The meetings world was caught off-guard when the political pushback from the TARP bailout blew like a hurricane through the industry.
Meetings industry association and corporate leaders readily admitted they were woefully unorganized, and quickly got to work enlisting the U.S. Travel Association to show the government the money…and what a pile of cash it is.
The recent "Economic Significance of Meetings to the U.S. Economy" study came in with a top number of $907 billion, with a direct-spending figure of $263 billion—that’s a language politicians on all sides of the aisle understand.
Turn to page 10 to see our report on the unveiling, and to get more statistics that you can use to impress upon politicians where you live that meetings truly do mean business.
