Tag: daily delegate rate

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Despite uncertainty, mia reveals delegate day rate growth up ten per cent

Meetings venues across the UK have overcome a challenging economy to experience a 10 per cent rise in delegate day rates (DDR) over the last four years, according to figures gathered by the Meetings Industry Association (mia).

Despite the ongoing economic uncertainty and a slowdown in the rate of GDP growth, the average DDR among mia members rose by 2 per cent in 2018 to £43.48, continuing the steady upward trend noted since miaTouchstone started tracking rates in 2015.

The outlook for the year ahead is also promising, according to results of the miaTouchstone survey. Overall enquiry levels were up by over 10 per cent in 2018 indicating the industry’s positive growth could continue into 2019.

Venues in the South West and East Midlands were among those with the highest rate rises. Both regions saw an increase of 20 per cent in their DDR rates in 2018 while residential rates rose around 25 per cent

Average 24-hour residential rates reported by the mia member venues to the online benchmarking tool also rose by 2 per cent in 2018 compared to those in 2017 with the latter months showing a bigger uplift.

While rates rose, so too did the average number of meetings. Despite an immediate drop off in activity levels following the EU Referendum in 2016, the industry bounced back to experience 12 per cent growth in 2018.

Mia chief executive Jane Longhurst said: “The miaTouchstone results indicate that 2018 was a good year for most participating mia members. To see growth in many areas, particularly DDR, is testament to the hard work of mia venue members in providing an excellent service to their customers and is especially noteworthy against the backdrop of a challenging economy.

“It is also heartening to see that confidence in the business meetings and events market is high for the year ahead, although everyone is aware that the UK’s proposed exit from the EU at the end of March could change that.

“MiaTouchstone’s review of enquiry levels is always a key indicator of prospects going forward, particularly in the current volatile climate, and this will be a key measure for mia members to watch over the next six months as the UK economy adjusts to a ‘post-Brexit’ world.”

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Rate Check – book early for better value for money

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We all know that there are lots of factors that will make a difference to the rate charged by a venue, such as the day of the week, the date, the location.  We’ve taken a look at one of our client’s events that could take place in January or March 2019 and compared the costs. 

Decreasing bar chart from SimpleIcon http://www.simpleicon.com/

As well as the hotels in the table, 19 additional hotels were contacted and there was no availability on both dates.

The brief is for a one-day conference:

  • Attendees: 55 people
  • Location: Central London or countryside location accessible from Heathrow Airport
  • Venue style: Hotel, preferably 5* or boutique hotel in London or country house outside London
  • Meeting room layout: cabaret style
  • Catering: separate areas for refreshment breaks and lunch
  • Food & beverage: 3 servings of tea/coffee and lunch
  • Accommodation : 55 bedrooms on Friday night

The rates below are for a daily delegate rate including 3 breaks, plus bed and breakfast, as the client wanted to have dinner offsite.

rate comparison checker

EDGE Venues advises clients to book as far in advance as possible to achieve the best possible rates and in the majority of cases the comparison supports this.  Unless the client waits until the very last minute and is prepared to compromise, the rates will only increase as availability becomes scarcer closer to the event date. 

There was no obvious saving taking this event outside London as there were fewer hotels to choose from that met the client’s requirements.

Points to note

The venue finding was done in September 2018, so an 18-week lead time to the January date and a 25-week lead time to the March date.

*We were unable to compare these conferences at all of the same hotels as some of them were already booked on the relevant date, but for comparison purposes they are similar in style, standard and facilities.