The bureau, which is part of Destination Coventry, brings together the sector to speak with one voice, to attract more business to the region by working together and to offer industry intelligence and insights to members.
The meeting at Coventry Building Society Arena was facilitated by association chair Chris Hartley and heard from Jason Gutteridge, of Venue Directory; Jacqui Kavanagh, of Edge Venues; and Peter Heath, of Venue Performance.
Together, their organisations provide the MICE sector with buyer access, digital visibility, enquiry generation, market intelligence and benchmarking data to help venues win, quote and convert business more effectively.
They offered a wide range of industry insights and national statistics before drilling down into what’s happening in the city and the county.
Coventry and Warwickshire was described as having a ‘premium’ offer but trends showed that the number of bookings to the region had fallen over the past year. Revenue, however, from those bookings was higher.
The region was, therefore, urged to protect that premium position and not enter into a race to the bottom on price.
Buyers, the meeting heard, expect almost immediate responses when they make enquiries and will carry out online research across a range of platforms, expecting information to be at their fingertips.
The meeting was also told that the large uptick of bookings after Covid when businesses were keen to bring people together, especially when swathes of staff were working from home, has fallen back.
And businesses were given a range of tips to take away to help them secure more enquiries and convert those into sales.
They included advice to audit online listings across platforms and to update imagery, floorplans and capacity information.
Businesses were urged to measure enquiry response times and response rates. Around the two-hour mark to respond to a request for a proposal (RFP) was recommended.
Delegates at the meeting were advised to use data to benchmark performance and review conversion regularly.
They were also told to make it easy for buyers and agents to contact the venue and to respond to every enquiry, even if declining, to maintain reputation.
Jacqui said: “The venues achieving the strongest results are not necessarily the biggest or the cheapest. They are the venues that make it easiest for buyers to find them, trust them and do business with them.
“The industry is changing. Those who adapt are winning.”
Peter added: “Coventry and Warwickshire venues are outperforming their wider region by a significant margin but with fewer events and sales confirming, it means that its premium position needs protecting.
“It’s important to realise that lead time has halved nationally in 12 months, and venues that can't see these shifts coming are already behind the curve.”
Jason said: “There is still business going into the market, but venues have to hold their price. If RFPs are dropping, discounting is not the answer because costs are rising too, so protecting value and responding properly to enquiries is absolutely critical.”
Paul McMahon, managing director of Coventry & Warwickshire Convention bureau and Visit Coventry, said that working together as a region was the only way to ensure the city and the county continued to enjoy its strength in the marketplace.
That includes a joint presence at major trade shows and a new region-wide digital presence.
He said: “Coventry and Warwickshire’s MICE sector cannot reach its full ambition if every organisation works in isolation. This has to be a collective effort, owned by the association and shaped by the venues, hotels, attractions and suppliers across the region.
“If we want to attract more people into Coventry and Warwickshire, we have to move from fragmented promotion to a single, compelling regional narrative.
“We have to raise standards and believe that Coventry and Warwickshire can become one of the leading MICE destinations in the UK, but this cannot be done by one organisation. Every person in the room has a role to play in strengthening the region’s offer and telling its story because when you bring the region’s venues, hotels, attractions and experiences together, it tells an incredibly strong story and one we do not always value enough ourselves.”
For more information on the Coventry & Warwickshire Convention Bureau and to attend the next event, businesses should contact Stephanie Gerard, [email protected]
