"Factors that are essential when choosing a host city for a congress. Meetings industry impact on Metropolis" Rob Davidson presentation at Smart Metropolis Congress, Gdansk.

1. Factors that are essential when choosing a host city for a
congress
Meetings industry impact on Metropolis
Rob Davidson
Senior Lecturer in Business Events
University of Greenwich
smart metropolia
Gdansk, 22 Nov. 2013

2. Competition is growing

3. What do Congress Planners want?
• From venues and hotels …
• Value-for-money: the market is more pricesensitive than ever
• Flexibility, in negotiations and contracts. Risksharing (numbers of delegates, cancellations …)
• Transparency: what is included? Everything
upfront. (Audio-visuals, bottled water, carparking …)
• Professionalism, continuity
• Partnership!

4. What do Meeting Planners want?
• From destinations …
• Accessibility, infrastructure, security, valuefor-money, a strong, positive brand
• Cooperation and collaboration between local
actors in the meetings industry
• Ideas, suggestions, and assistance from the
Convention Bureau
• Subvention? …

5. Success Factors
• Maintaining the Metropolis as a desirable
destination for meetings depends on:
• Continuing to identify key markets for this city
• TEAM-WORK, to win meetings and
conventions for the Metropolis
• Using the full range of marketing tools:
exhibitions, advertising, public relations,
familiarisation trips, ambassador programmes,
et cetera

6. Success factors
• Educating local politicians, business people,
and local residents about the value of the
meetings industry
• Maintaining reliable statistics on the meetings
industry in the Metropolis: market
intelligence, statistics …

7. CONGRESS IMPACTS
• ECONOMIC BENEFITS
• - high-spending visitors
• - all-year-round
• - employment: people-intensive
• EDUCATION – KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER
• NATIONAL/CITY IMAGE-BUILDING
• ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS

8. CONGRESS IMPACTS
• TOURISM BENEFITS
• - hospitality industry benefits
• - participants can return for
holidays with friends/family
• - participants can be accompanied
• - participants can become ambassadors for metropolis

9. THANK YOU, EVERYONE
R.Davidson@greenwich.ac.uk

10. THANK YOU, EVERYONE
R.Davidson@greenwich.ac.uk