China – Destinations and venues outside China will need to work harder to communicate with Chinese meeting planners should they wish to attract their business.
Presented by Rob Davidson, senior lecturer, events management at University of Greenwich, London at CIBTM this year, the first Chinese Meeting Planners Site Selection Survey cited that 35 per cent of Chinese meeting planners polled experienced difficulty in getting information about destinations outside China, and 47 per cent facing difficult with venues outside China.
The survey respondents cited the top four sources for receiving information about potential event destinations: educational trips, websites of destination marketing organisations, other meeting planners, and meetings industry exhibitions.
A destination’s feasibility to host events tend to be largely based on its climate, financial stability (an indication of its capability to provide financial or in-kind support), and visa requirements.
Venues located in proximity to the airport and public transportation as well as provide high-speed Wi-Fi will also tend to be more favourable, according to findings.
Chinese meeting planners polled highlighted that a venue’s inflexibility in negotiating facility prices and extra charges for services such as audio-visual, parking and security tend to be key issues faced with venues. Price negotiations were also identified as a major factor when they are deciding on a venue.
The seminar presentation at CITBM was based on findings generated from an online survey that investigated the priorities and experiences of meeting planners based in China, in terms of the process of choosing destinations and venues for their events.