Press Release

For Immediate Release
13 April 2009

SHORT-SIGHTED AUSTERITY MEASURES REGARDING PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCES COULD SPAWN CORPORATE “INTELLECTUAL DEPRESSION”

Alexandria, Va --

New austerity measures taken by U.S.-based corporations could plunge the country into an “intellectual depression,” according to Doug Weeks, president of the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE), by removing hundreds of thousands of industry experts from the nation’s conference attendance. Weeks claims that a decision by a growing number of U.S. corporations to restrict employees from attending professional conferences will halt the flow of new ideas, more effective strategies, perfected procedures, and the presentation of new products that are utterly essential to economic recovery.

“Hundreds of professions and corporate sectors rely on major industry conferences to advance technology, spark innovation, and stimulate trade,” said Weeks, speaking at a special press conference convened during the association’s Global Education Conference in Washington, D.C. last week (5-7 April 2009). “Yet in the latest round of cost-cutting measures, medical and legal personnel, engineers, technicians, sales teams, travel experts and even the media no longer have corporate support to pursue these objectives.”

Weeks cited a recent ACTE survey of 110 U.S.-based companies, in which 75 percent of the respondents said their firms were aggressively restricting professional conference and training seminar participation. Thirty-five percent stated their companies were eliminating registration reimbursement and denying time out of the office. Twenty-eight percent said their firms were no longer reimbursing registration costs, and 13 percent said their companies were prohibiting time out of the office for these purposes. ACTE leadership regards this decline in attendance as far more serious than the recent drop in internal business meetings.

“These restrictions make the individual invest their personal resources and vacation time in presentations and classes that will certainly benefit their company in every way,” said Weeks.

Considering the ACTE Global Education Conference was the first major travel management event in the U.S. since the economic collapse, it was unnecessary for Weeks to elaborate on the impact fewer and smaller conferences would have on the hotel and convention bureau business. ACTE’s president emphasized there was a substantial difference between the drop in non-revenue earning internal business meetings and conference participation, however.

“Sixty-two percent of our members, responding to the same survey, have clearly stated that the need for general internal business meetings is directly tied to the economy and will not pick up regardless of what Congress says or plans to do. Yet participation in business conferences is quite another matter. Companies derive an instant benefit in sharing realistic cost-cutting measures and strategies to grow revenue at a time when revenue is hurting,” said Weeks. “Eliminating participation in professional conferences is a short-sighted strategy that hobbles a company’s ability to cope with the current crisis, while limiting the options of its key personnel, and failing to take advantage of best rates they will ever get in the hospitality market.”

Weeks noted that one of the ACTE conference’s keynote speakers, James May, CEO and president of the Air Transport Association (ATA), stated that every major economic downturn has been followed by a recovery. “Failing to acknowledge the recovery is coming is the first step in establishing a flat line as your model for future performance,” said Weeks.

Spirits, expectations, and evaluations were high at the ACTE Global Education Conference, where a majority of the speakers – and the participants – described the current state of the business travel industry as ripe with opportunity. These opportunities were described “as expansive new programs designed to boost the productivity and quality of life for the declining numbers of travelers that have to do more work.” According to ACTE leadership, this is but one of several new areas in which travel managers can substantially increase their value to their company.

ABOUT ACTE:
The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) represents the global business travel industry through its international advocacy efforts, executive level educational programs, and independent industry research. ACTE's membership consists of senior travel industry executives from 82 countries representing the €463 billion business travel industry. Our members serve more than 12 million business travellers worldwide. With the support of sponsors from every major segment of the business travel industry, ACTE develops and delivers educational programs in key business centers throughout the world. ACTE has representation in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Middle East and the United States. For more information on ACTE, please go to www.acte.org.

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For more information, contact:
Jack Riepe
Communications Director
Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE)
t: 610-719-8396
c: 610-256-0124
e: [email protected]

 

For more information, contact:
Debbie Flynn
CEO
Brighter Group
The Pod, London's Vertical Gateway
Bridges Wharf, Battersea
London SW11 3BE England
T: 020 7326 9880
F: 020 7326 9890
E: [email protected]
W: www.brightergroup.com