Donations from Rosen Hotel Foundation

The tourism and hospitality community continues to support the Haiti relief effort almost two months later. The Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, whose city is home to many Haitians and is closely linked to the country, declared February as “Miami Tourism Cares” month. All funds go to the American Red Cross. Additional phases are in the works for long-term relief.

Orlando’s Rosen Hotels and Resorts’ Harris Rosen Foundation has been involved with bringing charitable relief to Haiti since 2004. Their post-earthquake efforts include a $1 million goal, which they were halfway toward at the beginning of February, and a long-term housing project called Little Haiti Houses that will fund compact, hurricane and earthquake resistant homes for the country.

The MPI Southern California Chapter (MPISCC) is collecting shoes and donations for the Haiti earthquake victims at its Annual Educational Conference and Tradeshow, Friday, March 12 in L.A. Donations will be given to Soles 4 Souls, a non-profit organization that collects shoes from footwear company warehouses and individuals to distribute them to people in need around the world.

Faith-based groups continue to lead the way in providing relief. World Vision, a Christian organization based in Seattle, is the largest U.S.-based international relief and development organization and has led a huge effort in Haiti. This might not surprise many in the faith-based community familiar with such international organizations as World Vision, Compassion International, Samaritan’s Purse and Salvation Army. In his February 28 New York Times column Nicholas D. Kristof described a rise in international aid given by evangelicals in the last decade as well as possible misconceptions about liberal vs. evangelical giving.

“In Haiti, more than half of food distributions go through religious groups like World Vision that have indispensable networks on the ground. We mustn’t make Haitians the casualties in our cultural wars.

A root problem is a liberal snobbishness toward faith-based organizations. Those doing the sneering typically give away far less money than evangelicals. They’re also less likely to spend vacations volunteering at, say, a school or a clinic in Rwanda.

If secular liberals can give up some of their snootiness, and if evangelicals can retire some of their sanctimony, then we all might succeed together in making greater progress against common enemies of humanity, like illiteracy, human trafficking and maternal mortality.”

What is your take on Kristof’s comments? Read his entire column here.

Links:

Chile earthquake donation information

MiamiTourismCares.com

rosenhotels.com/haiti

Compassion International Haiti Update

Salvation Army

Samaritan’s Purse Haiti and Chile Relief

Helene Chou

With the medals tallied and the tourists home, the 2010 Winter Olympics Games in Vancouver, British Columbia may have captured the world’s attention, but it was the friendliness and generosity of thousands of volunteers that won the hearts of international athletes and guests. More Than Gold (MTG), a network of the Christian faith community, is one of the many groups that recruited and trained thousands of volunteers for the games. During the first three days of events, MTG served more than 160,000 cups of hot drinks to locals and visitors on the street.

“It’s about radical hospitality,” says Karen Reed, executive director of MTG. “Whether we are serving free coffee to people waiting in lines, or offering directions and free maps to guests looking for Olympic events, we want everyone to feel generously served.”

As an expression of “radical hospitality,” some church members have even opened their homes offering housing to Olympic travelers. Many churches have made their facilities available as meeting places for rest, relaxation and prayer.

The MTG theme and logo carry on a tradition that dates back to the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games. It was developed by the Southern Baptist Convention in association with the International Sports Coalition, a non-profit organization mandated to coordinate the volunteer efforts of the faith community.

Helene Chou

“Everyone in the meetings’ industry is under pressure to do more with less,” says Tim Walsh, vice president of sales at the NBCCVB. “Pooling our resources allows us to maintain a high level of programming to market both the Annapolis and Newport areas as meeting and incentive destinations.”

Annapolis approached Newport with the possibility of co-hosting an event in the summer of 2009. Representatives of the Newport CVB toured Annapolis the following November to finalize the agreement. The similarities between the two destinations drew them together. But when it came time to choose a host city, both bureaus agreed to go to Washington, D.C.

“We are in the business of attracting meetings and groups to our respective destinations,” says Bill Adams, director of sales from Annapolis. “Instead of making the meeting planners come out to Annapolis and to Newport, we figured we’d have an event that was centrally located to all of the meeting planners, associations and government. We thought it would increase our chances of having great attendance at the events.”

Both bureaus are exploring other options to further the collaboration.

Last August, the San Jose Convention Center made a decision that resulted in some serious unintended consequences: They contracted exclusively with the Teamsters Union’s Local 287 for all labor services provided to decorators and exhibition contractors at the center. Their stated goal was to “differentiate San Jose as an innovative and competitive meetings destination, as well as help support local jobs.”

Decorators and contractors quickly raised concerns. “The main problem was that many of our members already had collective bargaining agreements with other trade locals, so this put them in breach of contract, and a number of NLRB charges were quickly filed,” says Larry Arnaudet, the executive director of the Exhibition Services and Contractors Association (ESCA).

After months of discussions between Team San Jose and the decorator and exhibition communities, Team San Jose reversed course, recently announcing an interim operations plan that eliminates the requirement that contractors work exclusively with them and Local 287.

