News

Press Releases

Photo Gallery

War and its Effects on the Event Planning Industry

March 15, 2003, San Diego, Ca - With the pending war in Iraq, some companies are putting their business travel on hold, while others are going through with their travel plans. In a nutshell, it seems that for most event businesses, events are still happening, although they are being postponed and sometimes scaled back.

In a survey done by business and leisure travelers from March 24 to the 26 by John Russell, chief executive officer of Hospitality Artists, LLC and Partners, they found that out of 651 business travelers surveyed, 9 percent said they had canceled business trips because of the pending war with Iraq. However, 72 percent said the war would not influence their travel plans within the next 12 months. “Demand for business travel services” (air, lodging, and car rentals) says Peter Yesawich, “will probably decline in the near term as more companies restrict employee travel and elect to either postpone or cancel corporate meetings and conventions.”

At Meeting Sites Pro, an event planning company in San Diego, the impact has been felt first hand. One of their clients, a pharmaceutical company, put a $100,000 national sales meeting on hold in March because of their fear of the war beginning while their sales program was in progress. “It’s times like these that try a meeting planner’s soul,” says Lauren McDonnell, Senior Sales Manager at MSP. “When there is uncertainty and fear, companies’ first line of defense is to scale back or put business travel on hold, leaving event planners to reevaluate their strategies and contingency plans.”

There are a few scenarios that meeting planners are looking at. A quick resolution of the conflict in the Middle East could reverse the glut in travel within a number of weeks. The worst case: A long, protracted war which stuns business travel and no real improvement comes until well into 2004.

“As a planner, I try to stay optimistic,” confirms Suzanne Gendrolius, MSP’s Sales Associate. “But we have to be realistic and constantly review trends and our clients’ concerns.” Geopolitical events such as another Gulf War can be disappointing and even detrimental to meeting planners. A brighter note is that not all companies are canceling. In times like these when demand for business travel is low, the efficient, well-placed event planning companies survive and emerge from such wreckage stronger and more resilient.