IACC External Meetings Demand Report 2022

Communication

Communication with an external meeting venue was pointed out as a particularly important point when booking and using a venue, as illustrated in this quote: I would not call it an important detail; I would call it a crucial core point. I think communication is key. In our organisation, you really need a dedicated project manager or person dealing with our accounts, it is important (Informant #3). As mentioned in this previous quote, having someone responsible for your company and the proper execution of their time in the property is valuable to the company using the facilities. There must be communication but coming up with new ideas is valued as mentioned by an interviewee “Definitely, they listene d to us, they also come to us with innovation ” (Informant #1). If these points above are taken into consideration, this will impact the long-term loyalty of the guests to certain external meeting venue, although an interviewee has observed a decrease of communication since the beginning of the pandemic, as quoted “ with COVID-19, again, we of course, people don't work full time anymore. And there we yeah, we sense that it (interviewee referring to communication) not at the level as it was before COVID-19... ” (Informant #3).

Location

The location of the venue has a considerable impact on the smooth running of the meeting, and a successful event. Many see a positive impact by taking their employees in an external meeting venue as stated by one of the interviewees: So, when we are in a location, we want it to be very conducive to learning rather than a work, and hence why we don't use a lot of our own locations. Because when people are there, they tend to get interrupted by the day job, etc. If they're offsite they're not immune to it, because they can still be communicated with, but they feel more relaxed, more encouraged about being somewhere to learn (Informant #1). The easy access to a venue makes the beginning of the guest journey more enjoyable, as illustrated by this interviewee , “ what we needed is not too far from the airport, so a quick access ” (Informant #3), also mentioned by another interviewee stating “ and they had good transport links for train or car. Not so much for people flying down from Scotland but even that, the nearest airport is about 40-45 minutes away ” (Informant #1). Another important aspect of the location is the environment and surroundings of the venue, this will influence what the guests can do during their stay and free time , as mentioned in this quote “ It should be in a green environment, that was important for us, so not in the city, so people really need to go outdoors and have a walk ” (Informant #3).

Shared values

Having the same values and morals is an important aspect of the guest's journey. Values can be seen through an environmental aspect but also related to human values such as integrity and inclusiveness. Being mindful of the carbon footprint is crucial as illustrated by this quote: And there as well, we feel that they do a lot of effort. And each time I come there, I see that new features have been integrated, they pay a lot of attention to the green aspect. And that is also very important to us (Informant #3).

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