Use of technology in the events business was growing across both venues and planners, according to the latest webinar hosted by HOSPA, partnering with Cvent.
Looking to the year ahead, Nicola Allen, marketing director, Cvent gave an overview of the sector, with 61% of planners expecting their budgets to increase and 67% expecting their costs to increase, “so what that’s telling us is that we aren’t expected such an aggressive jump as last year in terms of budget increase”.
Addressing this, Leman Selamet, commercial director, The Landmark said: “We are introducing dynamic rates and becoming more flexible in terms of conditions and cancellation policies. We are also trying to be proactive and build our relationships with the clients.”
Lead times were a key issue, with Allen commenting that “a third of planners want a response in two days or less and they feel that response time is an area where hotels can improve. Twenty per cent of planners think hotels and planners can improve the thoroughness of their proposals”.
Selamet said that the group had worked over the past year to improve response times, cutting them from 36 hours, to 6hrs and 30 minutes, which, she said, was “efficient for everyone: clients and our teams”.
Marali Kempthorne, head of events, Reed & Mackay added: “For us, our lead times are getting shorter, we’re not having as much time to plan or consider options. Couple short lead times with contracted SLAs and the volume of enquiries that we’re receiving and that can put pressure on the team. Even if a response is a ’no’ efficiency is key.”
Helping to improve efficiency was technology, with Allen adding that 42% of planners were using technology to review event space, with more technology was being used across the piece. She said: “It has never been more important to leverage technology to showcase your event space.”
Selamet was quick to identify “a great opportunity to have real-time availability connected to the PMS which will make everything more efficient” while Kempthorne added: “We’re always looking for greater efficiency to help streamline the RFP stage, we also use anything the venues put out there, such as 3D tours. Those virtual tours are even more relevant now that we have such short lead times”.
Demand for experience-driven events was changing the industry, with companies considering venues such as art galleries and museums in addition to traditional venues.
Kempthorne said: “Our client base has expanded and with that comes a different type of venue. That coupled with a new generation coming through wanting something unique for their venue means that we have used sporting venues, an event on a boat, one in a shopping container. Clients want to be the first in their industry to deliver these great events.”
Selamet said that the hotel was looking to stay ahead of changing trends, responding: “We have a great product, our hotel is 125 years old, it has natural daylight and lots of F&B - our champagne bar is very popular, our gastro pub is becoming very popular. We encourage all our team to go and look at the new trendy venues and see what they can learn.”
The panel concluded that relationships and flexibility remained at the heart of events planning, with Kempthorne telling attendees that “clients are prepared to change dates to use a specific venue”. Good news for a booming sector.
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