Tag: UK

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Rate Check – How much can you expect to pay?

It’s great news that events are starting again, so we thought it would be interesting to look at the rates that are being quoted by venues in different parts of the country.

There is demand, but event bookers are reluctant to confirm the booking until the government guidelines are clear about social distancing and the pilot events have been completed.

As usual rates are higher in months where there is less availability and they are lower outside London.

For example, we’ve looking at a 3-day event for 350 people in February 2021 and comparing various locations around the country. The rates vary, as follows:

Location Catering B&B
Liverpool £32.00-£39.00 £75.00-£105.00
Manchester £27.50-£36.00 £125.00-£146.00
Birmingham £32.00-£38.00 £96.00-£121.00
East Midlands £37.00-£44.00 £87.00
South Wales £53.00-£60.00 £120.00

However, the rates are higher for 2021. This is for a mid-week one day event for 30 people, where we’ve been quoted daily delegate rates of:

Location Date DDR
Hertfordshire June £55.00
Leeds July £36.00-£40.00
Milton Keynes July £35.00
London September £55.00-60.00
London November £65.00-£85.00

Some venues are sticking to previous rates, some venues are increasing rates to take account of fewer people in the same space. Pricing isn’t consistent at the moment, with some venues requesting supplements or additional room hire costs.

Social distancing is a big problem for venues and both they and the event bookers need to know what they can do in terms of capacity. It’s not just for the meeting rooms, but moving around the venue, catering and restrooms. Venues with outside space definitely have an advantage. After a turbulent year, the venues will need to be confident that they can operate at a profit when they open.

The Meetings Industry Association carried out a survey into social distancing in May 2020 and found that:

  • The majority (82%) of venues confirmed they can operate with social distancing measures in place.
  • Nearly half (46%) of respondents identified that their venue’s capacity would have to be more than halved, with 27% highlighting a reduction of between 41-50% would be required.
  • As a result of these reduced capacities, 59% of venues would not break even.
  • Over 80% expect to lose more than half of their turnover per month.
  • 17.5% of venue operators say it would be ‘impossible’ to open their venue while adhering to social distancing measures, both on commercial and operations grounds.

It will take some time for things to settle down. We will continue to review rates and report on trends as the bookings increase and report.

For more information and advice on booking venues for conferences, meetings and events, call us on 01780 484051 or email enquiries@edgevenues.com

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Destinations where events are taking place

In the past few weeks, we’ve seen some experimental conference in meetings in destinations around the world. So, what’s happening abroad and how does that compare to the UK?

The Netherlands

In Holland there’s an organisation called Fieldlab Events, which is a collaboration between the Dutch government with companies, interest groups and the public. They are running an experimental programme to test different events (business and public) and situations (inside and outside, seated, standing, different social distancing and capacities etc.) to see how the Coronavirus limitations can be eased.

On 15th February, there was a test conference for 500 people, called Back to Live. The venue was the purpose-built Beatrix Theatre in Utrecht. Various measures were put in place:

  • Everyone had to have a negative Covid test before attending
  • Temperatures were taken on arrival
  • They were divided into separate groups, using different entrances and washrooms
  • They were fitted with movement sensors
  • Some had to wear a mask, some sat behind screens
  • All have to take another Covid test 5-days afterwards

The event was a success and the result from this event was that one person tested positive for Covid after the event, but it wasn’t traced back to attendance.

There are more events in the pipeline over the next 8 months, with Covid-19 prevention measures in place to test:

  • 50% capacity with 75% sitting/25% standing
  • 100% capacity with 50% sitting/50% standing
  • 100% capacity with 25% sitting/75% standing
  • 100% capacity with a mixture of sitting/standing
  • 100% capacity with no measures

There was also a Dutch Music Festival experiment on the 20th of March, 2021 for 1,500 people.

