Leading
corporate travel management organization to provide citywide
housing assistance for meetings, conventions, large scale
events at popular Tennessee destination
Fairfax, Va., October 18, 2005 – Premier travel management
provider Omega World Travel is partnering with the Memphis
Convention and Visitors Bureau to offer meeting planners comprehensive
housing assistance—an online solution that can lead
to a cost effective, successful group travel experience—for
large-scale conventions, shows, and sporting events.
“In an effort to add to the growing success of meetings,
conventions, and trade shows held in Memphis, we are expanding
our capabilities and collaborating with one of the premier
housing bureaus, Omega World Travel’s Mega Housing Management,”
said John Oros, Executive Vice President and COO of the Memphis
CVB. The Memphis CVB markets the city and Shelby County as
a convention site, with over 330,000 delegates in 2003 spending
about $310 million locally.
“The added strengths of Omega World Travel’s industry
experience and progressive technology will help us create
new business opportunities and expand on our success in luring
visitors to Memphis,” explained Oros.
Omega World Travel is the only national travel company operating
its own housing bureau, Mega Housing Management (MHM); a centralized
Web-based housing accommodations solution, as well as program
and logistics management support from travel industry veterans
experienced in large-scale citywide events.
“Mega Housing Management’s unique combination
of a housing bureau and full-service travel agency offers
a level of service and range of program options unmatched
by our competition,” said Diane Bozicevich, Vice President
of MHM. “Our housing solution sets itself apart from
a typical travel agency’s program in a number of ways:
complete program management; Web-based, real-time accommodation
reservations, live inventory management, and a single information
source for all participants.”
From the blues to barbecue, Memphis has always been a popular
tourist mecca—more than nine million visitors a year—and
is now becoming known as a meetings destination. The city
on the banks of the Mississippi River has been named “one
of the top ten emerging convention destinations of the new
millennium,” by trade publication Successful Meetings.
“Businesses and organizations are recognizing why Memphis
is a great destination for their meetings,” said Oros.
“Our new alliance with Omega World Travel adds important
value-added services, like on-site logistics management, pre-
and post- tour development and promotion, and U.S. and European
call centers to our increasingly first-class convention support
program.”
About Omega World Travel
Fairfax, Va.-based Omega World Travel (www.owt.net) is ranked
by Business Travel News as the third largest travel management
organization in the U.S., and provides online travel solutions,
as well as personalized service at 200 locations worldwide,
to a diverse clientele: from individual leisure travelers
to Fortune 500 companies and the federal government. From
humble beginnings as a small business launched in 1972, Omega
World Travel now boasts annual sales revenues in excess of
$1 billion, over 1000 employees, and is the largest travel
agency owned by a woman—President and CEO Gloria Bohan.
Omega World Travel owns TravTech (www.travtech.com), a travel
technology organization, and Cruise.com, the Internet’s
largest cruise specialist.
About Mega Housing Management (MHM)
With a well-earned reputation for managing large-scale groups
and events, MHM (www.megahousing)
is a division of Omega World Travel and specializes in citywide
housing programs. Featuring proprietary Web-based meetings
management software, along with an experienced team of travel
industry veterans, MHM offers group housing, registration,
and travel solutions for the meetings and convention industry.
MHM is located at Omega World Travel's Midwest regional headquarters
in Greenfield, Wisconsin.
About the Memphis CVB
The Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau (www.memphistravel.com)
is a private, non-profit subscriber corporation responsible
for marketing Memphis and Shelby County as a convention site
and visitor destination. Its purpose is to bring visitor dollars
to the local community for both the short and the long term.
Visitors to West Tennessee have an estimated impact of $2.3
billion annually, generating more than $166 million in local
and state taxes, and providing 51,000 jobs with an estimated
$1.6 billion payroll. |