Hotels need to re-think meetings strategy

Being out of touch with the meetings industry can result in empty chairs in your meeting rooms.

A survey of key meetings industry buyers and suppliers has found that venue providers are out of touch with the needs of buyers.

The findings of the third Middle East Meetings Industry Research Report released at last month’s GIBTM exhibition in Abu Dhabi revealed that meetings buyers and suppliers have different ideas as to what’s important when booking an event.

When placing an event in the Middle East, cost is the number one influencing factor for buyers, whereas suppliers say it’s location, placing cost in second place.

Suppliers place quality of accommodation in fourth spot (compared to second place for buyers) and say the quality of meeting facilities is fifth priority when buyers say it’s third on their lift.

In addition, suppliers are also under the impression that availability of accommodation and venues is an issue (they believe it’s sixth place in terms of the top 10 influencing factors) whereas buyers reveal it’s less important now that demand has slowed down.

This influencing factor is eighth on their list when last year the survey found it was in third place.

Suppliers surveyed were also more optimistic than buyers about the future volume of events likely to be generated, with 45% anticipating an increase in the next 12 months compared to 25% of buyers.

Both parties predict that budgets will decrease, but again, suppliers seem out of touch with buyer behaviour – 47% of suppliers expect budgets for individual events to decrease compared to 64% of buyers.

Research for the survey was undertaken in January and February 2008 and generated feedback from 258 meeting buyers and 167 meeting suppliers from across the globe.

The 258 buyer respondents were from 47 countries with 31% from the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries. The 167 supplier respondents were based in 38 different countries with 68% based in the Gulf/Middle East. They represented a broad range of suppliers – 40% from hotels/spas, 18% DMCs and 9% national tourist organisations.

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