All attendees were tested for COVID-19 48-hours before entering the grounds, while 150 rapid tests were also randomly administered at the entrance. 26 people who tested positive were not admitted. In the event everyone had to wear a motion tracker and download a location-tracking app to monitor their movements and contact moments. Face masks were mandatory, however, everyone took them off minutes after the party started and no one stopped them.

Singapore

Singapore has recently held two experimental events:

1. The PCMA Convening Leaders 2021 conference

This conference was held at Marina Bay Sands as a hybrid event, 11th-15th January 2021. Usually there are around 4,000 attendees, but this time there were 300 delegates at the live event and 3,000 joined virtually.

The Marina Bay Sands created a Global Broadcast Centre for keynote speakers, expert panels and face-to-face experiences and local cultural tours. Delegates had to test negative for Covid before departure, on arrival and they were tested on-site before entering. Other safety measures included limits on crowd density; social distancing; ensuring a safe and clean environment; and preparing for emergencies relating to Covid-19.

2. Travel Revive

Travel Revive was Singapore’s first trade show during Covid-19 and took place at Singapore’s Sands Expo & Convention Centre in November 2020. It was also a hybrid event

This was a two-day exhibition with almost 1,000 local and international delegates, both local and international. The safety measures also focused on crowd density; grouping attendees; contact tracing; meeting booths with screens and a diary app to book meetings between buyers and exhibitors.

United Arab Emirates

The UAE has been open to visitors since July 2020 and business events recommenced in October 2020. Staff at venues taking a PCR test every week. Attendees will have to have a test with a negative result within 48-hours of the event. The capacity for business events is 50% of previous attendance.

To set the health and safety protocols, Dubai firstly held a half day event with 600 attendees from a local audience. They looked at what worked and this enabled them to put a set of guidelines in place, resulting is several international association events taking place at the end of 2020.

  • Expo 2020 Dubai

This event has been postponed for a year and will now take place from 1st October 2021 to 31st March 2021. Some areas of the site are already open. About 190 countries are participating and the UK will have a pavilion at the event. International exhibitors and visitors are expected, with strict Covid-19 measures in place.

Conferences, meetings and exhibitions have been taking place since summer 2020, with social distancing, wearing masks, reduced capacities, improved cleaning and sanitation.

Spain – Barcelona

On 20th March, there was a music event for 5,000 people in Barcelona. They all had to test for Covid and have a negative result. Temperatures and IDs were checked on arrival. Attendees did not have to keep physically apart, but they still wore masks. Rapid testing was carried out onsite. Everyone will be retested on 25th and 26th March. The results have yet to be announced

UK

The events research programme has planned a series of up to 15 test events in April and May.  The first ones will are:

  • World Snooker Championship at the Crucible in Sheffield on 17 April
  • FA Cup Semi Final, Wembley Stadium on 17 April
  • World Snooker Championship, Sheffield Crucible Theatre
  • Luna Cinema, Liverpool
  • League Cup Final
  • ACC Business Event, Liverpool
  • Circus Nightclub, Liverpool
  • FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium
  • Outdoor gig, Sefton Park Liverpool

The pilots will be run across a range of settings, venues, and activities with the intention of full reopening of similar settings in multiple sectors later in the summer. The World Snooker Championship reported no Covid-19 cases afterwards.

As we receive information about the success of these events we will publish further articles.

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Blackpool to reveal forthcoming £500m transformation

Blackpool has returned to the conference and events mainstream. The resort’s message is to showcase its £500m transformation of the resort and its conference offer.

VisitBlackpool has joined forces with the resort’s Winter Gardens and a range of hotel partners to showcase its forthcoming transformation. They will exhibit at the International Confex to be staged at ExCeL London, 25-26 February.

A brand new £28m conference centre which is under construction adjacent to the historic Winter Gardens. This will increase capacity to almost 8,000 delegates when it officially opens for business early next year.

Several three-, four- and five-star hotels are also under construction.

The electrification of the Blackpool to Preston railway line will open up the resort to direct daily services with major cities including London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.

