Selling the States

You can’t hope to get a more suitable venue for a business convention than the "The World’s Greatest Vacation Area" – at least that’s what the locals call central Florida. And ask any of the 3,300-plus delegates to the 33rd staging of the International Pow Wow in Orlando and you’re bound to get no argument. Of course, there’s always a danger that there would be more vacation than business done, but hey, no one could blame you.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

The International Pow Wow is the USA travel industry’s most important event for selling travel to the United States. It’s considered a business meeting, not a traditional trade show. Well whatever it is, the Pow Wow is definitely anything but traditional. Consider the numbers: more than 1,600 international tour producers from 75 countries were invited to buy the USA travel product from 1,050 of the nation’s top airlines, hotels, rental car companies, cruise lines, attractions and more. Some 300 press people were also invited to the 33rd staging of the event (including two from the Philippines, sponsored by Northwest Airlines).

Event organizer, producer, and manager Travel Industry Association of America likened the convention to a "giant supermarket." "Once inside, you fill up your basket with the items on your list, but not until you comparison-shop by checking price, brand and quality." The focus, though, is more on wholesale than retail.

Ultimately, the "shopping" tour operators got rock-bottom-priced packages and these savings will ultimately be passed on to the average Pinoy traveler.

For the effort, the United States is projected to earn US$3 billion from incoming tourism. Meanwhile, the host city and its environs can expect to rake in some US$300 million.

Even if the sun has climbed to its traditional high perch in the Florida sky, you can still enjoy the outdoors minus the oppressive humidity typical to tropical countries. It’s this moderate clime that helps make the Sunshine State a premier destination even for Americans.

Orlando in central Florida is definitely designed to entice. It boasts more than 100,000 hotel rooms, 3,800 restaurants, 90 attractions and an array of options for shoppers and nightowls. Indeed, it has twice been chosen as the World’s Leading Destination at the World Travel Awards, winning over other nominees such as Hong Kong, New York and Las Vegas.

It’s also a golfer’s paradise, home to world-class fairways such as the Champions Gate, a national course designed by golf legend Greg Norman, which lies in 200 acres of woodlands and wetlands, and is home to the David Leadbetter Golf Academy.

A total of 17 sightseeing tours were organized for the Pow Wow delegates. I would have preferred any of the golfing destinations, but the limited slots were filled up by eager Tiger wannabes who even lugged their own clubs to the venues. So, we ended up tagging along for the "Day on the Drive."

A green I-Ride "trolley" picked us up from the Orange County Convention Center (the primary Pow Wow venue) and took us down International Drive, where many entertainment, dining and shopping destinations in the greater Orlando area are.

Our guide told us that the trolley is a famous mode of transportation for both tourists and residents. With the convenient stops and the cheap fare (75 cents for adults, 0.25 for senior cititzens, while kids ride free when accompanied by a paying adult), one needn’t wonder why. However, here’s something to work your mind around: before the I-Ride’s present reincarnation, the bus plying the exact same route operated at a loss. Duh. Maybe "trolley" sounds way cooler than "bus."

We got down at Pointe Orlando and had an immensely filling lunch of salmon and steak at Monty’s, a seafood place that also knows its red meat. Our tour continued with visits to the Guiness Book World Records Experience (where we got to see way weird things, indeed) and WonderWorks, a must-see for science freaks and intuitive minds.

The high point of each day was the evening affair – consisting of dinner at an Orlando theme park. Unfortunately, we missed the opening night at the Kennedy Space Center (co journalist Cornelio de Guzman and I were recovering from jet lag at the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Orlando and waited for our host).

The next afternoon, we were bused to Disney World’s Epcot Center. As the sun went down, we boarded a ferry to cross a small man-made lake. It looked more Amsterdam than anything, but our youthful "captain" declared "We’re headed for Germany."

Sure, anytime!

