Checking In

December 1, 2008

Tyler Davidson

With the state of the stock market rapidly rising and falling with greater fluctuation than the Bay of Fundy tide, both corporations and “Main Street” are mired in debt and doubt.

The common wisdom is that leisure travel is the first to suffer. Next in line is business travel, with its companion the meetings industry in tow. If you’re like me—on seemingly every travel-related e-mail distribution list going—your inbox is starting to fill with rate-cut come-ons targeting the transient market. Look for the meetings industry to follow suit as we move further into a buyer’s market.

Will hotels and other meeting facilities initiate a fire sale on the scale of a post-9/11 magnitude? Everyone’s playing it close to the vest right now, trying to ride out 2008 before they make budget assumptions about next year.

So stay tuned, and also tune in to our 2009 Meetings Market Trends Survey webinar Dec. 17 (sign up at www.meetingstoday.com/webinars) to find out what major hospitality industry experts are predicting.

It’s free, and that’s a pretty agreeable price these days.

About the author

Tyler Davidson is the vice president and chief content director for Meetings Today, which publishes the meetings industry trade magazine Meetings Today as well as MeetingsToday.com, various newsletters, webinars, the in-person Meetings Today LIVE! Hosted-buyer events and other meetings and events industry B2B channels.

Tyler has covered the travel trade for nearly 35 years. In his role with Meetings Today, which recently won the prestigious FOLIO: Eddies Award for best magazine issue, Tyler leads the editorial team on its mission to provide the most in-depth meetings content in the industry. Previously, he worked as the Asia, Canada, Pacific Northwest and Western U.S. editor at Travel Weekly magazine and TravelAge West. Before joining the dual editorial staff producing destination sections for Travel Weekly and TravelAge West, Tyler was the Africa, Israel, Middle East, Switzerland and Pacific Northwest editor at TravelAge West. He also undertook general news and feature assignments while working at the magazines.

Besides reporting on the travel trade, Tyler has covered the real estate industry, held various editorial positions at the San Francisco-based national satire magazine The Nose, wrote freelance technology industry pieces and covered the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders for a bilingual newspaper in San Francisco. He has a B.A. in Journalism from San Francisco State University, where he worked in various editorial capacities on its award-winning student magazine, Prism.

Contact: tyler.davidson@meetingstoday.com