The infrastructure, including a remodelled seafront, new European-style trams and the development of the biggest range of branded visitor attractions outside London, is also to delivered.

Partners at International Confex include representatives from two of the resort’s new hotels, The Boulevard and Hampton By Hilton. As well as existing hotels including The Imperial, Best Western Carlton, Royal Hotels Group and The Grand.

Mandy Tythe-McCallum, business tourism manager, for VisitBlackpool, said: “Blackpool has a long-established reputation as a conference destination, but we need to tell the world that we are not trading on nostalgia.

“Our business tourism offer has benefited from the huge programme of resort regeneration that is underway. At the heart of our offer is the brand-new conference and exhibition centre that has been specifically designed to accommodate modern conferences and other large-scale events.”

With the addition of the new Conference & Exhibition Centre, the Winter Gardens will become a hub of 12 distinct venues. It will offer a total of 4.9 acres of connected conference, meeting, event and exhibition space.

The 140-year old Winter Gardens is itself enjoying a multi-million-pound upgrade. This will include a new air conditioning system, improved digital connectivity and extensive refurbishments throughout the complex.

The plans for the new Conference Centre and upgraded Winter Gardens have already seen the venue sign-up several new major clients. They also welcome back a number of big events which had relocated to other venues.

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Challenges revealed for tourism businesses in 2020 by UKinbound

Challenges UKinbound

Travel association UKinbound has announced that the top challenges for its members in 2020 include a negative perception of the UK resulting from Brexit, alongside recruiting and retaining staff.

These results were revealed during its Annual Convention in Bristol, which took place from 5-6 February at Mercure Bristol Grand Hotel.

The results were collected as part of the association’s January 2020 Business Barometer member survey. The survey was compiled by Qa Research, which also looked at business operating conditions in Q4 2019.

The survey additionally found that only 48% of tourism businesses believe they will be ready for Brexit by the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020. Results showed that visitor numbers, bookings, customer orders and yields remained the same.

One in three respondents said they were experiencing growth from the US market, while Germany and France continue to be the most sharply declining markets.

In Q4, China was the second leading growth market for members, with some suggesting this will be a pivotal market post-Brexit. However, a number of businesses said their 2020 optimism has wavered due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Joss Croft, CEO, UKinbound commented: “It is encouraging to hear that many of our members are experiencing strong forward bookings and that they’re confident about business in 2020.”

Croft continued: “However, there are significant challenges now and ahead for our members due to the impact of the Coronavirus on the Chinese market, negative perceptions of the UK and the looming prospect of the end of Free Movement. Our members are already struggling to recruit employees with foreign language skills and are worried about the administration involved in recruiting non-UK employees post Brexit.”

Croft concluded that UKinbound will work with the government to ensure the new immigration policy “treats the tourism industry fairly and if needed, we will campaign for an extension to the transition period so that businesses have enough time to prepare and adapt.”

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50 new openings sees luxury hotel market buoyant in UK

Private overseas investors and a weak sterling against the dollar has helped keep the luxury hotel market in the UK buoyant over the past 12 months, according to new research.

Private wealth law firm Boodle Hatfield said that 50 new luxury and premium hotels opened in 2018/19, a 1.5% rise over 2017/18, up to 3,380 hotels across the UK. Meanwhile the number of three-star and lower hotels dropped by just under 1% to 4,120 during the same period.

A strong market in London has helped drive the luxury market with new openings this year, including the Biltmore Mayfair, the first hotel from Hilton’s new luxury brand LXR Hotels & Resorts, and the Standard at King’s Cross.

Private investors from the Middle East and Asia have helped drive the growth of London’s luxury hotel sector. Recent acquisitions include the 603-bedroom Kensington Hilton – sold to Kurdish investor Bakir Cola for £260m, while Queensgate Investments bought a portfolio of four London properties from Grange Hotels for £1 billion.

