U.S. Travel Association Creates Advocacy Council Of Meetings Luminaries

The U.S. Travel Association this week announced the creation of an all-star council led by supplier executives that focuses on developing advocacy and promotion efforts for meetings, incentives and trade shows.

The Meetings, Incentives and Trade Show Council, which held its first meeting on March 2, is co-chaired by Maritz Travel president and CEO Christine Duffy and Hilton Worldwide senior vice president of group sales and industry relations Larry Luteran. Other council members are Carlson Marketing president of U.S. engagement and events Fay Beauchine, Hyatt Hotels' Ty Helms, Starwood Hotels & Resorts senior vice president of global sales Christie Hicks and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts executive vice president of marketing Susan Helstab, as well as other hotel company and convention and visitors bureau executives.

The goal of the council, according to Duffy is to have an overarching group spearhead industry advocacy efforts, instead of piecemeal initiatives by various industry organizations. The association also has begun searching for an executive to oversee its meetings and incentives advocacy efforts and liaison with other industry association leaders, she said.

Council members are from organizations belonging to the U.S. Travel Association's Chairman's Circle, its highest level of membership, according to Duffy.

Duffy pointed to the 2008 public uproar surrounding AIG's meetings and incentive practices as an impetus in the council's creation. "It really took us several months to get all the industry organizations and how we were going to respond," she told BTN. "We went through a period of time that because there was no response, the damage in terms of cancellations, people losing business and jobs as a result was much more severe than it would have been if we had a crisis plan in place as an industry that could have been activated immediately following the AIG fallout."