Q1: What is the most user-friendly country at this time?
“User-friendly” is a very subjective term, but I find that countries where English is “the” or “an” official language are generally the easiest for me to work with/in. There are some countries (other than the U.S.) that “paperwork you to death” and others require the completion of little or often no paperwork at all in order for attendees to enter the country as well as for shipping conference materials to the country.
Q2: Can you offer any advice when bringing vendors/talent/speakers to other countries? Is this common?
Depending on the country, I generally have what is essentially a letter of invitation on my company’s or the client’s letterhead prepared for my vendors and talent to present to customs if needed. The letter briefly outlines what the subject and purpose of our event is, who will be attending, and generally states that they are performing or speaking (in the case of talent or speakers) or attending (in the case of other vendors) our convention or event rather than “we have been hired to do “x” job for us (as some countries are particularly sensitive to the hiring of talent and vendors from outside their own borders). I have generally found that this is more of an issue when bringing vendors and talent in either direction across the U.S./Canadian borders; in Europe for Canadians and Americans questions are rarely if ever asked.
Q3: For international hotel contracts, do you find that rooms attrition is a common practice?
Almost every international hotel contract I have negotiated–even with larger chains–has not specifically addressed attrition until I have asked for it, rooms, F&B or otherwise. In layman’s terms, I have found that the international contracts I have negotiated essentially state how many people you will have, how many rooms per night you will use, and what you’ll be paying for each room–period. If you come up short, you are expected to pay for the rooms you don’t use, too; if you go over your room block, you will need to negotiate in many cases a different (meaning likely, a higher) room rate. Working with my chain hotel global sales representatives is very helpful to me when I need to get attrition verbiage inserted into a hotel contract. In most cases I won’t get exactly the same contract language I am used to in a domestic contract but I will be protected (to an extent) from attrition. I find that it’s all about compromise and in most cases both parties will have to meet half-way.
Q4: Do attendees coming into the U.S. need a visa and an ESTA?
Depending on which country the attendees come from, the requirements will be different. If they are from a country in the visa Waiver Program they will need an ESTA, but not a visa (the ESTA essentially serves as their visa); if they have a visa they won’t need an ESTA, but will need to fill out the white I-94 U.S. immigration form.
Q5: Re: Currency...how do you plan for currency fluctuations in your budget, especially if payments are made over a period of time?
Like many international planners, I used to ask for guaranteed U.S. dollar pricing but these days I find (with a few isolated exceptions) that foreign hotel companies and other non-domestic vendors aren’t as willing to do this due to the volatility of the dollar’s exchange rate. I have recently begun exploring using “forward currency contracting,” defined as follows: “An agreement between two parties to exchange two currencies at a given exchange rate at some point in the future, usually 30, 60 or 90 days hence. A forward currency contract mitigates foreign exchange risk for the parties and is most useful when both parties have operations or some other interest in a country using a given currency.”
Q6: I seem to run around trying to find DMC partners for new markets. What do you look for in DMCs you are trying to partner with?
I generally turn to my colleagues (through MPI, Site, etc.) for my international DMC resources. I also have relationships with firms that represent international DMCs here in North America, so I look to them for guidance and references. What I look for in a DMC overall is creativity, quick and thorough response, and flexibility. I treat my DMC partners as valued members of my team and in turn they give me excellent service.
Q7: Any specific things which are a NO-NO?
Generally, depending on the country, shipping conference materials ahead may be a “no-no.” There are some countries where I have never had a shipment arrive on time, so to those countries I always either hand-carry all printed materials or arrange for them to be printed there. I even carry some promotional items (conference bags, etc.) in my suitcase. Only once have I been asked what all the conference bags in my suitcase were for by a customs agent and I explained that I was doing a conference in their country and they let me through with them.
Q8: Have you ever had a CSM NOT allow you to have or see the BEOs?
I have not had that experience. In every country I have worked the CSM has always allowed me to see the event orders. In some situations thy actually have an expanded version of the event orders for “internal use only” that I have seen over their shoulder, but I realized that those documents included items I didn’t necessarily need to see anyway, but were rather internal directives for their team that went above and beyond the requirements as laid out in the BEO (or were written in the local language).