The sector has also been boosted by a fall in the value of sterling against the dollar, which has helped drive international tourists to the UK, with VisitBritain forecasting a record spend of £24.5b from overseas visitors during 2019, up from £22.9b last year.

Adam Chamberlain, partner in the real estate team at Boodle Hatfield, said: “The luxury hotel market outside of London has showed some signs of cooling off, but the opportunity to invest in a landmark London hotel is still one that attracts wealthy individuals and families the world over.”

“Ultra-high net-worth individuals from the Gulf and Asia have long found luxury London hotels to be attractive assets, both as major trophy properties and income investments. That shows no signs of changing.”

Research by Boodle Hatfield revealed that 210 new hotels are currently under development in London.

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Virtual conferencing platform raises €4m for UK expansion

Virtway, the world’s largest 3D virtual world conferencing platform, has raised €4 million to launch in the UK, marking its first expansion outside the company’s native Spain. The funding was led by Virtway Invest AB and was driven by high demand for the platform in the UK and the USA.

Founded in 2014 by Spanish entrepreneur Jose Antonio Tejedor, Virtway is an immersive platform that provides online 3D virtual experiences such as conferences, fairs and training sessions. Users choose their own avatar and can present, talk and network with each other in real time, simulating the feeling of direct contact.

Virtway boasts that it enables organisers to create events that can go beyond the limits of the real world. It expands the attendee list to more countries while reducing the carbon footprint through reduced travel, amounting to a more cost-effective and greener alternative to physical events.

Jose Antonio Tejedor, founder and CEO, said: “This investment will be a great boost to what we hope will be a successful expansion in the UK following increased demand from English speaking countries. It’s a really exciting time for the company with a huge amount of interest in the product from companies and universities.

“We have an exciting and unparalleled product and are constantly working to improve the UX (user experience). There is no other platform that is offering the level of connectivity and experience that Virtway is currently bringing to the marketplace. The funding will be used to further improve the product and increase our footprint outside of Spain. It has come at a great time and we are looking forward to the next stage of our journey.”

With its in-house developed 3D engine, Virtway can be accessed through computers and both iOS and Android mobile devices. Events cost between £1,000 and £10,000, depending on the size of the event and their platform permits an infinite number of users to connect allowing 500 avatars to be present in the same virtual room not only from tablets and computers but also from mobile phones. In addition, Virtway attendees can talk, chat and network with other attendees from any device.

The platform can be used for a wide range of activities including conferences, careers fairs, training and remote learning. The wide range of applications has seen it being used by companies such as AstraZeneca, Accenture, Everis and Manpower.

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Newcastle the exception as UK hotels show decrease in 2019 profits

Increased costs have dented profit margins at UK hotels in May, despite RevPAR (revenue per available room) growth.

The UK hotel business now has a year-over-year decrease in profits in each month of 2019, according to the new data from HotStats Hotels.

In June, the YOY decline in GOPPAR (gross operating profit per available room) was at three per cent, with a slight increase of 0.3 per cent in RevPAR to £93.84.

More positive news reveals that revenue levels have stayed buoyant, with YOY increase in revenue streams such as food and beverage (a 3.5 per cent rise) and conference and banqueting figures up by 5.6 per cent. This contributed to a one per cent rise in TRevPAR (total revenue per available room) to £145.13.

Despite this upturn, revenue growth was whittled away by increased costs such as a 4.5 per cent YOY rise in payroll to £41.71, and a 2.3 per cent jump in overheads to £31.29.

More promisingly, profit conversion stayed constant at 37 per cent of total revenue.

There were some UK cities that bucked the trend, such as Newcastle hotels, which saw a 17.2 per cent YOY increase in profit per room to £30.72. A number of events in the northern city attributed to this hike including the Great Exhibition of the North, the Heineken Champions Cup and the European Rugby Challenge Cup finals.

This was the strongest GOPPAR performance in Newcastle since September and recorded a high for 2019, which saw a decline in profit since 2018, due to an increase in supply.

