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Sen. Kerry has introduced legislation that would ban all 421 firms including the nation's largest banks that received money from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) from hosting, sponsoring or paying for conferences, holiday parties and entertainment events.
If passed, I don't need to tell you the profound impact on the business travel industry and the nation's economy it would have. This legislation would not only impact the affected companies it would have a chilling, immediate impact on all companies. This hurts travel managers, hotels, airlines, rental cars, EVERYONE! It is estimated that without the jobs generated by meetings and conventions unemployment would jump from 7.6% to 8.2!
We, as entertainment technicians who rely upon the travel and tourist industry to fund our events, must educate Congress on the importance of managed travel and the benefits it brings. NBTA has issued a set of guidelines to the U.S. Treasury for effective managed travel. Travel for meetings and events can be a cost effective tool that help businesses grow. We need to give these real world practices time to work. We can't afford negative news stories to drive Congress to manage travel. We have to make sure our government knows that.
If passed, I don't need to tell you the profound impact on the business travel industry and the nation's economy it would have. This legislation would not only impact the affected companies it would have a chilling, immediate impact on all companies. This hurts travel managers, hotels, airlines, rental cars, EVERYONE! It is estimated that without the jobs generated by meetings and conventions unemployment would jump from 7.6% to 8.2!
We, as entertainment technicians who rely upon the travel and tourist industry to fund our events, must educate Congress on the importance of managed travel and the benefits it brings. NBTA has issued a set of guidelines to the U.S. Treasury for effective managed travel. Travel for meetings and events can be a cost effective tool that help businesses grow. We need to give these real world practices time to work. We can't afford negative news stories to drive Congress to manage travel. We have to make sure our government knows that.
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Date: 3/5/09 07:41 pm (UTC)From:I just couldn't believe it when I heard about this bill. This would put millions of people out of business. I am a freelance entertainment technician, with a college degree in the field. I live in a town that survives on the tourist industry. By eliminating these conventions, you will effectively have put this entire city out of business. Everyone here relies upon the businesses that come to the city for their conventions. They bring jobs and cash for our local economy, which the recipients can then put back into our economy with our own spending. Cancelling these conventions will close down the convention centers and hotels, which are some of the largest employers in the country. It will decimate the airlines, the food industry, all of us tech service people, and the local theme parks and other entertainment venues, which will in turn hurt everyone else because all of us will be out of work.
Remember what happened to New York City when the NY theatrical union went on strike on Broadway. Stagehands were out of work, and so were actors, but it had far-reaching effects. Restaurants and cab companies all closed down. Sanitation workers in the area were out of work because the businesses in the area were all closed and had no need of trash pickup. Hotel attendance was down, causing layoffs in hotel employees.
The entertainment industry has long had a history of providing work and money during tough times. During the Great Depression, it was the movie industry that kept things going. People had no money, but they still went to see movies. In this rough economy, the entertainment industry pumps billions of dollars back into the economy through employment of the travel industry, service staff, and technical staff. The ban on conferences will effectively eliminate that huge source of revenue, furthering the downward spiral. This is a short-sighted plan. Our government officials need to think beyond the first move, and think several moves ahead. How do you plan to save the millions of people you will put on unemployment and the billions of dollars that will cease circulating in our economy thanks to this short-sighted, temporary fix?
The travel industry recognizes there are concerns with how companies are spending money. A well managed travel program ensures companies are following guidelines that include competitive bidding, expense reporting, cost containment, and policy compliance. Exactly the type of transparency and accountability President Obama has called for. The travel industry believes so strongly in the benefits of effectively managed travel that it has published a set of standards that are being recommended to TARP companies. The industry is also working with the Treasury Department to ensure that these real world practices are a part of the solution.
The introduction of legislation and media driven stories are having a chilling effect on the entire travel community, not just TARP recipients. Companies that have never taken a cent of TARP money are canceling meetings and other events because they are afraid of being attacked as wasteful. This hurts the business travel industry, but it also affects the bellman, the maid, the waitress and other hourly employees that will be laid off as these meetings and conventions decline.
As a member of a community that creates $244 billion in spending, 2.4 million America jobs and $39 billion in tax revenue at the federal, state and local level, I hope you will listen to these ideas and suggestions. Let the Treasury Department work with the business travel industry to set guidelines for managed travel. The worst possible step Congress can do now is to ban meetings and conferences. This knee-jerk reaction would not only hurt the targeted companies, it would hurt the entire American economy.