World Events is designed to drive incremental business to hotels seeking to increase their share in the MICE segment.
FRANKFURT – Under the banner of “Inside Out”, Worldhotels gathered more than 65 of its hoteliers and senior industry experts at its annual International Leadership Conference to discuss current and future industry trends. During the conference, which took place from 17th to 20th September at the Tivoli Lisboa in Lisbon, the group also introduced World Events – its newly enhanced programme for the Meeting, Incentive, Conference and Event (MICE) market.
World Events is designed to drive incremental business to hotels seeking to increase their share in the MICE segment. At the heart of the revamped offering is a series of new partnerships in key European markets; local MICE experts in France, Germany and the UK are now serving as Worldhotels’ extended MICE force in their region, connecting the group’s hotels to local blue chip clients. In addition to dedicated sales support, hotels participating in World Events are invited to exclusive networking opportunities with European high-value clients and receive priority access to key MICE trade shows such as IMEX and EIBTM.
“With World Events we are providing our hotels with a key ingredient to succeed in the international MICE market: strong relationships with local buyers serving high-quality clients,” says Geoff Andrew, Worldhotels’ Chief Operating Officer. “At Worldhotels we believe in a “Stronger Together” and our enhanced MICE offering perfectly demonstrates this credo.”
Planners of meetings, conferences and events can access Worldhotels’ exclusive meeting facilities at worldhotels.com/event-planners.
The Worldhotels International Leadership Conference also saw renowned guest speakers present insights on consumer needs and trends in travel. Among the highlights were Duarte d’Eca Leal, MBD. Gestao de Investimentos Hoteleiros, who delivered an inspirational speech titled “Dream, Dare, Do” and Ian Stazicker, Tourism Director Value Retail PLC, who offered an overview of shopping tourism. Among further presenters were Alexandre Just, Associate at Lausanne Hospitality Consulting, who shared his insights on Generation Y and their travel behaviour, Andre Wiringa, Chief Experience Officer & Strategic Consultant at Performance Solutions, who spoke about the creation of memorable and unique experiences and Olaf Slater, Chief Product Officer, Trust International Hotel Reservation Services GmbH, who explained the concept of Augmented Reality and its use in tourism.
Rounding off the exclusive gathering, Worldhotels presented its 2014 Leadership Award to Tan Sri Dato’ Teo Chaing Hong, owner of the One World Hotel in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, to honour his contribution to the tourism industry and the local community.
“Our market is driven by innovation and creativity and the International Leadership Conference is a perfect platform to heighten the latest trends to our executive hoteliers”, comments Kristin Intress, CEO of Worldhotels, on her first Leadership Conference as the group’s head. “As ‘dream catchers’ we can instigate, accentuate and challenge the curiosity of our guests and Dare them to dream, to live, and to DO!”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