The region will receive a further boost from Gateshead Quays, which is expected to cost around £260m, and will be completed by 2023, with the addition of new hotels.

Peter Udall, Gateshead Council’s service director told M&IT: “The Quays is a catalyst which will raise the profile of the region and make it worthy of coming to. It is the start of an urban regeneration and somewhere people want to invest in.”

Aberdeen hotels have not fared so well, with an ongoing decline in YOY profit per room, which dropped by 7.8 per cent in June to £17.00 and contributed to the 22.9 per cent YOY decline for 2019.

The average room rate fell by five per cent in the month to £57.52 and has now dropped by almost £25 since 2016.

Profit & Loss Key Performance Indicators – Newcastle (in GBP)

KPI May 2019 v. May 2018
RevPAR +10.2% to £64.97
TRevPAR +3.8% to £93.84
Payroll -7.2% to £24.68
GOPPAR +17.2% to £30.72

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UK’s hospitality sector to take part in Climate Action Week

The London Convention Bureau is bringing together senior leaders from the UK’s hospitality sector to sign up to commitments in line with the Mayor’s London Environment Strategy for Climate Action Week.

These include achieving 75 per cent recycling by 2025, reducing food waste by 20 per cent by 2025 and a move towards a net zero London economy by 2050.

London Climate Action Week was launched by Sadiq Khan, part of the London Mayor’s drive to make the UK capital a leader in tackling the global climate emergency.

Tracy Halliwell, head of business tourism and events at the London Convention Bureau said: “London Climate Action Week offers a perfect opportunity for the city’s hospitality tourism sector to lead the way in putting forward solutions to make the global industry more sustainable.

“We’re delighted that some of the world’s biggest hospitality organisations have joined us in making a commitment to the Mayor’s sustainable goals and we hope that others will support this important challenge for our sector.

“With over a hundred events taking place across the city and delegates visiting from all over the world, climate action week also offers further proof that London is fantastic place to host a meeting or event.”

Jeremy Rees, CEO, ExCeL London: “At ExCeL London, we are committed to reducing our environmental impact, whilst supporting our customers to deliver more sustainable events. Earlier this year, we launched our ‘No Plastic’ campaign, to outline our commitment to reduce the amount of plastic in our venue.

“We are hugely supportive of London Climate Action Week and hope that it encourages everyone to think about the difference we can all make to protect the future of our planet.”

Around 150 events are taking place this this week to mark, highlighting climate change solutions and sustainability. This is in support of the first-ever Climate Action Week, which brings delegates to London including scientists, business leaders, school children and politicians.

Some events taking place during the week include:

  • The City of London will host a Green Finance Summit on 2 July with 900 businesses discussing ways to expand London’s thriving green finance sector.
  • A Green Schools Summit at the University College London on 2 July will bring together 200 London school children with academics, climate scientists and politicians to discuss the climate crisis
  • The Economist Climate Risk Summit: The Economist will convene the inaugural Climate Risk Summit on 2nd July 2019 will bring together policymakers, business leaders, scientists and investors to begin a conversation about how organisations around the world can understand and manage climate-related risks.
  • The Natural History Museum will host two events at their Attenborough Studios on 6th and 7th July which will see two documentary films showcasing the results of climate change from two different perspectives, followed by insights from Museum scientist, Ken Johnson.
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UKCAMS reveals Conference industry now worth £20bn

New research into the UK’s conference and meetings sector, the ‘UK Conference and Meeting Survey 2019’ (UKCAMS), reveals a robust and buoyant industry. There was an estimated £20bn of direct expenditure generated by conference and meeting delegates in venues and in wider destination spend in 2018, up from £18.1bn in 2017. At the same time, the overall number of conferences and meetings held in 2018 was the highest in recent years – an average of 428 conferences and meetings per venue compared with 373 in 2017 and 419 in 2016.

