Another bad sign for the Meeting Biz

I was speaking to a local newspaper executive yesterday. I was telling him about the challenges that destinations face in attracting meetings and conventions in the current economy. As a person in charge of personnel and budgets he said, "The first thing to get cut in tough economic times is travel. The second is professional development." This is the big double-whammy for the industry. The meetings are not going away because they represent one of the biggest revenue source for associations. But having the meetings doesn't guarantee high or even subpar attendance. This hurts not only the industry groups but the destinations as they are primarily funded by the taxes on hotels visitors consume. Another big loser is the potential attendee as well as they are denied the chance to learn new tools to help them perform their jobs more effectively.