Mike Kershaw

Chairman

Concerto Group

Business Tourism Scotland:

Conference 2014

WHAT NEXT FOR VENUES?

Introducing the Concerto Group

The Rise of the Unusual Venue

A credible alternative to the hotel conference room

Easier to create ‘on brand’ events

Flexible catering offers

Financially viable use of property

Exciting and unusual

Ready to take advantage of the growth in the UK MICE

market

Cool Venues Are Everywhere!

Village Underground, London

Starlight, Manchester

Old Billingsgate Market London

Tobacco Dock, London

BUT……

Everyone wants to be unusual

Hotels are upping their game – Mondrian, Hotel Football,

Gotham, Titanic

Bars and restaurants chasing MICE business

Another day, another venue

Carousel, London

And Everywhere is a Wedding Venue..

The Sherbrooke Castle Hotel, Glasgow

Somerleyton Hall, Suffolk

Searcy’s, The Gherkin, London

The Natural History Museum, LondonThe Garden Room at Syon, Middlesex

Oxo2 London

So What Next For Venues?

How do we improve occupancy and yield?

How do venues up their marketing game?

What threats do we face and how do we deal with them?

What will the most successful venues of the future be

doing?

How Do We Improve Occupancy and Yield??

Hire well trained events specialists

Compile easy package options

Focus on what you can do, not what you can’t

Focus on Markets as well as enquiries

Agencies are your friend

Offer a competitive pricing structure

Quickly adapt to new changes in health and safety

regulations

How Do We Improve Occupancy and Yield??

Keep up to date with changes in the industry

Look at ways to add value, cheaply

Identify your USPs and communicate these

Offer free, high speed WiFi

High-tech AV facilities

Don’t be greedy

What’s Next For Venue Marketing?

Responsive, well structured websites

Use of social media as an engagement tool

Content driven marketing

SEO and digital marketing

Use of online venue finding agencies

What Next for Venue Marketing?

Death of traditional marketing:

X Brochures

X Poorly designed websites

What Are The Threats?

The hotel industry

Restaurants

Bars and pubs

The Successful Venue of the Future

Hi tech and turnkey

Fantastic staff and fantastic food

Responsive, well structured website

Agent friendly

Easy to access