IPW USA (International Pow Wow) 2021

IPW USA (International Pow Wow) is considered to be the largest tourism fair in the world, an event that sets the tone for travel trends. What is presented here this year, will become a trend for most travel markets around the world next year.

Organized annually by US Travel, each time in another state of the country, it began as a national event in 1969 in New York, traveling throughout America annually until 2021 when it arrived in Las Vegas. It was an edition that was supposed to take place in 2020 but due to the Covid pandemic, the fair was canceled last year, and was organized this year. Next year, for example, will be held in Orlando, Florida and those present at the fair this year were announced to be welcomed with open arms, with many surprises and a new terminal at the airport built especially for next year’s event. Another important example of this event is that for this edition there was a brand new conference center built in Las Vegas! A huge multifunctional building where all the scheduled activities took place.

To participate in IPW you have to become part of the Romanian delegation to the event. For this, it is necessary to go through a long process of pre-selection run by the organizers, then approval from the US Embassy in Romania and you must prove both that you are a professional journalist as well as prove the seriousness of the publications you own or represent. Journalists from all over the world apply annually and are approved or rejected depending on their application. In a normal year (without Covid) there are over 6,000 participants from all corners of the planet. A huge event that requires flawless logistics and planning.

That is why the preparations start long before the fair. The application you need to register for offers you countless possibilities. It includes opportunities from setting up meetings with potential business partners to signing up for various press trips organized by the hosts. Networking and establishing relationships in the environment is one of the most important things for American businessmen so this is what happens here. Therefore, before the event, lists of meetings are established. During these meetings, you can present your business or pitch an offer to those interested.

IPW is not a fair where vacancies are sold. Neither luxury, nor normal, nor super cheap. It is a tourism fair for professionals, where the foundations of future collaborations in the industry are laid. This happens both between private partners and between organizations and associations. Almost every state in the USA sends its best representatives to IPW and the event is especially important for a country where money from tourism accounts for $ 1.6 trillion in income and 9.5 million employees. These were the numbers for 2019. It far exceeds what we Romanians can understand as an economic value. It represents 2.9% of the GDP of the most powerful country in the world and 40 million dollars practically spent every day on tourism in the USA. A huge amount, hence the importance given to this sector of the economy.

The US Travel Association, which annually organizes IPW, a national nonprofit organization in the United States, has so much power that it can impose policies to follow nationally. Thus, after the year 2020 was a year in which the business collapsed, especially due to the stop of the arrivals of international tourists who could not reach the USA, in 2021 they managed to impose the opening of the borders for the Schengen area. And they manage to set priorities for the state, even the organization of this year’s edition being a success in the current pandemic.

The business environment in the USA is extremely competitive and different from that in other parts of the world. Money makes America the greatest power in the world, and without the freedom to do business, money is lacking. So there is a much greater openness and understanding of the private sector. Higher risks are accepted and markets are opened that remain closed elsewhere. That is why, even so, in the midst of the Covid pandemic, IPW opened its doors to those who had the courage and opportunity to come to the event. A smaller edition than usual, full of procedures regarding health safety but with a special enthusiasm, which established the line in PostCovid tourism.

Participation in such a fair differs from those in which I have participated before. We were accredited in London, Berlin and we happened to be in Shanghai during the tourism fair there too. Nowhere, however, did I see so much organization and rigor, along with caring for the participants. Both in terms of health safety and in terms of experiences offered. Participating in IPW provides you with accommodation during the five days of the fair at one of the hotels in the city, usually the best in the host city, the possibility of participating in various press trips organized in the area by the hosts, as well as participating in brief press conferences organized during the fair.

Essentially, during the five days, a family is formed that lives, breathes, travels, eats, has fun and especially does business together.

