Profile: Viad Corp (VVI)

Viad Corp (Viad) provides marketing services in North America, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, as well as travel and recreation services in the United States and Canada. The Company’s services are classified into three reportable business segments: GES, comprised of GES Exposition Services, Inc. and its affiliated companies, including Melville Exhibition and Event Services Limited and Corporate Technical Services Limited (collectively Melville) and GES Exposition Services (Canada) Limited, Experiential Marketing Services comprised of Exhibitgroup/Giltspur, a division of Viad, and its affiliated companies, including SDD Exhibitions Limited and Voblo Verwaltungs GmbH (Exhibitgroup/Giltspur) and The Becker Group, Ltd. (Becker Group) and Travel and Recreation Services provided by the Brewster Inc. and Glacier Park, Inc. business units. On January 4, 2008, Viad completed the acquisition of Becker Group, a marketing company specializing in creating immersive, entertaining attractions and brand-based experiences for clients and venues, including shopping malls, movie studios, museums, consumer brands and casinos. In July 2009, the Company announced a strategic reorganization that will align the Company's brands and operations into two business units: Marketing & Events Group, and Travel & Recreation Group.

GES

GES provides services to the exhibition, event and corporate meeting industry, which primarily consists of exhibitions, trade shows, conventions, and corporate and special events that facilitate face-to-face marketing. GES is a primary service provider in North America and the United Kingdom. GES has a network of offices in popular destinations in North America and the United Kingdom, as well as in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. During the year ended December 31, 2008, GES and its affiliated companies, under the GES Worldwide Network brand, provided services to over 250,000 exhibitor customers in North America and the United Kingdom and for an estimated 2,000 exhibitions and hundreds of events and projects across North America, the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates.

GES has full service operations in 16 United States cities, eight Canadian cities, four United Kingdom cities and one city in the United Arab Emirates. Melville also provides GES a platform for the expansion of GES’ business into other international markets. In January 2009, through its Melville affiliate, GES extended its freight forwarding and logistics services business into continental Europe by launching operations in Germany. GES provides exhibition and event services, such as designing, planning, managing, producing, installing and dismantling every aspect of an exhibition and event.

GES’ principal customers are show organizers, corporate event organizers and exhibitors. Central to GES’ customer base are show organizers, which are comprised of for-profit show owners, not-for-profit trade associations, publishing firms, show management companies and corporations that plan and manage their own events. Under its agreements with show organizers, GES provides services to the show organizer and is designated as the exclusive provider of certain services to exhibitors participating in the exhibition or event. Services provided to show organizers include general management; planning and consultation; concept design; exhibition layout and design; graphics and design; show traffic analysis; carpeting and flooring; decorating products and accessories; custom graphics; overhead rigging; cleaning, and electrical, lighting and plumbing distribution. Exclusive services provided to exhibitors typically include material handling services, overhead rigging, electrical distribution and cleaning.

Experiential Marketing Services

Experiential Marketing Services, comprised of Exhibitgroup/Giltspur and Becker Group (acquired on January 4, 2008), has 28 client care centers in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Canada, and further services its clients internationally through partners in various other countries. Exhibitgroup/Giltspur specializes worldwide in exhibits, events, mobile marketing tours, permanent installations, temporary retail environments, and other face-to-face marketing services. Exhibitgroup/Giltspur combines its core services of custom design, construction and marketing expertise with an ability to provide complete event program management. Exhibitgroup/Giltspur provides its services primarily to major domestic and international corporations. A majority of Exhibitgroup/Giltspur’s corporate clients are from the healthcare, consumer/entertainment, aerospace, real estate, and computer services and electronics industries.

Exhibitgroup/Giltspur’s services include: design; integrated marketing, including pre- and post event communications and customer relationship management; staff training; event surveys; program management and planning; logistics management; maintenance and warehousing; in-house installation and dismantling; show services; online program management tools and multimedia services. Exhibitgroup/Giltspur also provides portable and modular exhibits, and design, construction and installation services for permanent installations including museums, corporate lobbies, visitors centers, showrooms, and retail interiors. Through egRetailsm in the United States and sddRetailsm internationally, Exhibitgroup/Giltspur also produces retail merchandising units (or kiosks) for shopping malls and retail stores worldwide. It offers clients complete turnkey services, including design, engineering, graphic production, fabrication, warehousing, shipping and on-site installation of the retail merchandising units.

Travel and Recreation Services

Travel and recreation services are provided by the Brewster Inc. (Brewster) and Glacier Park, Inc. (Glacier Park) business units. Brewster is a major tourism service operator in Western Canada, delivering tourism products that include world-class attractions, transportation services, inbound package tour operations and hotel operations. Brewster’s transportation operations include charter motorcoach services, sightseeing and scheduled services and airport service. Brewster operates a modern fleet of luxury motorcoaches, available for groups of any size, for travel throughout the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. In addition, Brewster provides year-round half- and full-day sightseeing tours from Calgary, Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper, Canada.

Brewster’s inbound package tour operations feature year-round package tours throughout Canada. These packages include motorcoach, rail, self-drive automobile, ski and winter touring and consist of both group and individual tours and may be custom designed at the time of booking. Brewster also operates two hotels in Alberta: the Mount Royal Hotel, which is located in the heart of Banff, and the Glacier View Inn (formerly, the Columbia Icefield Chalet), which is located on the Icefields Parkway between Lake Louise and Jasper. The hotels principally cater to leisure travelers.

Glacier Park operates four historic lodges, three 1960s-era motor inns and one freestanding camp store in and around Glacier National Park in Montana and Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta, Canada. Services provided by Glacier Park include lodging varying from hikers’ cabins to suites, food and beverage operations, retail operations and tour and transportation services. The tour operation utilizes a fleet of 33 authentic 1930s red touring buses that have rollback canvas tops. Individual travelers account for approximately 88 % of Glacier Park’s customers, while tour groups account for the remaining 12 %. Glacier Park operates the concession portion of its business under concession contracts with the United States National Park Service (the Park Service) for Glacier National Park and with the Canadian Government for Waterton Lakes National Park.