Focused, creative, close to home – trends driving meetings in 2014
Next year will be an exciting time for the world of events with some the largest mass occasions taking place, including the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, and the Winter Olympic and Paralympics Games in Sochi, Russia, says CWT Meetings & Events, the meetings and events division of Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), when revealing the industry trends in 2014.
It also forecasts a continued rise in business-related meetings and event, which have seen a steady 1-2% growth year-on-year.
Some key trends:
• Focused and bespoke: Although the worldwide economic environment remains flat there are signs of moderate growth, and clients will continue to hold more events, albeit on a smaller scale. With more access to big data planners are able to tailor and adapt events to suit individual attendee requirements, from personalised invitations to bespoke mobile itineraries on arrival, to interactive voting at the event.
• Close to home: Clients will continue to opt for more domestic or short-haul destinations to ensure cost-saving compared with long-haul destinations favoured in the past. Brazil and Russia, which are hosting major events in 2014, will be key destinations for large corporates looking to tap into the halo-effect hospitality surrounding the events.
• Strategic meetings management (SMM): Companies will continue to consolidate their SMM programmes, and look for one-stop-shop global suppliers who can offer both global support and cost savings.
• Creative twist: Clients will continue to look for the global event agencies that can deliver strong creative solutions, as well as offer crucial business functions such as safety and security, and compliance that will continue to be important in 2014.
• On the spot: Live technology will continue to be a crucial tool in gaining real-time feedback during an event. The information can shape the agenda of the remainder of the event to make sure attendee needs are being met. 2014 will see even more incorporation of social media and apps, which can be used to engage attendee pre-, during and post-event.
• Every penny counts: Event and marketing managers are increasingly being held accountable for ROI – every penny spent should have a return value.
CWT has introduced a new tool – CWT Meetings & Events Dashboard – that consolidates clients’ activity, destination analysis, budget breakdown and hotel spend, giving them a holistic, 360-degree view of their spend to help them drive savings. The tool has been launched in Europe, and is expected to be available in the Americas and Asia Pacific next year.
Australia-New Zealand online travel market “supplier-dominated”
.gif)
The new PhoCusWright’s report, Australia and New Zealand Online Travel Overview Sixth Edition: Suppliers Consolidate – and Lead, reveals that online travel agencies (OTAs) in Australia-New Zealand (ANZ) “steal share of supplier-dominated online travel market”, with 82% of online bookings made via supplier websites in 2013
“But while consolidation and market maturity tip the scales in favour of travel suppliers, OTAs are not to be discounted,” the report added.
OTAs will also outpace supplier website growth through 2015,
The ANZ travel market is projected to reach A$14.6 billion in 2013, making it the third-largest online travel market in Asia Pacific. However, ANZ is home to the highest online travel penetration in the region at 41%.
“Suppliers continue to dominate Australia-New Zealand’s online market, due to a highly consolidated air segment, but the OTA play on higher-margin hotel and packaging sales, as well as international flights, is clearly paying dividends,” said PhoCusWright research analyst, Chetan Kapoor.
PhoCusWright projects that OTA bookings will jump 34% through 2015, compared to 29% growth for supplier websites.
The report presents market sizing and projections for ANZ’s total and online leisure and unmanaged business travel markets from 2011-2015, as well as provides a detailed analysis of trends and dynamics within the ANZ travel market.
Highlights include:
- Total market and online leisure/unmanaged business travel bookings for 2011-2015
- Analysis of major travel product segments – air, hotel and car rental
- Comparison of supplier-branded websites and online travel agencies (OTAs), including bookings and projected growth rates through 2015
- Discussion of the OTA landscape, including key players, recent developments and the relative influence of local versus global OTAs
- Mobile trends and outlook
Priceline’s new Explore tool expands search capabilities for travellers
Priceline has launched a new beta version of its iPad app that brings travel exploration, research and booking capabilities together in one app through the Explore tool.
Powered by Travelport Flex Explore search technology, Explore enhances Priceline’s existing iPad app. It presents an easy-to-navigate graphical map of the world and an expansive range of search capabilities to narrow down the ideal destination and desired travel experience.
With this Explore tool travellers can:
• Seamlessly research, and compare flight prices whether they know their destination or need help discovering a new place to visit.
• Explore popular travel destinations by interest from categories like beach, family-friendly and romantic.
• Customise global searches on a local level with the touch of finger on the app’s interactive touch-screen map.
• Access flight availability and pricing in real time from any origin airport to a variety of destinations with one simple search, reducing the need to conduct multiple destination searches.
• Narrow flight options and reveal additional airports and flights by circling an area on the map.
• Leverage a budget filter to narrow flight results and destinations by preferred price.
John Caine, Priceline’s chief product officer, said the Explore feature for the iPad was designed to make it easier to research multiple destinations as iPad users are three times more likely to book 10 days in advance than iPhone users.
The app is available for download in Apple’s iTunes store.
