Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/10149
Haymore, president of Travel Professionals of Color, finds that travel pros are much more choosey when it comes to forking over membership fees to join a trade group. “Instead of belonging to many, as most industry peo- ple have done in the past, they’re now a bit more selec- tive,” says Haymore, whose group has approximately 225 members, primarily African-American travel agents. Other members include convention and visitors bureaus, travel service suppliers and other industry professionals. At Haymore’s own travel agency, she’s seen one of her bread-and-butter markets decline. “Group travel has been one of my strongest sales areas, but the groups aren’t as large as they have been in the past, so for me that’s a concern,” she says. For the 500-plus members of Destination Marketing Association International — mainly destination market- ing organizations, convention and visitors bureaus and other tourism organizations — the recession’s toll has been widespread. “It’s hard with a membership this BY SONYA STINSON you’re looking for a number to quantify the impact, consider that the U.S. travel industry, which typically employs nearly eight million people, lost a combined 400,000 jobs in 2008 and 2009, according to the U.S. Travel Association. It’s been a rough couple of years for the industry, but some E of its top leaders say they are finally starting to see reasons to hope for a rebound. We spoke to top executives of trade organizations representing travel agents, meeting planners, tourism marketing organizations and hotel owners and oper- ators to get their diagnosis of the current health of the hospi- tality industry and its future prognosis. They revealed some of the effects of the economic downturn on their members, their strategies for coping, the things that still worry them, and the signs of encouragement they see when they look ahead. THE RECESSION’S TOLL Some trade organizations need to look no further than their own membership ros- ters to see the economy’s impact. Charlotte 24 CHRIS RUSSO mpty hotel rooms, blank spaces on event calendars and quiet downtown streets tell the story in pictures of how hard the recession has hit the hospitality industry. If large to say that all destinations [were affected], but 90-plus percent of the members of DMAI experi- enced a downturn over the last two years,” says Dan Fenton, who chairs the organization. “In some cases, those percentages were as high as 20 to 30 percent, and in some cases they were five or 10 percent. But there was a decline.” Like Haymore, Chris Russo, president and chairman DAN FENTON of the American Society of Travel Agents, can personal- ly attest to some challenging times. “As an owner of three travel agencies myself, I hear it and I live it,” says Russo, whose group has about 6,000 members, including travel professionals and suppli- ers such as car rental companies, tour com- panies and cruise lines as well as travel agents. “I’d say the last 18 months have probably been, in my 11 years of owning a travel agency, the hardest. When we had 9/11, there was a price point for people to get over a fear, because it was strictly just a fear. Right now, there’s no price point. You either have money to travel or you don’t. So no matter how low the prices get, it’s just not enough to stimulate enough business. For the most part I’d say our members would say they’re struggling.” It’s not just the decline in travel, but also Black Meetings & Tourism March/April 2010: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com CHARLOTTE HAYMORE the broader financial crisis, that has affected the industry. Andy Ingraham, president of the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators and Developers, which has approximately 3,000 members repre- senting more than 500 properties, says the credit crunch has caused a slowdown in hotel development. But as Ingraham sug- ANDY INGRAHAM