“Though we got off to a rough start, the industry came together on a critically important issue,” says Steve Hagstette, ESCA’s president. “We now have an excellent foundation on which to partner with Team San Jose in a way that will provide great value for clients in the future.”

Dan Fenton, CEO of Team San Jose, acknowledges the concern among decorators and exhibitors over the positioning of the SJCC as an exclusive employer and stresses that long-term discussions are ongoing. “This interim solution is a good step forward for San Jose and the decorating community to continue discussions that will support both decorators and our clients.”

Under the new plan, decorators and exhibitors can choose to use Team San Jose for labor services if they want, but it’s not required. Should you decide to use local labor, you can work directly with Local 287 or go through Team San Jose, which would contract with the local labor union.

As far as he’s concerned, Arnaudet says it’s back to business as usual in San Jose. “Some decisions were made that didn’t work out the way they were intended, but all the parties have gotten together and reached an accord and we’re moving forward now.”

This spring, the first of several summits is planned between Team San Jose and industry stakeholders to continue discussions that may lead to a permanent operations plan for the SJCC.

According to the Cruise Lines International Association, 13.4 million people took a cruise in 2009, up from 12.6 million in 2007. But the discounts didn’t translate into earnings. Revenues were down more than 10 percent in 2009 than in 2008 for the biggest cruise line, Carnival Corporation.

Still the cruise line industry is doing better than other segments of the travel industry, like hotels and airlines. For many travelers, cruises offer an easy option. Cruises appeal to budget-conscious consumers by touting themselves as all-inclusive.

Carnival Corp. recently announced plans that suggest the supersizing will continue. The Miami-based company signed an agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri to construct two $762 million cruise ships, which are scheduled to debut in spring 2013 and spring 2014, for its Princess Cruise brand. At 139,000 tons, the 3,600-person cruise ships will be the largest ships in the Princess fleet. The agreement is contingent on a definitive contract, financing and other customary conditions.

According to a recent New York Times article, industry experts are predicting “steals” will be harder to find in 2010 and will require advanced planning, research and flexibility. In fact, in comparison to last year, some rates are noticeably rising regardless of departure date.

For example, in 2010 Disney Cruise Line will not offer its Kids Sail Free package and Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) will no longer offer its universal $250 onboard credit as it did last year. Instead, NCL plans to offer up to $300 of onboard credit only for those suites reserved nine months prior to departure. The reservations must be made by April 1.

“Over the past three years, Sheraton has successfully revitalized one of the hotel industry’s most iconic brands and now we’re sustaining the momentum with an ambitious worldwide expansion,” says Hoyt H. Harper II, senior vice president for Sheraton Hotels and Resorts. “Sheraton has historically been one of the first Western hotels to enter developing markets and when travelers from China and other emerging markets increase their travel internationally, they will stay with hotel brands they know from home.”

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts launched a $20 million, multi-media marketing campaign Rediscover Sheraton to highlight the brand’s revitalization efforts Feb. 4, 2010. The campaign encourages travelers to take a look at Sheraton’s 300 new lobbies, 70,000 new guest rooms and 100,000 new beds. Rediscover Sheraton will launch across a multimedia platform that will focus a significant portion on non-traditional media. The campaign will run on key Web sites and print ads will run in USA Today and other business and travel titles.

Make a Green Choice program: Hotels are offering room discounts and rewards for guests willing to forgo housekeeping. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. has a “Make a Green Choice” program that offers hotel credit or points in its reward program. Guests can earn a $5 credit at any Westin hotel restaurant or 500 Starpoints, for every night they opt out of housekeeping for up to three consecutive nights.

Artistic meetings: Kimpton’s Hotel Palomar Atlanta Midtown has developed new Art of Meetings promotion that features four signature meetings: Fun Worship, Degrees of Discovery, EarthCare and Elements of Wellness. Planners can also take advantage of 2010 Summer Group Promotion offering $99 room rates along an afternoon break July 25 through Sept. 10.

Peabody expansion special offer: The Peabody Orlando is celebrating expanded meeting space with the Peabody Expansion Special Offer for bookings confirmed by July 31, 2010. Complimentary opening reception and meeting space along with 15 percent off 2010 or 2011 published banquet menu pricing and 15 percent off published AV equipment pricing are some of the discounts. The Peabody Orlando features 340,000 square feet of indoor/outdoor meeting space, the 34,370-sq.-ft. Windermere Ballroom, the 26,923-sq.-ft. Plaza International Ballroom and two junior ballrooms.

Choice privileges: Need last minute meeting rooms? The Orlando Vista Hotel at Lake Buena Vista is now a member of Choice Hotels International’s Ascend Collection. Through March 31, 2010, the Orlando Vista Hotel rates start at $69 and guests can earn points towards free nights, flights and other rewards through the Choice Privileges rewards program. The 246-room hotel is minutes from world-class theme parks, the Orlando/Orange County Convention Center and Orlando International Airport.

Win an iPhone: The Columbia Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau is inviting meeting planners to submit a request for proposal (RFP) and be entered to win an iPhone. Meeting planners who sign a contract are eligible for up to $5,000 for conference expenses. RFPs must be submitted through the Web site before March 15, 2010.