CHALLENGES AHEAD FOR THE EUROPEAN MEETING INDUSTRY

By Dries De Maré – HelmsBriscoe Inernational

After a very successful IMEX (Europe’s leading trade show for the MICE industry, held every year in Frankfurt) the industry seems to be alive and very kicking. I guess most of the exhibitors are happy with the overall attendance by a well balanced mix of hosted buyers and visitors.

Some will be satisfied with the deals that were finalized or the new RFPs that were delivered. There were plenty of networking opportunities (association evening, parties and cocktail receptions...) and some top level panel discussions. Here are some of the things I have noticed throughout the fair, or concerns (gathered over the past few months) which I want to share with you and that will hopefully stir up some further brain-racking, comments or whatever:

THE CHALLENGE OF PROCUREMENT
Both travel managers and their companies have spent loads of time and money to work out the best concept on transient travel, to get the best deals with suppliers and impose booking guidelines on their travelling staff. But when it comes to meetings, it gets even more complicated and therefore will take months or even years before they can embark upon some major project (c.f. IKEA’s Yves Galimidi during the past Belgian Association of Travel Management meeting). The savings that can be made with a strong concept, however, are huge, both in time and money.

Many travel managers are hesitating and looking at their colleagues which way to choose: go direct, use a third party agency, un-bundle all parts of meeting management and use the “best in class” for every portion such as air, venue sourcing, delegate management, ... In the past few months we notice that, slowly but surely, procurement and travel managers, often with the help of external consultants, try to find a way to set up the perfect mix of preferred suppliers for the various elements of meeting management.

They then link this with high performing technology platforms and finally have to convince their meeting planning staff (very often many more people are involved in meeting planning, than management estimates) to follow certain guidelines, and this latter process often turns out to be the slowest and most delicate one.

Combined buying power, centralized procurement and streamlined booking processes help companies save big amounts of money, as opposed to letting every single management assistant or conference planner continue to use his preferred local contacts. Some multinationals are only now finding out that, just within one country, they have been using 20 or more different third party agencies! Still some work to be done, fellas!

THE CHALLENGE OF THE SELLER’S MARKET
We are clearly going from a buyer’s market to a seller’s market, especially in the US but increasingly in major destinations in Europe, Asia and even Africa. Therefore hotel procurement plays a major role and will be the challenge to face the next couple of years, more than air with many airlines suffering from overcapacities and the competition of low cost carriers worldwide. If significant savings can be made, it will be in the first place by centralizing hotel procurement.

In the US an increasing number of DMCs are already purely concentrating on land arrangements such as transportation, external catering, excursions, whereas major companies prefer to split off the hotel part and are either booking the venues directly (e.g. using a preferred chain) or using a venue sourcing specialist for all of their hotel needs (with a more flexible approach towards brands and properties).

Major initiatives are being taken finally and will fairly soon lead to the most important savings and changes in meeting procurement. A very good example is the forum for pharmaceutical meeting planners that is taking place this week in London (www.pharmameetingplanners.com/EU). The sister organisation in the US has been doing so for some time, and now Europe’s ‘pharma’ companies, the biggest spenders by far, can catch up with their US counterparts and get the best out of workshops dealing with important issues such as meeting consolidation and procurement initiatives, effective choice of preferred vendors and third party agencies, technology and ROI. Looking forward to the outcome of this event!

THE CHALLENGE OF HOSTED BUYERS
Now for something completely different: I am amazed at the number of hosted buyers being invited to all kinds of events, fam trips, trade shows... regardless of the potential business they can bring to the exhibitors.

Size matters, of course it does, but taking a close look at lists of attendees, emailings, people actually present at the event ….often reveals that 10% or more are just would-be meeting planners, or even worse, have set up a kind of construction (be it a company or – most probably - an association) allowing themselves to be hosted for this kind of prestigious events.

In many cases, these people turn out to be crypto-holidaymakers, not bringing any potential business at all (but pretending to do so) and simply enjoying the best pieces of what IMEX, EIBTM or the CVBs’ fam trips have got to offer. I suggest it is high time to make a thorough analysis and clean up, so that there is space again for real big potentials.

THE CHALLENGE OF INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS IN EUROPE
Another surprising evolution: US travel formalities and stringent visa regulations lead to a new development in the mix of nationalities present at international meetings or conferences. For citizens of some countries, it is extremely complicated (and expensive!) to get hold of a visa to enter the US, and these efforts do not pay off for a two or three day event.

Therefore both worldwide associations and multinationals regularly decide in favour of a non-US destination to organize their event and enable all delegates a less troublesome journey through the jungle of formalities, by choosing a more foreigner-friendly destination. US venues can be lucky that the domestic market is booming. If it were up to the foreign companies to fill their rooms, there would have been many more joining the jolly bunch of Chapter 11.

THE CHALLENGES HERE IN BELGIUM
Last but not least, my biggest concern brings us back to Belgium. Brussels clearly cannot host important international conferences without its Palais des Congrès. All Belgian PCOs and the like should have been on the streets years ago because this lethargic administration is jeopardizing their existence and not showing the slightest initiative to keep pace with most other major European cities and competitors. Look at any random secondary destination in some countries where the newest and most prestigious conference centres are built in no time, backed up by a clear and attractive concept of healthy finances and innovative infrastructure. Tell me why we simply can’t just do so in ‘Europe’s best kept secret’?

Our Belgian coast is suffering from another kind of illness: no full concept with which to approach prospective clients. You can build another hundred ‘Staf Versluys’ conference centres or similar, but try finding accommodation for say 300 persons in good 4 or 5* hotels close by. The real estate lobby on our coast is way too strong and with ‘La Réserve’ turning into a combination of apartments and hotel rooms (fewer than before), yet another landmark is slowly disappearing, which makes it even more difficult to convince both domestic and foreign customers to hold their residential seminars on the coast. I am afraid we won’t easily get rid of this ‘sorrow of Belgium’, but it keeps us busy and creative at least...

Dries De Maré - HelmsBriscoe International
ddemare@helmsbriscoe.com
Tel/Fax : +32 87 63 20 95 - Mobile : +32 495 824 666
SkypeID : dwieske
Joseph Olbertz Str. 16, B-4720 Kelmis (Belgium)
www.helmsbriscoe.com