Economic woes may have adversely affected several segments of the meetings industry, but government is not one of them. mm"Government has remained steadfast," says Vernon Spears, Chicago-based space management specialist for the U.S. Department of Labor and president of the Chicago chapter of the Society of Government Meeting Professionals (SGMP). "There are meetings that still have to occur [regardless of the economy]."
Many CVB executives have a similar observation.
"Government meetings are always strong in a recession," says Anna V. Gebert, Alexandria, Va.-based national convention sales manager for the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission. "They are dependable, their meetings have to take place and attendance is often mandatory."
Although government business has been consistent despite problems with the country’s financial situation, planners of government meetings are more cautious than they were a couple of years ago, according to Mike Butts, executive director of Visit Charlotte.
"It seems to me that they are taking a tentative but cautious approach to closing and planning and booking similar to the corporate and association market," he says.
In addition to staying strong, the market has given birth to emerging niches in line with the new administration’s priorities.
"We’ve seen some meetings come from offshoots of government initiatives such as green initiatives and alternative energy," says Mark Vaughan, executive vice president and chief sales and marketing officer for the Atlanta CVB. "They aren’t really government meetings, but they are growing because the government is putting resources toward those industries. Those trade shows are growing as well."
Changing Times
While the government meetings market may remain strong in difficult economic times, it is not completely immune and has been forced to change its ways to accommodate new financial strains.
Meeting locations have been one of the first things to change. Marva Holmes, Atlanta-based public health analyst for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and president of SGMP’s Georgia Peach Chapter, says meetings that were once held at a hotel are now conducted in-house.
"The funding for travel and outside meetings is not as available as it was previously," she says. "About three or four years ago, we built a conference center on-site. Since then, I haven’t had to go off-site for any meetings."
Spears has also seen a change in the location of meetings.
"A lot of agencies are utilizing federal space as opposed to hotel space," he says. "We have conference rooms. We may get sleeping rooms at a hotel, but then use a federal conference center."
When not using a federal space, Spears says he’s seen an increase in the usage of commercial conference centers.
"Rather than use a hotel, government groups are using conference centers," he says.
The reason: All-inclusive meeting packages often include snacks, cutting down on per diem food expenditures.
"In a conference center, there is a space adjacent to the meeting room where usually there will be fruits and snacks all day long," Spears says. "You don’t necessarily need to go to lunch."
When government planners are looking for a conference center or hotel, these days they are staying away from urban locations and instead opting for the outskirts, Spears says.
"Locations have changed," he says. "Departments are going to suburban hotels as opposed to downtown locations. I think it is because when you plan a meeting in a downtown location there can be distractions. Suburban areas provide a relaxed setting where people can get more serious."
Although government meetings may still need to occur, Spears says not all of them are face-to-face these days.
"The government has been leaning more to video conferencing in the last three to four years," he says.
Most government employees have meetings they are required to attend each year, making the sector stronger than most at this time, but Spears says that number is going down.
"We have decreased the number of meetings deemed mandatory," he says.
In addition to location changes, CVBs have seen lead times get shorter.
"The government has always been pretty short with lead times, but they have definitely shortened recently," says St. Louis’ Gebert. "Planners don’t want to commit too far out. I could get a lead today for a meeting next month."
Brent Foerster, vice president of sales and marketing for the Milwaukee CVB, agrees.
"I’ve seen the lead time get a bit shorter," he says. "But I haven’t seen the length of those meetings change, unlike some other markets."
While locations have been changing, so have requests from meeting planners. These days, meeting per diem requirements aren’t enough.
"Government groups are asking for below per diem rates frequently," Gebert says. "They are asking for deep discounts. If they don’t get it from one place, they know they will be able to get it from another city. They are also taking longer to sign contracts because they know no one else is looking for the space."
How are hotels and conference centers able to survive with reported undercutting?
"The competition is fierce, but at the same time the hotel communities in different cities are staying pretty well-connected," Gebert says. "If we undercut each other, we are doing a disservice across the board. You are seeing a lot of people standing up and saying, ‘This is all we have to give.’ "
CVBs Weigh In
Several cities in the South are major players in the government meetings market, basing one or two sales people in Washington, D.C.
One of the biggest players in the market is Atlanta.
"It (government) is an extremely important segment for us," Vaughan says. "We have an office in D.C., and we have people deployed in Atlanta for government business."
With a variety of military bases located close by as well as government agencies such as the CDC, the city is also accessible and affordable.
"We have the world’s busiest airport," Vaughan says. "We are also an extremely good value proposition from a hotel inventory and affordability standpoint."
While some destinations are going after government meetings now that other markets aren’t gathering as much, Vaughan says Atlanta has always gone after government groups.
"We have always played in this space," he says. "Some of our competitors only want to play in it when times are bad, but we will play in it regardless of economic times.
"Our total convention year is looking pretty good," Vaughn adds. "We had a federal aviation meeting here in January and a U.S. Army aviation meeting here in March. It is a good year for us and it will continue to be a very viable segment for us."
Like Atlanta, Charlotte has had a strong foothold in the government marketplace for some time.
"It has always been an important market for us," Butts says. "We don’t feel that you can go in and out of markets every year. We have one person located in D.C., and two people in our office that focus a lot of their time on government business.
"We are well-positioned for government business because we are a safe destination," he says. "We are not a destination considered a target and we are not going to get groups in trouble with the media and perception issues."
Katie Morell, a former Meetings Media editor, is a freelance writer based in Chicago
