Square, what’s going on...?

Let’s face it, the meetings industry has been waiting with impatience and high expectations for the opening of Square, the new meeting venue right in the heart of Europe. We all agree that Brussels needs a prestigious place for high profile meetings, not only to replace the old conference centre but also to fulfill its role as Capital of Europe, a leading conference city and a privileged destination for conference organizers.

Then why, in the months, weeks leading up to the famous 20.09-20.09-2009 opening do we keep on hearing all these strange rumors and stories. Why, barely 3 weeks before the opening, did Catherine Calmels disappear, why can journalists not get a press pack 2 weeks prior to the opening, why is the general consensus that it is so difficult to get answers out of them of a purely commercial nature..?

When you have two different entities (the political appointees & GL Events) running a place like that, and when ‘politics’ rears up its ugly head, you are bound to get conflicting stories and negative impressions doing the rounds.

However there is no getting around some hard facts such as the outrageous F&B prices that are being quoted: €7.50 pp (ex VAT) for the simplest coffee break, € 75 pp (again ex VAT) for a 2 hr cocktail party with cava (no champagne!!) and canapés…We appreciate that Loriers (now owned for 75% by GL Events… !) is one of our better catering companies and we have understanding for the exclusivity of one catering company in such a venue, but that is not a license for money printing as Square seems to think....

When we inquired two weeks ago about the business on the books, no clear answer could be given, suffice to say that the first months are not booked out and that the Belgian Presidency of the EU next year will probably be help to make next year’s budget. From several sources we have been informed of the difficulty in getting options & quotes….the notion of option dates even seems to be hard to grasp for Square…one has to wonder…

Isn’t this a pity…? Architecturally and esthetically the place is magnificent, where else in the world can you meet under real Delvaux & Magritte murals…? Unfortunately, much free and well meant advice from the country’s professionals was not taken in account and as a result Square has its limitations from the very start. As said before, Brussels is desperate for a good, 21st century conference complex, Square unfortunately does not tick all the boxes, let’s just hope that the Heysel plateau project for a large convention complex will soon be activated so that Square & Heysel can put Brussels on the top spot in convention locations that it deserves!

If you would like to react to this article, send us your comments on info@bbtonline.eu, please indicate if we can mention your name. We will definitely have a follow-up in our next edition.

Brussels’ Hotels respond to crisis by de-classification…!

Viviane Vogels investigated the actual difficulties in the Brussels Hotel & Restaurant industry after a fairly devastating summer season…

Lately there is a new trend on the Brussels’ Hotel Market: hotels ‘de-classify’ from 5 to 4-stars! What is going on…? Hotels no less than the Sheraton Hotels Rogier and Airport, the Plaza and the Barsey Hotel who in the past have always been proud of their five stars have pioneered the trend and serious rumor has it that more will follow!

The major reason for this ‘de-classification’ is the fact that many companies, mainly in the pharmaceutical sector, have clear instructions not to book 5-star hotels anymore. In this time of crisis – and whomever said the crisis is over..think again – hotels have to battle for each client and loosing a great number of clients was not an option for some! Who can blame them although, as a short term solution it will definitely have its effect, but what of the long term…? What will happen when business picks up and they want to hike their rates up again to their former level…? There is of course another not negligible effect: 4-star hotels pay less city tax than 5-star hotels…trust Belgium..it always comes back to money and compromise!

BHA (Brussels Hotels Association) and the representatives in Belgium of the major international hotel chains have sounded the alarm concerning our decreased competitiveness in the business travel industry following the reduced VAT rates in the surrounding countries. And this is of course closely associated to the catastrophic results of the past months as far as business travel is concerned and the total lack of response of the Belgian political world that keeps on postponing a decision on the possible decrease of the VAT in the hotels & restaurants. Such a tremendous loss of competitive position can, in a very short period of time, totally nullify the years of efforts and important investments in the tourism industry, especially in the business travel branch: the events, congresses, meetings and incentives and let’s not forget the major investment in the new convention centre Square. Business Tourism is definitely an important source of income for our country. It is estimated that the loss of 10% of Business Travel will result in a loss of income of approx. 600 million euro for the tourism sector alone; the government would loose out on an estimated 300 million euro in several taxes such as VAT. Just think, in Luxembourg VAT is at 3%, in France at 5.5% and in Holland at 6%...Where would you go with your event…?

A few figures to make the politicians and you think…and hopefully react:

• The crisis is plowing a path of destruction through Horeca:
  during the first 8 months of this year the number of bankruptcies has gone up by 15.50% versus last year same period which was already a bad year versus the previous years!
• The downward trend of the income figures in the hotel industry are catastrophic,
  with an absolute record of a decrease by 25% in August 2009 (decrease of the occupancy by 12% and 15% decrease in the rates);
• This tendancy is mainly explained by a major decrease of the business travel clientele
  (- 35% revenue in August 2009), as the leisure travel clients seem to maintain their position in Brussels although with a decreased average roomrate;
• Proof of the pudding, the recently decreased VAT in France has permitted cities like Paris & Lille to realize a decent month of August with only a decrease overall of 5% for Paris and 3% in Lille.

What more are our politicians waiting for, more hotels & restaurants to close, more unemployed, less income…? They keep on hiding behind their adamant wish for Horeca to reduce ‘black’ work, but with competition and taxes as they are right now, they leave the professionals little choice!!

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