Mtgs. Vets Create Phila. DMC

Industry veteran Michael Lyons, who has held several high-ranking positions at meetings and travel firms while exploring the entertainment industry, has created a destination management company in Philadelphia with DMC impressario Chris White, hoping to capitalize on Philadelphia's newfound high-end hotel space.

Lyons, who has held vice president positions at McGettigan Partners, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Rosenbluth International and New York incentive house EGR International during his 28-year career, serves as president and CEO of GEP Philadelphia, which is aligned with White's three-year-old partnership of destination management companies, Global Events Partners.

"I've known Chris for 25 years, and I also felt there was not a good destination management company in Philadelphia," Lyons said. "So it was a perfect fit, and I'll be able to exploit my meeting and travel industry experience."

Philadelphia has seen both Ritz-Carlton and Loews open hotels within the past two years, which Lyons said will help to offset reductions in corporate meeting expenditures—a key component of potential destination management company business—caused by the recession and terrorism.

"It's the nature of this business that everything affects it—the economy, Sept. 11," Lyons said. "But the confidence factor regarding meetings is rising, events are being rebooked and 2002 is shaping up as a decent year. The Philadelphia Convention Center is as booked as it has ever been."

In addition to the new hotel space, Lyons also pointed to the pharmaceutical industry, which has been less affected by the recession, hasn't seen as many cancellations as have other industries and maintains many corporate headquarters in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania, as a potential font of business.

"Right now, the city's business is coming from the association market and big conventions," according to Lyons. "But companies, including pharmaceutical companies, throw events at night to entertain convention attendees, so they can get them in a venue to hear the corporate message. The convention business feeds corporate business, and that's where we come in. That business is steady."

The new company also helps to grow GEP's presence in the Northeast, White said. "This allows GEP to further its reach and brand on the East Coast, where there is a high concentration of companies needing our services," he said. "With this addition, we have the Northeast covered, with partners also in Boston, New York and Washington, D.C."

Lyons said he would not have taken the job without the association of GEP and White. "I'm not a one-man independent shop," he said. "There's a tremendous amount of resources behind us."