NBTA, Earthquake Wow L.A. Crowd

LOS ANGELES—Two memorable things took place at the Natl. Business Travel Assn. Intl. Convention & Exposition, held July 27-30 at the Los Angeles Convention Center – but only one of them was planned by organizers.

The first night of the show, 5,000 attendees were entertained by pop singer Cyndi Lauper at the nearby Nokia Theatre.

After that, said Mark Liberman, president and CEO of LA Inc., the Los Angeles convention and visitors bureau, the trick would be to figure out what to do next to impress the crowd.

Two days later, Liberman had his answer. “We had said, 'We need to pull off something a little unique,'” he said.

Just before noon that day, attendees got a surprise they wouldn't soon forget: A 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck Southern California, rattling buildings and nerves.

Bill Connors, NBTA's executive director and COO, said, “We had a little local flavor today.”

If travel costs and a struggling economy couldn't keep people away, a little thing like an earthquake wouldn't put a damper on the show either.

Attendees, primarily travel managers and procurement officers for companies, still flocked to the showfloor when the doors opened that afternoon to meet exhibitors, including airlines, hotels and ground transportation, who wanted to capture their business.

Attendee Sebastian Ruvira, a travel manager for pay-TV company Claxson Broadcasting, was at the show for the fifth year in a row from his home base in Montevideo, Uruguay.

Instead of opting to skip out because of sky-high airfares, Ruvira said, it was more important than ever that he was there.

“Travel is evolving very fast, and I believe we have to be up to date on the new opportunities and new technologies,” he added. Three days packed with educational seminars enabled him to see new tools and learn methods to do his work more efficiently, Ruvira said.

John Wohlleber, senior travel director for Broadridge Financial Solutions, said he was at the show for his second year and hoped to make some deals that would help him take his company's program global. “I know there (are) no deals on air because, with the price of fuel, (airlines) have to make enough to fly,” Wohlleber said. “But hotels are starting to get the ripple effect from less people traveling, so there are more empty rooms, and there are definitely deals on ground transportation.”

Exhibitors also said it was more important than ever, especially with the stress on the travel industry, to be at the show and get their products in front of their business travel clients.

Michael Flegley, InterContinental Hotels Group vice president of global sales for the Americas, said his company didn't think twice about bringing more than 70 people to work the show.

“Within the Americas, this is our biggest show and where we bring the most people,” Flegley added. “This is our core business, so (we wouldn't) downsize our booth or staff.”

He said the tough economy might just benefit IHG, which has mid-priced brands such as Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts and Holiday Inn Express.

“We're hoping (to attract) companies who aren't looking to cut back on the number of trips, but maybe the expenses per trip are getting cut,” Flegley added. “Where else can you come to meet with 200 of your top customers? That's a pretty cheap sales call.”

Noel Meehan, British Airways events and communications manager, said, even with the $800 registration fee for each of his 20-plus staff members and $9,000 worth of booth carpeting, there was no question that the airline would roll out the red carpet for its existing and potential clients.

“It's been really positive,” Meehan said. “We try to do something new every year.”

British Airways' chefs cooked up exotic fare in the front of the booth, and around the corner was a bevy of petits fours and homemade cappuccinos.

“We get a nice response from clients,” Meehan said.

NBTA also is pleased with this year's show.

According to Connors, it broke records with 6,450 attendees – 1,400 of them buyers – more than 475 booths and more than 135,000 net square feet of exhibit space.

“I told board members a few months ago, 'Let's lower our expectations (about the show) in this bad economy,' but this is a little microcosm of good news,” Connors said. “Travel is alive and well at NBTA.”

And, he added, Los Angeles also was a good draw, beating last year's numbers when the show was held in Boston, which is music to Liberman's ears. “From our perspective, (the show) gave us a tremendous opportunity to showcase L.A.,” he added. “So many of the attendees I've met and talked with say the same thing: (L.A.)'s vibrant; it's exciting; there are so many things going on here. We really want to show people we are winners.”