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The U.S. Travel Association announced that it will coordinate with trade show company Connect Travel to co-locate several events around the association’s IPW 2021 (September 18-22 in Las Vegas) in order to maximize value to attendees and provide travel marketers with cutting-edge tools and intelligence to promote their destinations and products in a post-COVID environment.
According to U.S. Travel Association, as travel businesses evolve their promotion strategies to emerge from the global pandemic, the adjusted format for 2021 will enable exhibitors to grow domestic visitation in addition to regaining their share of rebounding inbound travel—all from one booth.
While IPW will continue to focus on its core global audience, Connect Travel will bring its robust and targeted domestic event, Connect Tour, to the show floor at IPW. Exhibitors will have the option to purchase an appointment book allowing meetings with domestic operators, bus companies, domestic consortia and more, in addition to appointments with international buyers.
“IPW has always placed a heavy emphasis on evolving along with the needs of our delegates, and 2021 will be perhaps the most important year in our history to help jump-start the critical rebuild of the U.S. travel economy,” said IPW General Manager Malcolm Smith. “This collaboration is reflective of our strong desire to maximize the value of IPW for our exhibitors in the current unique marketing landscape.”
For travel and destination marketers, Connect Travel will also locate its Connect THRIVE LGBTQ Summit, (September 18-19) and eTourism Summit (September 20-22) at a property adjacent to IPW’s main location at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
ETourism Summit—an intimate, annual conference—is dedicated to all things in digital destination marketing. In 2021, IPW and eTourism Summit will combine their marketing and technology sponsors at the Las Vegas Convention Center, creating the Global Marketing and Technology Pavilion. Delegates of both events will have access to trailblazing technology, strategy, and marketing companies to accelerate the travel industry’s recovery and growth.
Connect THRIVE LGBTQ Summit is focused on community development through LGBTQ travel, sports, and entertainment. As an added value, THRIVE delegates will be invited to visit IPW/eTourism Summit’s Global Marketing and Technology Pavilion, and LGBTQ travel packagers and media will be invited to participate in business appointments on the IPW/Connect Tour show floor following the Summit.
“By co-locating our Connect Travel events alongside the most important travel event in the United States, we are creating exciting synergies for our partners to efficiently make connections across multiple industry sectors,” said Connect Travel President Will Seccombe. “Las Vegas will be the epicenter of the U.S. travel industry in September 2021, and together these events will be the catalyst for travel recovery in 2021 and beyond.”
Finally, IPW will undergo evolutionary updates to meet the post-pandemic needs of delegates. Most notably, U.S. Travel Association and premier sponsor Brand USA expect to deliver forward-looking education to IPW attendees, catering to specific verticals within the travel industry. While keeping appointments as the core of the show, IPW will add nearly eight hours of networking and education during the three days the show floor is open. Delegates will be able to tailor the added time to their specific efforts to increase visitors to their destinations and products.
Pricing and additional details will be available in January.
Visit ustravel.org for more information.
[12.15.20]
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The results are in! After calling for nominees for several of the association’s open seats back in October, National Limousine Association (NLA) President Robert Alexander of RMA Worldwide announced the results of the fall election this past week.
And the winners are…
At-Large Region: Brett Barenholtz of Above All Transportation/Boston Car Service/ETS and Joe Reinhardt of Carolina Limousine & Coach
Central Region: Tracy Raimer of Windy City Limousine & Bus
Northeast Region: Jay Erlich of Europe Limousine
Southeast Region: Robert Alexander of RMA Worldwide and Shawn Glasgow of Peak Limousine
West Region: David Uziel of Urban BCN Worldwide
In his President’s Message, Alexander thanked NLA members who took the time to vote, as well as offered his congratulations to his fellow Board members.
“I would like to congratulate all of the newly elected Board members and thank all who ran in the election. Your dedication and passion for this industry are to be admired and it is a comfort to know that there are many people ready and willing to roll up their sleeves and get involved. It takes courage to step up to the task, win or lose (and I speak from experience, having lost my first Board election). I urge those who did not see success in this year's election to consider running again and hopefully inspire others to run as well,” he wrote.
The winners will serve for a 2021-2024 term, starting in January. Congrats to all the winners!
Visit limo.org for more information.
[12.14.20]
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On December 9, the Wisconsin Limousine Association (WLA) held its monthly conference call to discuss regional industry news and to share a bit of seasonal fun.
COVID-19 lockdowns and mandates were the main topic of discussion, as the Midwest continues to be a hotbed for the virus. WLA Director Paula DiBiasi of Chicago Coachworks informed the group that Illinois is in the midst of lockdown, with restaurants closed for dine-in meals and party buses prohibited. The city is only allowing events for groups of 10. In Wisconsin, however, mandated capacity restrictions for businesses have expired.
With Christmas coming, and holiday cheer in full swing, WLA Secretary/Treasurer Karen Lotts of A Knight Rider Limousine asked members to take part in an Ugly Christmas Sweater competition. Participants were invited to send in a photo of the ugliest sweater they could find, and a winner was chosen by way of random drawing. DeVon Gillespie of Milwaukee Executive was the winner of a prize pack courtesy of Midwest Transit.
In keeping with the holiday discussion, holiday light tours are popular in the state. Milwaukee, Madison, LaCrosse, and Chippewa Falls were cited as popular areas for the tours.
Before the meeting concluded, WLA officers said that the association renewed its NLA membership for 2021. The next WLA conference call will be held Wednesday, January 13 at 1:00 p.m. CT.
Visit wisconsinlimo.org for more information.
[12.14.20]