Black Meetings and Tourism

July/Aug 2011

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Disneyland and reinforce the themes of sustainability and nature thatwill be integrated throughout the park.The spacewill also be a place where friends and family can enjoy local cultural celebrations and customs together. On Opening Day, the Shanghai Disney Resort will be located on a 963-acre (3.9 square kilometer) site in Pudong, Shanghai, with additional room to expand in the future. At opening, the resort will include Shanghai Disneyland, two themed hotels, a large retail, dining and entertainment venue, recreational facilities, a lake and associated parking and trans- portation hubs. There will be an initial investment in the project of approximately 24.5 billion yuan (US$3.7 billion) to build the theme park and an additional 4.5 billion yuan (US$0.7 billion) to build the other aspects of the resort, including the hotels and the retail, dining and entertainment area. The investment amounts will be split between Disney and the Shanghai Shendi Group with Disney holding 43% of the shares of the owner companies and the Shanghai Shendi Group holding the remaining 57%. Financing will be proportional to ownership. In addition, a joint venture management company will be formed with Disney having a 70% stake and Shanghai Shendi Group having a 30% stake. The management company will be responsi- ble for creating, developing and operating the resort. NEW ORLEANS CELEBRATES NATIONAL TRAVEL AND TOURISM WEEK MARDI GRAS STYLE To mark National Travel and Tourism Week in May, New Orleanswas one ofmore than 70 cities across the nation to rally in support of the tourismindustry,which employs 14Mworkers nationwide and generates $1.8 trillion in economic output – one in nine jobs inAmerica depends on travel and tourism. New Orleans knows how to throw a party and more than 1,000members of the NewOrleans hospitality community hold signs, second-line and dance through the city’s historic streets in a Mardi Gras style parade to reinforce the importance of tourism to the city’s economy, resident’s livelihood and cultural heritage. Supporting U.S. Travel Association’s National Travel and Tourism Week rally, elected officials and members of the hospitality community gather to promote tourism,which gener- ates $5 billion annually and employs 70,000 people, and cele- brate recentmilestones including welcoming 8.3million visitors in 2010, the first time to reach 8million sinceKatrina. *Photo by JeffAndin CIC RELEASES NEW ETHICS STATEMENT AND POLICY FOR CMP PROGRAM The Convention Industry Council has released a new ethics statement and policy for the Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) program. The ethics statement and policy were developed by the CMP Board of Directors with the approval of the CIC board. “The new ethics statement and disciplinary policy are an extension of policies that were already in place within the pro- gram,” stated Karen Kotowski,CAE,CMP,CEOof the Convention Industry Council. “Having both an ethics statement and an enforcementmechanismare a best practice and a necessity for all credible certification programs that set professional stan- dards. The ethics statement outlines norms of professional conduct that should guide and act as a compass in day-to-day busi- ness dealings. The disciplinary policy establishes procedures and avenues of recourse in the very rare event when they are needed.” The CMP programhas long had an ethics statement whichmust be acknowledged by all CMP applicants and by all CMPs when they recertify. “Having an ethics statement is not new for the CMP. The CMP Board felt it was important tomake itmore visible,” stat- ed Martie Sparks, CMP, chair of the CMP Board of Directors and vice president of Catering & Convention Services for Mandalay BayResort&Casino.“It needed to be available as a resource for CMPs, outside of the application and recertifica- tion processes. And of course, it also needed to be a public document. As for the disciplinary procedures, from an adminis- trative perspective theBoard also felt it important to havewritten procedures in place to handle any ethics complaints, should they arise. An ethics statement without recourse is empty.” “We receive very few complaints about the ethics or business practices of CMPs, particularly when you consider that there aremore than 9,000 active CMPs around the world,” agreed Kotowski. Black Meetings & Tourism July/August 2011: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 9

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