Summary:
- Radisson Hotel Group has launched its new Radisson Meetings global meetings and events offering;
- The product will extend across the group's seven hotel brands and aims to be 100% carbon neutral through offsetting;
- The strategy is supported by new valuable insight Radisson Hotel Group has secured into the meeting space from the 'Event horizons: a blueprint for success' research it commissioned Longitude to carry out on its behalf.
Meetings and events are an important part in Radisson's five-year business strategy and this new ideology is an important milestone in its ambitious goal of becoming the market leader in this competitive segment and customers' first choice for their meetings and events.
"Radisson Meetings represents our commitment to deliver a personal, professional and memorable service to our guests, and to respond to changing market trends and expectations," says Eric De Neef, executive vice president & global chief commercial officer, Radisson Hotel Group.
The strategy sees the company investing in developing meeting venues across its 1,100+ hotels worldwide, both in training of staff as well as in technology, with enhanced IT infrastructure and distribution platforms core elements. The carbon neutral promise is an increasingly valuable USP with Radisson saying it is the "only hotel group worldwide to automatically offset any carbon footprint at no cost to our customers".
To do this, Radisson Hotel Group has teamed up with carbon offsetting organisation, FirstClimate. For each meeting, the carbon footprint is calculated and then offset by supporting projects that combat climate change and have a positive sustainable development contribution.
The hotel group says it is placing customer needs at the heart of its offer through the three core pillars: personal, professional and memorable.
Its meetings and events professionals will take "a solution-focused approach" and design solutions around each client's individual requirements, it says, while its "multi-million investment" across its portfolio in new audio-visual technology and improved facilities will help the group deliver on a promise to provide a professional and consistent quality service across its entire portfolio.
Radisson says implementation of this new standard has already been completed in 55 properties across 11 countries in EMEA and will be progressively rolled out globally across the group's portfolio by the end of the five-year operating plan in 2021.
The strategy is supported by new valuable insight Radisson Hotel Group has secured into the meeting space from research it commissioned Longitude, a Financial Times Company, to carry out on its behalf.
The survey, 'Event horizons: a blueprint for success', of 607 event planners from 12 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and qualitative interviews with industry executives - explored the challenges facing event planners and has uncovered behaviours that can lead to sustained success in an industry where delegates expect "truly memorable and transformative experiences," while senior leaders "demand a greater return on their investment".
[perfectpullquote align="full" bordertop="false" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""] "We're seeing a greater need for events to stand out. Delegates have increasingly high expectations. Business agendas are busy, time is precious, and people become more selective in the meetings and events they attend. They expect truly memorable and transformative experiences. So, the pressure is on to deliver a distinctive offer and to make every event count."
Eric De Neef, Executive Vice President & Global Chief Commercial Officer, Radisson Hotel Group [/perfectpullquote]
The findings highlight that event planners see their greatest challenge as standing out in a crowded marketplace, with delegates expecting to be impressed, both by high-profile, expert speakers and insightful content.
But, it is not just about what is happening on stage, and increasingly delegates can be drawn to events as much by the audience as they are by the speakers. More than half (55%) of the meetings planners surveyed highlighted that delegates' key priorities for future events was networking-related: 'more private spaces for networking', 'more time to network' and 'match-making/introduction services'.
As event experiences in delegates' personal lives evolve, they increasingly want to see this evolution mirrored in their professional experiences. "They are looking for something out of the ordinary and that is exciting, fun, hands-on, competitive, and energising. If the experience has a social/networking element and can be shared via social media, all the better," says the report.
Similarly, when they attend an event, delegates don't want to leave their personal values at home and the research found that the majority of event planners see sustainability, diversity and inclusion as important factors when selecting a venue. Likewise, as delegates experience the convenience offered by technology in their private lives, so they expect it to deliver similar advantages in their professional lives.