All posts by Christine Loomis

California has no lack of excellent cities, towns and hotels for meetings of every type and size. From a small group of 14 to a large gathering of thousands, planners have found much to recommend in the “Golden State.”

There’s a palpable magic to meetings set on tropical islands that can’t be duplicated on the mainland.

There’s one thing expert planners all agree on: Relying on and partnering with a city’s CVB is critical to the success of the event, wherever it’s held.

Tourism officials in Arizona are optimistic about the future of meetings, and with good reason.

As one of the most popular convention destinations in the country, New Orleans is well into a reboot, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s state capital, sees many positives in current trends.

Louisiana is ready for 2022, and across the state, in-person meetings are on a significant rise.

Dana Young, president & CEO of Visit Florida, says domestic visitation to the state is up 6% from 2019 levels. And, in spite of continued restrictions on international travel at the time, estimates are that 1.1 million international travelers visited Florida in Q2 of 2021 — an 854% increase over 2020.

We asked four experts how they see sponsorship challenges today, how they think the situation will evolve and what creative strategies they’ve employed to negotiate successful sponsorships in a pandemic.

These resorts typically have excellent meeting facilities as well as team-building opportunities — golf included, of course — and ample space for networking.

Ships are also now sailing in the Caribbean, Asia, Europe and beyond. That’s not just critical for the cruise lines; it’s critical for all those ports and the small businesses within them that depend on tourism to survive and thrive.