CHICAGO, Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Over 220 Chicago-area business owners and entrepreneurs will fly to London and points beyond today, courtesy of British Airways, as part of the airline's "Face-to-Face" campaign. The campaign, which was launched in July of this year, underscores the importance of in-person meetings for revitalizing business. The airline solicited stories from U.S. businesses on how a face-to-face meeting overseas could help them grow; the winning entries received free travel on special flights from New York, Los Angeles and Chicago to make their meetings a reality.

Today's flight, departing from O'Hare International Airport, is the third "Face-to-Face" flight operated by British Airways to connect entrepreneurs with one another as well as with U.S. and U.K. civic and business leaders. The event is supported by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and television personality Bill Kurtis.

"In the midst of a challenging time for business worldwide we aim to highlight the prospect of opportunity," said Simon Talling-Smith, Executive Vice President, Americas, British Airways. "We have now sent close to 1,000 U.S. entrepreneurs out into the world to conduct face-to-face meetings and generate leads that will ultimately revitalize the global economy. Our past winners who have returned from their trips have shared terrific updates on their successes and we expect to hear more of these stories in the months to come. Business will indeed make a comeback, today's travelers from Chicago can attest to that, and British Airways wants to be a part of this."

Michael Charlton, Chief Executive of Think London, the official foreign direct investment for London added: "London is the largest recipient of North American investment, and during the economic downturn we have seen North American companies take advantage of London's deeper and wider talent pool, lower commercial property costs, and the depreciation of sterling against the dollar. However this window of opportunity may be closing, so our advice to companies is that they should act now rather than wait and risk missing out."

AN UNRELENTING COMMITMENT TO HELPING U.S. BUSINESSES GROW

In August of this year, British Airways launched the second phase of the "Face-to-Face" campaign. Business Opportunity Grants further underscore the airline's commitment to helping U.S. businesses grow by giving 100 companies free travel for one year to anywhere in the world that British Airways flies, to attend crucial meetings.* The call for entries for this portion of the campaign has closed and winners will be announced the week of November 30. In addition to transport provided by British Airways, sponsors of the program include: The Regus Group, British Airways World Cargo, Canon USA, Inc. and Courtyard by Marriott.

*Flights are to anywhere in the world that British Airways flies to.

About the "Face-to-Face" Campaign

The "Face-to-Face," campaign was in the form of a competition created by British Airways that invited U.S. business people to make their case for an unmet business travel need and win free travel to London, or anywhere in the world that British Airways flies, to attend a crucial meeting. Competition winners not only receive a trip overseas, they also receive the opportunity to connect with other business people traveling on special British Airways flights and forge relationships that can further their own business objectives. With nearly 1,000 passengers from all over the U.S. on board planes leaving from New York, Los Angles and Chicago, it is only fitting to call this experience a networking, or salon, event at 38,000 feet. Events surrounding the departure and arrival of these special flights will also serve to underscore the importance of relationships in business. Business leaders and senior government officials in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and London will address winners at "power networking" events.

To help reinforce the idea that in-person meetings do drive business, British Airways commissioned a survey of Harvard Business Review readers to gauge perceptions within the international business community about the importance of face-to-face meetings. In a time when business travel has been severely cut, the study aimed to uncover the impact that virtual meetings have had on business growth and relationship building. Results from the survey of over 2,300 Harvard Business Review readers concluded that 95 percent of businesspeople said they believe that face-to-face meetings are key to success in building long term relationships, and 89 percent agree face-to-face meetings are essential for "sealing the deal."