Half of all corporate meetings are simple and very flexibly managed
Half of the meetings held in the corporate environment are simple, being small-format meetings that are replicated with minimal requirements, according to an international study conducted by HRS, in collaboration with GBTA and MPI. The percentage rises to 58% in Europe. Flexibility in their management creates cost inefficiencies.
The study, the first of its kind, focuses exclusively on the management of simple meetings, and interviewed members of Global Business Travel Association (GBTA)
52% of companies book their single meetings outside of "managed" meeting channels, and 70% of respondents do not follow a mandatory bidding process to book single meetings.
In terms of venues chosen, companies do not use a simple meeting solution, 77% search for hotels or venues exclusively through consumer channels. When companies have a solution, 72% of planners prefer to use it to plan and book simple meetings.
"This research shows us with data something the industry has long suspected. Simple meetings represent significant expenses within companies, yet they are managed very flexibly, which can come at a cost to companies when it comes to the bottom line, meeting satisfaction and fulfillment of duty,
RESERVATIONS
When booking simple meetings, most respondents typically use consumer channels, such as calling a hotel or visiting an event website and/or a consumer travel website. Many rely exclusively on consumer channels and only 30% of respondents say their company has a mandatory bidding process for single meetings.
When using consumer channels or following informal policies, it is difficult to use negotiated group rates, make homogeneous comparisons, verify the safety of venues and ensure compliance with internal policies. Using the consumer channel also essentially eliminates the possibility of obtaining lower rates or other amenities that could be obtained with a company's volume of hotel bookings.
According to Abbie Michaelson, vice president of meetings and groups for HRS , meeting planners anticipate nearly 4% growth in the next year;So the harsh reality revealed by this survey underscores the urgency companies must have when it comes to improving the management of simple meetings.
PROCESSES AND MEASUREMENT
Only one in five respondents use a RFP-e platform for simple meetings. These platforms allow companies to solicit and compare bids for their meetings. In the U.S., meeting planners (35%) are more likely than travel buyers (19%) to use an RFP-e tool for simple meetings.
Only a quarter (28%) of respondents have KPIs in place when it comes to measuring simple meetings and the value they create, although that figure is much higher for Latin America (38%) than in North America (20%) or Europe (21%). In the U.S., meeting planners (31%) are much more likely than travel buyers (4%) to have established KPIs.
Respondents ranked finding the right venue (73%), maximizing budget and achieving savings (64%) and compliance with company policy (40%) as the most important factors in booking and managing simple meetings.
They also ranked finding the right venue (73%), maximizing budget and achieving savings (64%) and compliance with company policy (40%) as the most important factors when it comes to booking and managing simple meetings.
They are more likely than travel buyers (4%) to have KPIs in place.