The meetings industry is going to create huge problems for itself if it opts out of travel and tourism, Mr. James Provan…
The meetings industry is going to create huge problems for itself if it opts out of travel and tourism, Mr. James Provan, Vice President of the European Parliament and Chairman of the all Party Tourism Group claimed at EIBTM`s Politicians` Dinner held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Geneva.
Speaking at the end of the dinner, attended by nearly 40 leaders of the industry`s key associations worldwide as well as European politicians, he posed the question: Why create walls and barriers between travel and tourism?
The dinner was hosted immediately prior to
Mr. Provan continued: Potentially you are the greatest industry in the world with the largest number of employees and the fastest growing sector.
But if you opt out of travel and tourism you are going to create huge problems for yourselves. Please reconsider that.
There is a lack of co-ordination in tourism, particularly in Europe. I really believe that you have a huge contribution to make in helping tourism as a whole to communicate to decision makers.
The meetings industry, in my view, is part of the travel and tourism industry, but it has different needs.
Mr. Provan continued: I feel very strongly that you should promote your own branding. Your industry has not identified its own brand. If, for example you stay at a chain of hotels, you know you will receive the same kind of quality and standards, regardless of country or region.
But at the same time, you have lots of messages that you need to communicate first before you focus on setting standards.
The working dinner, chaired by Mr. Christian Mutschlechner, President of EFCT and director of the Vienna Convention Centre, discussed the possibility of developing pan-European standards, professional qualifications and quality of service standards in the meetings industry.
Earlier, in a presentation to the dinner guests, Mr. Didier Scaillet of MPI said: Standardisation does not mean a country cannot be different. In Europe, service is looked upon as somehow demeaning, where as in Asia, for example, employees take pride in their work.
He emphasized that in order to embark on greater uniformity, the industry must accept more emphasis on training, including the training of more women.
Tom Hulton, Chief Executive Officer of ICCA endorsed the need for standards. He said: There really must be minimum standards. It is important that the clients and the suppliers talk the same language.
Hugo Slimbrouck, member of the Board of Directors for SITE spoke about the need to ensure that European identities remained. These are our unique selling points, he said.
Mary Power of the Convention Industry Council, whose group had been discussing vocational standards, told guests: Seize the moment and advance jobs. We need to rise to the occasion. Make your own unique products.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
