lots of authentic atmosphere. The John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston. The Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia. The National Building Museum, site of inaugural parties since Grover Cleveland, in Washington. Learn about these three and more where the debate will be: how to choose from among such great candidates.

Question of the Month: How Does Your Organization Handle Holiday Parties?

In the season of goodwill most companies feel obligated to host holiday parties for employees and for clients. But since the long-ago demise of the two-martini business lunch and the weakening economy, these parties have changed a bit in style. Just for fun, tell us how your workplace hosts holiday parties and we'll see if there is a consensus in the industry. Take the poll and let us know. Next month, see how your preferences compare with your fellow planners.

Please respond by October 31st. Results will be published in the November newsletter.

Last month's poll results: Where do you turn for industry news and advice?

• Print publications 24%
• Industry association websites 12%
• Commercial websites 12%
• E-newsletters 15%
• E-mail discussion groups 0%
• Online forums 3%
• Colleagues 21%
• Industry meetings 13%

Around the Industry

• European visitor security. Europeans who are allowed to travel to the United States without a visa now have to give fingerprints and have a photo taken when they arrive at U.S. airports and ports. Until now citizens of 27 countries - including 15 of the European Union countries, Australia, New Zealand and Japan - were exempt from similar security controls imposed on other visitors since the start of the year. Under Secretary Asa Hutchinson noted that since deploying the US-VISIT program at 115 airports and 14 seaports on January 5, 2004, more than 8.5 million foreign nationals have been processed without adversely impacting wait times.
• EU passport delay. Meanwhile, the European Union has asked the United States for another extension of its deadline for issuing biometric passports. Deadline was extended to October 2005. The EU says it needs until the end of the year.
• Easier airport parking. A travel writer from USA Today, recently sang the praises of Preflight Parking, a company with locations at Baltimore, Atlanta, Raleigh/Durham, Providence and Houston Hobby. For around $9 a day, Preflight gives you car door to airport door service from its remote lots, with little or no waiting. Check it out at www.preflightparking.com.
• Corney competition. Need a far-out idea for a team building exercise? How about testing orienteering, cooperation, and decision-making skills in a complex corn maze? See which team gets out in the shortest time. This agri-tainment trend has taken over the country. To find a spot near you, or your meeting site, go to www.cornfieldmaze.com or www.maizeplay.com. Most maizes close Oct. 31 so you might want to include it in plans for next fall.
• Segway tours expand. Use of the creative people movers as vehicles for city tours is expanding so fast, you should ask the local DMC if they are available where you'll be meeting. Chicago, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Sarasota, and Washington, DC, are just a few offering them. Overseas locations include Bangkok, Paris, London, Nice, and Prague.

Krisam & GEP News
Updates on Krisam member properties & GEP partners.

Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel Renovation Nearly Complete
The renovation of the restaurant, lobby, luxury suites and more at Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel should all be complete before the end of the year.

The $850,000 renovation of the restaurant, Ocean & Vine, will be finished to open before Christmas. The restaurant's theme will be California beach with the pairing of fresh foods with wine.

Also to be complete by the end of November are:

• Upgrade renovations to all three luxury suites
• New carpeting in the lobby
• New lobby music system providing guests with a selection of 3,000 recordings. The touch screen computer is similar to a jukebox, with a wide variety of artists.

Did You Hear What Happened to Greater Fort Lauderdale During the Hurricanes?
With the headline above as the subject line, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau issued an e-mail that continued with "Absolutely NOTHING! No Damage to Area Hotels, Attractions and Beaches 100% Fully Operational" a rather catchy way of getting attention and getting their point across.

In the note from Nicki Grossman, bureau president, she also assured potential visitors that the Fort Lauderdale/ Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades continued to operate normally, and concluded with "As we count our blessings that none of the recent storms damaged Greater Fort Lauderdale, we look forward to welcoming visitors to experience our warm hospitality and, of course, our 23 miles of Blue Wave Beaches."

Fort Lauderdale is served by Gardner & Associates DMC. Pier Sixty-Six and Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, both Krisam Group members, are also located there.

New Indonesian President Good for Tourism
Putri Hidayat, director of sales & marketing, Pacific World Nusantara in Bali, reports that she is delighted with the results of the recent election in Indonesia. "Not only was the election peaceful and trouble free, but we also now have a new president that we hope will bring goodness to our country and improve the tourism sector in Indonesia, " she comments.

Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is the first ever president elected directly by the Indonesian people, since Indonesia proclaimed its independence in 1945. In the previous years, the president was elected by the House of Representative members. As a retired army general and a former coordinating minister of security, Dr. Yudhoyono is expected to tighten security in the country, continue the reform process, diminish corruption, and generally create a better environment for the tourist industry.


New Krisam Members
* Westminster Hotel in Livingston, NJ
187 rooms including 10 suites with kitchenettes, 15,000 square feet meeting space

New GEP Partners
* PRA Palm Springs in California


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