By Don Welsh, President & CEO of Destinations International
“We all continue to be grateful for leisure travelers who have committed to traveling during most phases of the pandemic. They have filled hotel rooms, restaurants, attractions and provided critical revenues to destinations around the world. We know that the business travel segment will be slow to recover and may take the next couple of years to regain momentum in most markets.
Therefore, we know that nothing can replace the value that a meeting or event provides for a destination. Meetings and events not only fill hotel rooms and provide critically important revenues, but they utilize meeting facilities and convention centers that employ the community.
With all this in mind, we enter the new year with renewed optimism and a belief that we will get through this challenging start and continue to work together in the next phases of recovery.”
Judging from the comments left on his page, Don certainly struck a chord when writing about the power of human connections and meeting face-to-face.
We truly appreciate sharing this spot-on guest post and look forward seeing everyone at the 22nd Annual eTourism Summit, co-located with IPW in Orlando this June. Programs now open for applications and submissions:
- eTSY Awards for Excellence in Digital Marketing
- Emerging Tourism Stars
- Bright, Shiny, New Objects
For 22 years, the feedback from thousands of attendees has been crystal clear: Our community is a very special one. eTourism Summit connects the ecosystem of destination marketing pros exchanging ideas in an intimate setting like no other conference.
Read Don’s full commentary on the value of in-person meetings.
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