Conferences and Conventions: A Global Industry

Front Cover......Page 1
Conferences and Conventions: A global industry......Page 4
Copyright Page......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
Forewords......Page 10
Preface......Page 12
List of Case studies......Page 14
Introduction......Page 16
The origins of the conference industry......Page 17
The foundations of a proper industry......Page 19
The industry's recent globalization......Page 22
World rankings of leading cities and countries......Page 23
Certain industry shortcomings......Page 28
Industry parameters and definitions......Page 34
Business tourism and leisure tourism......Page 35
The benefits of conference and business tourism......Page 38
Review and discussion questions......Page 40
Further reading......Page 41
Introduction......Page 42
Buyers......Page 43
Suppliers......Page 61
Agencies......Page 65
Other important organizations......Page 74
Summary......Page 76
Review and discussion questions......Page 77
Further reading......Page 78
Introduction......Page 79
Conferences within the wider tourism context......Page 80
Factors affecting conference sector demand......Page 81
The inadequacy of the information base......Page 83
The value of the industry......Page 85
Research findings......Page 91
Summary......Page 108
Notes and references......Page 110
Introduction......Page 111
Marketing principles......Page 112
Relationship marketing and customer relationship management......Page 119
The branding of cities and other destinations......Page 121
Destination marketing organizations......Page 123
Conference venue marketing......Page 148
The branding of hotel venues......Page 150
Overseas marketing......Page 152
Summary......Page 153
Notes and references......Page 154
Further reading......Page 155
Introduction......Page 156
A general introduction to conference organizing......Page 157
Pre- conference planning and research......Page 158
Budgeting and financial management......Page 164
Sourcing and selecting a venue......Page 168
Negotiating with venues......Page 173
Programme planning......Page 177
Event marketing......Page 179
Conference management and production......Page 180
Event evaluation......Page 182
Review and discussion questions......Page 184
Further reading......Page 185
Introduction......Page 187
Client- focused product innovations......Page 188
Professional inspection visits and showrounds......Page 191
Yield management and 'REVPAR'......Page 192
Negotiating with clients......Page 196
Venue case studies......Page 198
Further reading......Page 207
Introduction......Page 208
The importance of people skills......Page 209
Education and training opportunities......Page 213
Development of occupational standards for the meetings industry......Page 221
Careers in the conference industry......Page 223
Salary levels......Page 225
Career profiles of leading industry figures......Page 226
Summary......Page 240
Notes and references......Page 241
Introduction......Page 242
The activities of international organizations and associations......Page 243
The roles of selected national trade associations......Page 254
An assessment of the conference industry's fragmentation......Page 260
Review and discussion questions......Page 261
Introduction......Page 262
Market trends......Page 263
Issues and developments......Page 270
In conclusion......Page 281
Review and discussion questions......Page 282
Notes and references......Page 283
Case studies......Page 284
Appendix A. List of conference industry trade magazines......Page 329
Index......Page 332