San Diego, California - September, 1999
PRA Destination Management, Inc., the first destination management company (DMC) to market with a franchise product, continues its "coast to coast" expansion plan with the signing of two new franchise locations in New York and Chicago, adding to the growing PRA franchise family of Santa Barbara, Palm Springs, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego North County (Encinitas) and San Diego.
Now serving eight destinations, PRA's plans are already on-track to be established in more key destinations across the United States within the next year.
Consistent with the granting of its original franchises, PRA again attracted meetings and conventions industry veterans in New York and Chicago, who were well positioned to perform thorough due diligence on PRA prior to purchasing franchises.
The New York and Chicago PRA franchises are owned and operated by Patrick Sullivan and Bryan Lewis, respectfully, and are scheduled to open in late October of this year.
In New York, Patrick Sullivan earned his reputation as one of the industry's creative planners, mentored by Anne Wold Graham of Gallagher/Wold. In the past few years, Sullivan managed his own meeting and incentive business. Because of his experience, coupled with his vast knowledge and contacts in New York City, Sullivan's clients contact his company first when coming to New York. Thus, a PRA Destination Management Team in Manhattan was an ideal business decision for Sullivan.
In Chicago, Bryan Lewis will leverage an established expertise with the international markets that he developed since entering the meetings and conventions industry in 1987, when he co-founded a Boston-based company and developed the in-bound European market there. Several years later, Lewis expanded into Chicago and profitably managed an operation serving Asia-Pacific and European clients. PRA-Chicago's Team will operate from renowned Michigan Avenue.
"New York and Chicago are two of the world's most dynamic destinations. Having a presence in each of these markets was always a key goal of PRA, but we had to be extremely cautious in selecting franchisees in each market," said Adrian Torkington, President and CEO of PRA's franchise entity. "Finalizing agreements with Patrick Sullivan and Bryan Lewis assures that PRA's commitment to the highest quality will carry on."
Sullivan, a purchaser of PRA's services over the past 13 years, was very aware of PRA's outstanding reputation. "PRA has always come through for me with outstanding results and professional services. With PRA's methodology and my experience, we make a perfect team," said Sullivan.
As Sullivan interviewed professionals to staff his PRA office, he became even more impressed with the franchisor after learning of glowing reviews of PRA issued by the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau to a prospective employee of the New York office.
Likewise, Lewis expressed interest in PRA after diligently researching its reputation with meeting planners that have repeatedly worked with the San Diego-based firm.
"My own business experience in the meetings and conventions industry indicates that DMCs will experience substantial growth over the coming decade," said Lewis. "I became very interested in aligning with the clear industry leader. Everything I heard about PRA was positive."
In late 1998, PRA began offering its franchise product for DMCs, a business-to-business sector that serves corporate, incentive and association gatherings in the $110 billion meetings industry. The potential growth of the DMC sector is such that hospitality titan Marriott Corporation has rolled out its own DMC product at selected hotels.
Over the last 18 years, destination management pioneer PRA has become an industry icon. Now it intends to expand its business by transferring its "learning-curve" to qualified owner-operators in key destinations frequented by meeting planners.
What PRA is providing to its franchisees is its marketing expertise and structure. PRA's time-proven systems, along with its training and marketing formulas, have allowed it to become an icon in the world of destination management and are the cornerstones of its franchising effort.
That PRA's own supplier partners have become the first franchisees is a high compliment and a strong endorsement of PRA's product. Supplier partners have substantial insight into the quality of PRA's operation, surpassing even the most rigorous due diligence typically performed by a potential franchisee.
First to express this confidence in PRA was internationally acclaimed event décor veteran, and long-time supplier partner to PRA, John J. Daly, Jr., CSEP. Daly, along with Bryan Chan, became owner-operators of PRA-Santa Barbara in November 1998.
Daly's decision to become a PRA franchisee, rather than start his own DMC, is supported by statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce, which reports that in a span of five years, only one in 10 franchise businesses fail, while nearly seven out of 10 independent businesses fail.
These numbers were not lost on the husband and wife team of Bob and Susan Carey, another long term supplier partner, who also signed on with PRA in 1998 becoming owner operators of PRA-Palm Springs after selling their long-established San Diego-area party rental firm.
"PRA's internationally established name with meeting planners, and our creativity, is a perfect combination," said Bob Carey, President of PRA-Palm Springs.
Franchising allows PRA to couple its expertise and market equity with the commitment and motivation that comes from local ownership.
"A majority of our business comes from repeat clients, which sends a strong message to us that our reputation is extremely valuable. While our clients will benefit from local ownership, they will also reap the benefits of the training and resources we provide to our owner-operators, which in turn will preserve our reputation and superior service standards across the country," said Denise O. Dornfeld, PRA Executive Vice President.
Franchisees share PRA's existing client database and participate in an international business referral network. PRA provides strong marketing and operational support ranging from collateral, identity and presentation materials to custom software and training curriculum. PRA equips franchisees with networking capabilities to PRA computers and proprietary software, allowing them to streamline event pricing, proposal generation, internal and external communication and business maintenance functions.
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