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The Necessity of Travel,
by Timothy Schneider, Publisher, Association News
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Los
Angeles, CA – December 2015 / Newsmaker Alert / In the wake of the
November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, several U.S. politicians grasping
for a response of some sort set their sights on the U.S. Visa Waiver Program.
The Visa Waiver Program allows citizens from 38 countries to travel to
the U.S. on business or leisure trips for up to 90 days without first obtaining
a tourist visa from a U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Thanks to the way the
program has been structured, it actually serves to enhance homeland security
while bolstering travel to the United States along with the economic benefits
that accompany international visitation. As the U.S. Travel Association
was quick to point out, the U.S. Visa Waiver Program played zero role in
the Paris attacks.
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 According
to a poll conducted by the Global Business Travel Association in the weeks
after November 13, nearly three-quarters of U.S. business travel buyers
say their company’s travel to Europe will remain largely unaffected by
the Paris attacks. Of the 169 U.S.-based travel buyers surveyed, 57 percent
reported “no change” in their company’s travel to Europe, another 16 percent
reported “slight reductions” and only 10 percent reported that they had
temporarily suspended travel to Paris. The poll also points out the economic
folly of making it more difficult for business travelers to enter the United
States as a response to the attacks.
For
association executives, new visa restrictions or changes that undermine
the Visa Waiver Program will negatively affect their ability to compete
in the global marketplace. The meetings and conventions organized by associations
that are held in the United States represent an export product that is
more successfully marketed internationally thanks to the Visa Waiver Program.
Given
the fundamental role that meetings and conventions play in the financial
viability of most associations, it behooves association executives and
meeting planners to embrace a global view of the meetings industry. In
that regard, we encourage you to support the first-ever Global Meetings
Industry Day, which will take place on April 14, 2016. Led by the U.S.
Travel Association’s Meetings
Mean Business Coalition, Global Meetings Industry Day will aim to showcase
the real impact that business meetings, conferences, conventions, trade
shows and exhibitions have on people, businesses and communities everywhere.
The
health and vitality of the association sector rely on a strong and growing
meetings and events industry. In turn, by providing the face-to-face interaction
that gets business done, the meetings and events industry is a fundamental
force that produces a virtuous cycle of positive economic impact. I therefore
urge your association to participate in the advocacy efforts that help
support the meetings industry. To learn more about Global Meetings Industry
Day, please visit MeetingsMeanBusiness.com.
As
you make your travel plans for 2016, be sure that Meetings
Quest in Bloomington, Minnesota, is on your calendar for July 13–14.
Meetings Quest is the nation’s longest-running series of events for association
meeting planners and includes an appointment-based trade show as well as
experiential networking events. For more information, please see the ad
on page 39, call 877-577-3700 or visit MeetingsQuest.com.
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 Timothy
Schneider is the publisher of Association
News and SportsTravel
magazines, which serve group travel planners responsible for generating
106 million hotel room nights annually. Schneider
Publishing also organizes Meetings
Quest, America's longest-running series of trade shows for meeting
planners, and the TEAMS Conference
& Expo, the world’s largest gathering of sports-event organizers.
TEAMS ’16 will be held September 26–29, 2016, in Atlantic City. For further
information on advertising or sponsorship opportunities, please call toll-free
877-577-3700 or 310-577-3700 if calling from outside the United States.
The
current issue of Association
News can be viewed in digital format online by clicking
here.
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Media
Contact:
Timothy
Schneider
310-577-3700
Schneider
Publishing Company, Inc. |
