Inside New Orleans
Gulf Coast Hotel Update
From the Field: Hotel del Coronado, San Diego
Poll: What would you have done?
Around the Industry
Krisam & GEP News

Inside New Orleans: The Future
An interview with Bonnie Boyd, CMP, president, Bonnie Boyd and Company, New Orleans

"The French Quarter, thank God, is intact, untouched. It’s mind boggling...like there was a bubble put around it," reports Bonnie Boyd as she emphasizes the positive news out of one of America's favorite meeting cities. "The Garden District is fine," she continues, "The two most important focal points for visitors are in good shape."

A sixth-generation New Orleanian with more than 15 years experience as president of her own destination management company, Bonnie says "It's time to turn around and head for the light."

How can you help New Orleans and the meeting industry there? And, when might you next be parading with a go cup, beads flying, down Bourbon Street? Here's Bonnie’s inside view on the future of New Orleans.


 

Gulf Coast Hotel Update on Krisam Members in the Region

The seven hotels that are members of the Krisam Group in the Gulf Region are reporting as best they can on their condition and when they can expect to reopen. Here is a summary based on information passed on to Krisam or notices on their websites. Some of the news is very good.


 

From the Field: The Hotel del Coronado, San Diego
 

This Victorian landmark in Coronado has just completed a $10 million guestroom renovation. Yet it has preserved many original pieces and woodwork throughout the hotel including pictures and memoirs that showcase its history. That history includes guests ranging from Benjamin Harrison to the Prince of Wales (did he meet Mrs. Simpson there?) to Marilyn Monroe to a Victorian child whose Del Coronado letters have just been published. Learn more about "The Del.".

Question of the Month: What Would You Do?

If you had a meeting scheduled in New Orleans for this fall, what would you have done as a result of the incredible disaster there? Do you have back-up plans for every meeting? Is contingency management a part of your regular check-list? How prepared are meeting planners for catastrophes such as the one that befell one of America’s favorite meeting places? Let's see where we all stand. Take our poll and we'll report the results next month.

 

Last month's poll results: When event planners were asked which pricing method they preferred from DMCs at the GEP Summit this summer, they chose menu based. Our Event Insider poll in July-August produced pretty much the same results with "cost plus" a real close second and “packaged” a strong third. Packaged, by the way, won the vote of the DMCers at the GEP Summit. Here are the results:

Which DMC pricing method do you prefer?

• Menu based 33%
• Cost Plus 27%
• Packaged 20%
• Depends on Event 13%
• Fee based 7%
• Combination 0%
• Other 0%

Around the Industry
 

• What Do You Miss Most When Traveling? In a fascinating study released exclusively to Timesonline of the UK, male business travelers said they missed their partners the most, while women travelers said their kids. Get the full results.
• Compete in a Corn Maze. For an usual team building event, consider a corn maze. For one in your area, check out Maize Quest, Cornfield Maze, or Maze Play . And for one that’s a tribute to last year’s World Series champs, strike out for this corn field.
• Sydney No. 1 Again. Sydney held on to the number one spot in the 10th annual Travel & Leisure World’s Best Awards readers’ survey. New York kept the number six spot and San Francisco claimed number 10. New to the list was Chiang Mai, Thailand. The Top Ten and their scores were:
  1. Sydney 88.30
  2. Bangkok 87.08
  3. Rome 86.26
  4. Florence 86.20
  5. Chiang Mai 84.93
  6. New York 84.82
  7. Istanbul 84.78
  8. Cape Town 84.51
  9. Oaxaca, Mexico 84.41
  10. San Francisco 84.25
  Best tour outfitter once again was GEP partner, Micato Safaris (see GEP and Krisam News). See the complete results in Travel + Leisure's August magazine for readers' favorite hotels, cities, islands, spas, cruise lines, airlines, tour outfitters, and car-rental.
• CIC Housing & Registration Accepted Practices Forms Available. The Convention Industry Council (CIC) has announced its approved accepted practices from the APEX Housing & Registration Panel complete with event registration, housing, and rooming list forms. Get the forms and read the full report.
• Washington, DC Tourism Grows. The Washington, DC area hosted 17.7 million domestic visitors in 2004, placing it among the top five U.S. destinations for domestic travelers according to the Washington, DC Convention & Tourism Corporation (WCTC). The numbers represent an 8.3% increase over 2003. International visits to the Capital Region also showed impressive growth, rising 22% above 2003 levels to 1.057 million, compared to a 13% increase nationwide.
• SITE Offers New Contract Handbook. The Society of Incentive Travel Executives (SITE) has released a second edition of its Incentive Travel Contract Handbook, which offers model contracts for incentive travel houses, cruise lines, and hotels. It also provides the framework for a supplier agreement that can be tailored to fit multiple segments of the incentive travel business. Get more information. (PDF format)
• Eos to Introduce Premium Transatlantic Air Service. Eos, a new premium airline designed to serve transatlantic business travelers, announced plans to launch round-trip service from New York to London in the third quarter of this year. The airline is outfitting 757 aircraft with 48 seats (in a space intended for 200) giving each passenger 21 sq. ft. of personal space. Other aspects of Eos customized service include meals when you want them, seats that recline to a full flat bed, a folding worktable, and an accessible light and laptop outlet. Learn more about Eos.

Krisam & GEP News