Lo and behold, a scant three minutes later, we had already docked and disembarked in "Germany." At least that’s what the wurst-bearing, costumed guys and gals said. A few steps more, "Switzerland"; a few more, "Mexico." Northwest Airlines sales manager Guarav "Gary" Agarwal and I decided to stay in Mexico, savoring the burritos and downing the margaritas while watching a mariachi performance. Is this heaven or what? It was an orgy of free indulgence at Epcot, that’s for sure. A huge fountain area had been filled up with ice and cans of beer and soda. "Now there’s a great background!" I said to a ruddy man with a can of brew in hand while I prepared to take a picture. He flashed an inebriated grin. The night culminated with the "Tapestry of Nations" parade where floats and costumed characters went around the park.

The next night was open, so our Northwest hosts took us to a Chinese resto. Ah! Rice, rice, baby! Hong Kong-based Northwest vice president David Wookey sat with the Pinoy group and regaled us with jokes and tales. But again, oh, the rice! Yummy!

Travel Industry Association of America president and CEO William S. Norman voiced a concern over breakfast at the Orange County Convention Center. "Our share of global tourism is declining," he said at the podium. The response, he continued is the "See America" branding. Furthermore, the government has now made it easier for citizens of 29 countries (hmm, doubt the Philippines is among these, though) to secure a US tourist visa .

The guest of honor at the International Pow Wow was a real biggie, former US Vice President Al Gore. His presence was doubly significant as it was the first time he returned to Florida after the you-know-what.

Gore seemed to have gained weight since his campaign days, and appeared to have truly accepted his defeat. In fact, the jokes flew hard and fast. He now shares the highway with other people, Gore deadpanned, and he still can’t grasp the concept of flying with people he doesn’t know.

Seriously, Gore lauded the efforts of the TIA and echoed the wisdom of a nationwide branding. "We are the destination country," he said. During the open forum, a journalist dared to ask Gore what he thought of the Bush adminstration so far. Boos and hisses ran through the crowd. Gore didn’t bite into the question and reaffirmed his support for Bush. The former VP certainly conducted himself well.

At the Marriott Hotel-sponsored press room, I had some coffee and browsed the philstar.com site for some homespun news. I read an item titled "RP agents bat for strong local airline industry." In it, the Philippines’ Network of Independent Travel Agencies had called on local carriers to bear the responsibility of "dispersing foreign tourists from main hubs to provincial destinations." Well, that was certainly encouraging.

But on the whole, one could not help but be envious of the level of commitment that the US travel industry professionals devote to making the US an even more enticing destination that it already is. The International Pow Wow showed what we could do for the Philippines. Sure, we may not be as well off as the US, but strategies such as country branding can go far into making the Philippines a more visible country in the world map. Consider that we are still pulling in a lot of tourists despite the Abu Sayyaf. Imagine how many more are waiting to discover the Philippines. But that’s just me.

The second to the last night was spent at Sea World, where we witnessed an unforgettable performance from Shamu, the park’s treasured killer whale. I was unfortunate (foolish?) enough to stand right in front of a mammoth subwoofer that shook me to the bone with every thump of the dance music that Shamu and his human pals performed to.

After that, we were ushered into the Bayside Stadium for the closing fireworks display, accompanied by the Orlando Symphony Orchestra. It was like seeing a Fantasia live. It just pissed me off that a lot of the delegates wouldn’t shut up. But then maybe it was the beer talking.

Our last evening event was held, thankfully, at the Universal Studios’ Islands of Adventure. As it was right next door to our hotel, we merely had to take a small ferry to the venue. Once there, we were feted to a smorgasbord of eats as varied as the themes. Our group decided on the grub at Seuss Landing, which were as colorful and as imaginative as the world of (who else?) Dr. Seuss.

We couldn’t help but dig into the pastries and sweets, while throwing any blasted attempt to diet right out the window.

I decided against any ride, remembering the sudden nausea that gripped me at Sea World, so Mang Kune and I contented ourselves with winning the stuffed toys at the arcade games (free games for all the delegates!). Later, it was time to congregate by the man-made lake for another pyrotechnic display. With that done, we walked to the dock and waited for a ride back to Hard Rock Hotel.

After all, we had enough fun to last us, hmmm...

We’ll get back to you on that.