Bob Mowat

Alright, so when I initially started writing this, I was just going to tell you that we’ve got some new blogging software that we’re going to be using for the Travelpress.com blog from now on.

And I’d also tell you that it gets us up to speed with what’s going on in the blogosphere, provides some enhancements or functionality that everyone expects when they go to a blog.

I was planning to sign off, wittily, with something like — be gentle with me, it’s my first blog, but then I ran across the story about Joel Borsteinas, a BC sales rep selling US products in Canada who was turned back at the US border because according to the US Customs and Border officer he was taking jobs away from Americans.

Borsteinas was headed to a trade show in Oregon. He was travelling. He was planning on spending money in the US, stimulating the country’s travel economy. All of this is something that at last glance, the US Travel Association and others in the US travel industry were heavily promoting.

Clearly, the customs agent that Borsteinas had to deal with wasn’t in the loop. Travel is good. It generates economic activity. If somebody was to travel to the US and put money into that industry, you’d think you’d want to do everything possible to help him or her do it.

And what about protectionism? Haven’t the G-8 and the G-20 been talking about how important it is to the economic recovery efforts to keep borders open; to keep goods and services flowing freely between countries in order to stimulate trade.

That seems to be what Borsteinas was trying to do. Go to a trade show. Meet people. Come back to Canada and sell their US products here. As he rightly points out that’s actually a good thing for Americans  — it gives them work.

So my suggestion would be that perhaps the powers that be at US Customs and Border Services have a chat with the people who are on the front lines and let them know that people like Borsteinas are actually the good guys in this scenario.

So that’s my two cents. New blogging software for Travelpress.com’s blog – that’s good. Mr. Borsteinas — a good guy. US Customs and Border Services – apologize to Borsteinas and try to get it right the next time.

If you want to see the full story, go to http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/03/16/bc-borderprotectionism.html

Bob Mowat

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

I think one of the things that I’ve found particularly galling about the “global financial meltdown” is that the foolishness of the few has resulted in the suffering of the many.

Consider the temper of the times in Washington, DC where the few – the politicians and media – have made it essentially politically incorrect to hold a meeting these days.

Those politicians may not have intended this result, but in staking out their political turf to go on record to say that any of the financial institutions receiving US government bailout money shouldn’t be holding lavish meetings – which is as it should be – they’ve also made companies that didn’t get a bailout, re-think plans for meetings in the coming year.

Not surprisingly, the US Travel Association is steamed about this state of affairs and is fighting back with its “Meetings Mean Business” campaign – check out the details at http://www.meetingsmeanbusiness.com.

Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, says of the present situation:

“Make no mistake, companies that have received taxpayer assistance must be held to a different standard and conduct their business in a transparent and responsible manner. But the pendulum has swung too far. The climate of fear is causing a historic pullback of business meetings and events, with a devastating impact on small businesses, American workers and communities.”

Dow points to a recent survey that shows that over 20% of companies — that have not received taxpayer assistance — have cancelled events due to recent media and political attention. More than half (52%) claim the news coverage has been extremely or moderately influential on their companies’ decisions to hold events.

The US Travel Association’s boss says that meetings and events are responsible for nearly 15% of all travel in the United States and create $101 billion in spending, one million jobs and nearly $16 billion in tax revenue at the federal, state and local level.

And he notes that without the jobs generated by travel for meetings and events, the unemployment rate in the United States would jump from 7.6% to 8.2%.

The US Travel Association’s partners in the “Meetings Mean Business” campaign include the American Hotel and Lodging Association, Destination Marketing Association International, International Association of Exhibitions and Events, Meetings Professional International, National Business Travel Association, Professional Convention and Management Association and SITE (formerly the Society of Incentive Travel Executives).

Seems to me that the whole point of all this economic stimulating that’s going on is to get people to keep doing business, to continue to move forward and to get the economy going again.

That’s my take, and hopefully the politicians in Washington will get the message.