These positive UKCAMS 2019 results show the industry flourishing. The research findings also reveal that the overall number of conferences and meetings in 2018 was an estimated 1.48m compared with the 2017 figure of 1.29m (and 1.45m in 2016). While most events (66%) comprised 50 delegates or fewer, with just 6% of events having more than 200 delegates, the average event size was 72 delegates, the same as for 2017.

Levels of capital investment by venues remained strong with 73% of venues reporting that they had invested in their property in 2018, with 17% investing over £500,000.

The ‘UK Conference and Meeting Survey’, now in its 26th consecutive year, has a specific focus on the value and volume of the market and the performance of meeting venues. It also highlights key market trends identified by venues. The results provide a definitive insight into the conference and meetings sector and are widely used to inform investment, advocacy and marketing activities.

Other key findings from the research include:

  • In 2018, there were an estimated 95.3m delegates accounting for approximately 152.8m delegate days.
  • The average duration of conferences and meetings was 1.6 days (unchanged from previous years), although almost two-thirds of events lasted only one day or less
  • Conference and training centres (640 events) and hotels (453 events) hosted higher than average numbers of events
  • Just over a third (35%) of conferences and meetings in 2018 were organised by a professional conference organiser (PCO) or event management agency

While the majority of UK venues are focused on the domestic meetings market, some 10% of venues are proactive in seeking to attract international conferences, which account for 11% or more of their business. Venues tended to target international conferences through trade shows and familiarisation visits.

Kerrin MacPhie, VisitBritain’s head of business events, commented: “The ‘UK Conference and Meeting Survey 2019’ provides UK destinations and venues with valuable insights into the sector’s scale and latest trends, helping to inform their business planning and marketing activity.

“The UK is home to many world-renowned venues that consistently host leading international events. Their success not only needs to be recorded but also celebrated. VisitBritain recognises the importance of the ICCA ranking as a key tool in achieving this. The UKCAMS research results show us that more can be done by UK venues to record ICCA activity and we strongly encourage them to consistently log their international ICCA events. Doing so recognises and celebrates their world-class credentials, reinforcing the UK’s position as a leading business events destination.”

Copies of the full UKCAMS 2019 report are available priced £180 + VAT. Click here to download the form.

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HotStats report UK hotel rates down 11 per cent in April

Hotels in the UK saw an 11 per cent year-on-year decrease in average room rate to £102.35 in April.

And there was also a 1.6 per cent year-on-year drop in room occupancy to 75.9 per cent during the month, according to the latest data tracking full-service hotels from HotStats.

Hotels in the UK suffered their largest margin of year-on-year profit decline since late 2016, as ancillary revenues fell and costs soared in April,.

The 10 per cent year-on-year decline in GOPPAR (gross operating profit per available room) to £43.22 was far greater than the 1 per cent decrease in RevPAR (revenue per available room), which came in at £87.39 for the month.

Revenue declines were felt across all departments, including declines in food and beverage (down 6.4 per cent) and conference and banqueting (down 14.2 per cent) revenue.

“Whether or not unfinished Brexit is to blame, the hope is that the profit deflation this month is an exaggerated blip due to the timing of Easter, rather than something more ominous,” said Michael Grove, director of intelligence and customer solutions, EMEA, at HotStats.

The leisure-led Stratford-upon-Avon hotel market was one location to benefit from the timing of Easter, as events in key visitor attractions across the town, including the RSC Theatre and Guildhall, helped fuel a 10.3 per cent increase in RevPAR to £64.30, as the recovery in the market in 2019 continues apace.

Occupancy was at 75.2 per cent, up from 70.1 per cent year on year, while the average room rate was up 2.6 per cent on 2018 at £84.42.

In contrast to the wider UK, it was a positive month of performance for hotels in Reading, with a 4.2-percent increase in RevPAR to £62.08, contributing to a 16.4 per cent increase in profit per room.

The increase in profit was supported by an eighth consecutive month of ARR growth to £89.69, and a sixth consecutive month of room occupancy growth to 69.2 per cent.