Meetings Mean Business

For the seventh consecutive year, the July issues of SportsTravel and its sister magazine, Association News, include a special section produced in conjunction with Destination Marketing Association International (please see “Serving with Distinction,” which begins on page 23). DMAI is the association to which official destination marketing organizations belong. Each year, our DMAI special section takes on a theme determined by our editorial staff that reflects the environment in which the destination marketing industry is operating.

The first such special section, “Why DMOs Matter,” was published in July 2008 just prior to the Great Recession and before the “AIG Effect” became a part of the meetings-industry vernacular. The theme that year anticipated the need for destination marketing organizations to make the case to both their local communities and the meetings industry about the vital role DMOs play in attracting travel spending to their destinations. Subsequent editions featured even broader themes reflecting the increasing need for advocacy on behalf of the travel industry: In 2009, the special section was themed “Why Meetings Matter.” In 2010, the theme was “Why Travel Matters.”

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