
New England Holiday Event Adds To Season Of Generosity
Industry vendor sponsors and operators enliven the annual event with prizes, raffles, and donations.
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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — LCT East closed out its first chapter doing what it does best: Offering a deeper look at the issues ahead that will define and transform the industry.
Business travel, mobility, and the future of ground transportation were highlighted topics, complemented by a roster of educational sessions and networking events arranged by the new Global Ground Transportation Institute and LCT Magazine.
LCT East drew 520+ attendees and exhibitors from around the nation and overseas for the three-day regional event Nov. 3-5 that returned this year to the Atlantic City oceanfront at the renovated Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
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Launched in 2013, LCT East was hosted at Caesar’s Atlantic City during its first two years, Harrah’s the next four years, and most recently at the Hard Rock Hotel, formerly the Trump Taj Mahal. The site sits only a few blocks from the former Trump Plaza, where LCT held its third-ever trade show in 1986. The first-ever limousine trade show was held by LCT in 1984 at Caesar’s.
Next year, the show merges with the BusCon Expo, also owned by LCT’s parent company Bobit Business Media, to form America’s Bus & Coach (abc) Expo in downtown Philadelphia, Nov. 15-17, 2020. Details here.
At this year’s East, two keynote discussions advised operators on how to appeal to the changing demands of business travel clients as well as pursue ground transportation opportunities in a disrupted environment.
The Ground Travel Buyer Forum on Nov. 4 was led by Jay Campbell, journalist and co-founder of TheCompanyDime.com who questioned Mike Boult, senior vice president of corporate sales for Travel Leaders, one of the world's largest travel companies, and David McDonald, global travel manager at Hogan Lovells International, a law firm operating in 45 countries.
The industry is seeing major shifts in user experience and demand, the panelists said, and Uber and Lyft are not going away. But too many of their disgruntled drivers work too hard and complain about pay and conditions, which poses safety and service risks to the clients who use them.
One way luxury transportation services can win over more clients is by segmenting and leveraging their services like the airlines do into tiers based on price and service levels, the panelists discussed. Operators need to control their own destinies and ask themselves where are the best markets and places to grow.
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A day later, LCT Publisher Sara Eastwood-Richardson led a discussion on the wider trends that will transform ground transportation in the coming decade. “The Hot Seat” experts included Chris Jones, leader of the Canalys firm's global Intelligent Vehicle Service; Adam Parken, head of global communications for Blacklane, an app-based transportation model that targets the luxury market; Glenn Cook of the Greater Orlando Limousine Association and Lake Nona Transportation; and Matthew W. Daus, Transportation Technology Chair at the City University of New York’s (CUNY) Transportation Research Center of The City College of New York and former head of the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission.
Get ready for more autonomous shared rides, electrification, urban growth, and mega-cities that attract young workers, Jones told attendees. Car sales are declining throughout the Western world and Asia as many young people forgo driver’s licenses. On-demand autonomous mobility could eventually save about 1.5 million lives globally taken in vehicle-related crashes, Jones said. Among early adopters of autonomous vehicles (A.V.) will be fixed-route shuttle services in urban areas, but AVs still face many safety and technological hurdles making them years away.
MORE: Look for additional LCT East coverage in future issues of LCT Magazine and on LCTMag.com.
Parken predicted the value of chauffeurs will increase in a semi-autonomous transportation world, even if steering wheels don’t exist. Luxury clients will still prefer someone who can provide security, escort them, handle luggage, and act as a guide and travel assistant, he said.
Parken also confronted the costly “add-on” pricing culture of chauffeured transportation where clients get a base rate and then are hit with any number of taxes, fees, and surcharges that boost the overall price. He advocated Blacklane’s approach of all-in pricing for clients that is transparent to buyers. “It’s misleading to try to look more affordable for the sake of SEO,” he said of traditional pricing methods. “Blacklane’s single price you first see is the final price (gratuity included).”
Daus forecast increased congestion in heavy transportation areas resulting from more growth in the senior population that prefers to live in or close to cities. They will want easy ground transportation just like the younger generations oriented to on-demand service, he said. That requires “multi-modal” approaches to transportation or multiple options that involve every vehicle from a scooter to an autonomous vehicle to a private luxury vehicle to buses.
“Limos will still exist,” Daus said. “People will still want high-end service even with autonomous vehicles.” Travel managers also will not want to deviate from high duty-of-care safety standards, he added.
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Lexi Tucker contributed to this report.
Related Topics: 2019 LCT East, Atlantic city, Cadillac Professional Vehicles, Global Ground Transportation Institute, industry education, industry events, industry leaders, industry trends, industry vendors, networking, new vehicles, tradeshows
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| about 2 months agoNot to be a spoiler, but the LCT Limo Show in 1986 was held at the Trump Plaza not the Trump Taj Mahal which wasn't built until 1990.