Business Tourism Partnership Mission

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Other Characteristics The UK Conference Market Survey researches 300 corporate organisers annually. The 2006 survey revealed the following characteristics for this segment: • Corporate events tend to have lower numbers of attendees than other types of conference (see next two sections). While the mean number of delegates attending corporate events in 2005 was 140 (up from 99 in 2004), the majority of events were still for less than 100 delegates • The average duration of a corporate event is now only 1.1 days (down from 1.6 days in 2001). Only 26% of events are residential, compared with over 40% in previous years • Their top three preferred venue types are city centre hotels, purpose-built convention centres and unusual venues (the two latter being rated equally) • Primarily location, price/value for money and access influence choice of venue, although availability, quality of service and quality of food are also very important. The factors causing most dissatisfaction are the venue’s staff’s understanding of an organiser’s needs, and speed of service • The mean lead-time within which events take place is 7.3 months, continuing a trend of longer lead times shown over recent years (5.7 months in 2004, 4.6 months in 2003), although this is still a far shorter time than for most other segments. Economic Benefits It is difficult to define the universe for this segment in terms of exactly what constitutes a meeting and how many companies hold events at any one time. Estimating the value, therefore, is also difficult. However, the corporate meetings segment is recognised as one of the most valuable segments of the conference market. It has been consistently shown to represent approximately two-thirds of the overall conference market which, in 2005, was worth an estimated £10.3 billion to venues alone (a figure which takes no account of the wider economic impact generated by conference activity). Corporate organisers researched for the UK Conference Market Survey 2006 spent an average £141,000 per year on events. 17
Trends and Issues The health of the economy in general, the state of markets and market changes in industry hugely affect corporate events. They also seem to be most affected by other forms of communication, although between 2002 and 2006 the volume of events for this segment remained relatively stable. During 2005, the most popular forms of communication used by corporate organisers in addition to face-to-face meetings were teleconferencing (81%), e-mail/intranet (79%) and web site/internet (71%). However, far from reducing the need for meetings, the proliferation of text, e-mail and internet messaging has increased the value and importance of face-to-face communication. “Making messages memorable” has become the greatest business challenge of the 21 st century. Interactive conferences have become the popular vehicle for the effective delivery and retention of key messages. So, out goes the theatre-style presentation from the file of suited directors hiding behind the lectern on a lofty and distant stage and in comes “Gladiator style” in-the-round tiered seating and roving microphones for intimate and relaxed Q&A sessions. An increasing use of theatrical and audience participation techniques is also evident. Rather than simply being added to the end of conference programmes, team challenges, quizzes and group musical performances are all being integrated to encourage real involvement and assist with message retention. Advances in technology have also hugely influenced this segment in terms of use of presentation technology. The UK Conference Market Survey 2006 identified that 88% of organisers used PC-linked data projection for presentations and 34% used electronic whiteboards, up from 18.5% the year before. Expectations of venues are high in terms of their ability to keep up with advances in presentation technology. Corporate conference organisers also have high expectations for all aspects of their meeting experience, demanding high quality meeting facilities and service, as justification for use of their valuable time in holding meetings. Recruiting and training staff to meet these service requirements is a continuing challenge for those providing facilities and services for conferences. 18
Page 1 and 2: BUSINESS TOURISM briefi ng AN OVERV
Page 3 and 4: 1. INTRODUCTION Business tourism in
Page 5 and 6: income it generates is also retaine
Page 7 and 8: • 12% are multi-purpose venues (e
Page 9 and 10: Business Tourists from Overseas Inb
Page 11 and 12: Table 2.2 Overseas Business Visitor
Page 13 and 14: o London o Birmingham o Manchester
Page 15 and 16: Table 3.1 Wales’ Share of Busines
Page 17: 4. BUSINESS EVENTS This section exa
Page 21 and 22: Economic Benefits Research* underta
Page 23 and 24: Future Trends and Issues • The de
Page 25 and 26: 60%). The International Congress an
Page 27 and 28: • Many convention bureaux run con
Page 29 and 30: potential delegates seek to travel
Page 31 and 32: large conventions. However, this ap
Page 33 and 34: - The UK exhibition industry genera
Page 35 and 36: contact, customer interaction and t
Page 37 and 38: Nevertheless, a thriving industry e
Page 39 and 40: f) CORPORATE EVENTS AND CORPORATE H
Page 41 and 42: In general, the corporate events an
Page 43 and 44: Marquees etc. A number of these ass
Page 45 and 46: The efforts to raise standards in t
Page 47 and 48: suppliers, purchase influencers, co
Page 49 and 50: communications targeted directly at
Page 51 and 52: Visit Wales Visit Wales offers a nu
Page 53 and 54: 6. BUSINESS EVENTS AND CREATIVE ENT
Page 55 and 56: Events Sector Link to Creative Econ
Page 57 and 58: sustainable events. To this end, th
Page 59 and 60: e accessed via the Universities and
Page 61 and 62: Thames Valley University, Ealing, p
Page 63 and 64: Further details are available from:
Page 65 and 66: MPI European Office, 22 Route de Gr
Page 67 and 68: 8. CAREERS IN THE INDUSTRY Finding
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smallness does often ensure that th
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conference marketing would be an as
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9. LIST OF REFERENCE LITERATURE The
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10. THE BUSINESS TOURISM PARTNERSHI
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Events Industry Alliance (EIA) 113
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Venuemasters The Workstation,15 Pat
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Business Tourism Partnership: Trade
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