In both London and Berlin I noticed the care of the media. At IPW, however, the emphasis is on the importance of the average (whatever it may be) in the industry. Accreditation as a journalist at the event offers you the opportunity to use the Press Room, arranged so that nothing is missing for your work. A lot of laptops with internet access made available free of charge to journalists from all over the world helped us a lot in our work. We have been provided with modern resources such as the Media Marketplace Package (a day dedicated to B2B meetings between US and media providers, with 10-minute slots and a 5-minute break between them), IPW Online Press Room, IPW Online Marketplace online platform that allows buyers to connect with suppliers before, during and after the event). It was also interesting that they provided Tesla cars to take us from the subway station to the Convention Business Center through a tunnel with colored lights. According to my understanding, there will be this transport option in Las Vegas for those who will come to the business center for various events in the future. Those of us who were internationals were looked upon with so much sympathy for our courage to come to IPW even in these unfavorable days of travel. This year, only our calatoriaperfecta.ro team, and Radita Pavel from visdevacanta.ro have been part of the Romanian delegation as journalists and Pavel, as a guide.

In a regular year, various trips are organized in the areas close to the city hosting the event, both before the start and after the fair ends. Excursions are made available to journalists absolutely free of charge, and the journalists must choose according to the interest of the public to which it is addressed. We usually choose experiences that suit families, but there are publications that address those who travel alone or even adults only and even the LGBT community.

This year, because of Covid, these trips have been replaced by a one-day experience in different locations of Las Vegas. The places offer special and different attractions for any tourist. Thus, we had many experiences ranging from a trip to the world of gourmets through the restaurants of the Caesars Palace hotel that was also our host, the Michelin star restaurant of the famous Gordon Ramsey, to the visit of a super apartment in the Cosmopolitan hotel where celebrities from the world of gamers, celebrities, influencers, where you could taste caviar with gold powder or a tiramisu prepared by a famous chef to the visit of an apartment located on the top floor, with an area of over 600 square meters, exclusive and of incredible luxury. There were 16 trips in one day, organized for groups of journalists who roamed the city and discovered how special Las Vegas is. We visited the newest hotel in the city – Virgin Hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton – owned by billionaire Richard Branson, where the top apartment, with 3 bedrooms, costs $18,000 per night and offers you a private gym, outdoor jacuzzi, a pool table and a bowling alley, access to the sandy pool similar to Caribbean beaches. I went and visited the exclusive apartment at Venezian Resort where we were greeted with organ music, a bar with personalized cocktails , with a unique gift for each participant of the tour, a personalized diary where your name was written with gold leaf and you were given precious stones according to your preferences. The apartment has a personal pool, jacuzzi, sauna, massage room, bar, and food is made by order. These were fantastic experiences, in which we followed in the footsteps of those who have been guests over time in these fabulous hotels, being some of the best hotels in the world.

And the evenings were dedicated to less official meetings. Because there are no parties like the ones in Las Vegas…

IPW is a show staged by Americans in which it combines the useful with the pleasant. Beyond networking, a huge opportunity to create contacts in the world of overseas tourism, it gives you the opportunity to understand how this industry works in a 101% capitalist world. Here, business is done with a smile on your face, openness to everyone, and the underlying concept is to achieve a win / win situation.

It doesn’t make sense to compare the Romanian market with the one in the USA. They are different worlds with different opportunities, different tourists and especially different concepts. Romania is still looking for its way, the USA has had it settled for a long time. The opportunities are incomparable because the destinations are different.

America is far and difficult to reach for Romanian tourists. Often expensive, especially because it is far away and requires extra effort and much more time. But the world there is completely different from the destinations we are used to. Cities, infrastructure, people, customs, unique destinations. All this and much more make the USA a special destination. In this project we visited, besides the fair days in Las Vegas, we also visited two more big cities. Miami and Los Angeles. It is constantly said that New York or Las Vegas “are not America”. They are! They are part of what makes America one of the most desired destinations in the world. And not just as a tourist…

For us, the team of calatoriaperfecta.ro, this event to which we were accredited for was the total validation of the fact that we went from doing travel as a hobby to reaching professionalism. We may not always be perfect (nor is there a perfect journey / it’s just the one we remember fondly and the next one we wish to be perfect) but we know that we always try to be better. And we thank all those who trust us but especially you who reads about our journeys!