Airline tickets, food and beverage and related items are going up faster than planners can adjust. Hotels, destination management companies, transportation providers and suppliers in general are all affected by oil price increases. Industry leaders say that fares may increase by another 20%. Every penny of increase in oil price exacts an extra $1 billion a year from consumers. Smith Travel Research, however, reported a leveling off of increased hotel rates because of reduced leisure demand and weakening of corporate travel (Dos).
High fuel costs indirectly affect food and beverage costs (Dosh, 2008). Transportation expenses also go up for shipping food items. Farmers who divert land for planting crops intended for ethanol production are likewise raising their prices. Planners try to address the prince increase in food by paring down menus, pre-determining the number of servers per meal and choosing a complete meeting package or CMP, or getting a discount by opting for the day's menu. To reduce on transportation expense, some event planners schedule fewer pick-up locations, negotiate a fuel surcharge formula as oil price go up. They also negotiate for ancillary charges or free value adds, flexible attrition fees and later cut-off dates with suppliers and room upgrades in hotels (Dosh).
Ethical Issues and Implications
Ethical situations, which often develop, include gifts or kickbacks in connection with commission procedures, bookings at venues and subcontracting (Van Der Wagen, 2011). Confidentiality of information, such as client databases and those of celebrities, overbooking and overprices are other ethical issues (Van Der Wagen).
Ethics has become a sensitive matter in the event and convention industries. Ethics may be intentionally or unintentionally violated. Present-day event planners cannot avoid such situations for which they need a personal, professional and corporate code of ethics in drawing the acceptable line of behavior (Allen, 2004). Employers with a high moral sense want to be sure that their employees are beyond reproach. For their part, employees do not want to be thought of as negotiable for a lunch, a...
They would not want clients to perceive the selection of a particular destination on a personal basis but because it is the right choice for the client. The same philosophy goes for selecting a given venue, hotel, airline and industry suppliers, such as caterers, decor companies, entertainers, photographers and rental agencies (Allen).
Additionally, employees do not want to be told to tell a lie to suppliers or clients for advantage (Allen, 2004). Doing so will place their company's reputation and credibility and their own at a risk. They look farther than the moment. To them the cost of extra profit gained from the moment can be costlier in the long-term. Some less scrupulous hotels go directly to clients of planners and offer them a better rate if they book through the hotel and not the planner. Some planners request quotes directly from destination management suppliers they met only during site inspections. Some of them have the courage to show another supplier's quote to a competitor but use without contracting the services of the company, which supplied them. This behavior distorts or destroys the company image. It reveals a lack of professional business ethics and lack of respect for one another (Allen). #
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Allen, J. (2004). Events and ethics. Special Events: Penton Media, Inc. Retrieved on November 20, 2011 from http://specialevents.com/mag/events_event_ethics_321736
Entrepreneur, The (2011). Event planning. Chapter 1. The Entrepreneur Media, Inc.
Retrieved on November 20, 2011 from http://www.entrepreneur.com/downloads/guides/1313_Event_Planning_ch1.pdf
Hard, B. (2011). Business event industry trends in the U.S. And in Europe. About.com:
The New York Times Company. Retrieved on November 21, 2011 from http://eventplanning.about.com/od/eventplanningbasics/a/industry_trends.htm
Van Der Wagen, L. (2011). Event management strategy and planning program.
Cambridge International College. Retrieved on November 20, 2011 from http://www.cambridgeinternationalcollege.co.uk/docstore/freestudymodules/ESPMOD1.pdf
