Solutions from Bardin

zoom

Bardin: more than 50% of international congress delegates require budget hotel accommodation when they travel.

Frédéric Bardin, vice president of both Arabian Adventures and Congress Solutions, explains the difference between a DMC and a PCO and welcomes budget hotels to Dubai.

MIME: What are the biggest challenges facing the MICE/‘Meetings Industry'?

We need to call for more professionalism amongst the DMCs (Destination Management Companies) and those who claim to be PCOs (Professional Congress Organisers) - and also for the hotels operating in this segment of the market.

People need to understand the differences between a DMC and PCO and the role that they play.

We also would like to see the Dubai Convention Bureau become independent from the Dubai Department of Trade and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), because the two are targeting completely different market segments.

Even if each emirate sets up its own convention bureau we require the UAE Ministry of Tourism to more effectively target the ‘real' tourism segments, i.e. business tourism, which includes the individual corporate traveller and the incentives market, as well as holidaymakers.

The current set up creates confusion over the roles of the different entities and presents a conflicting image to the outside world, none of which helps the country.

Different emirates are setting up different rules and even different licenses for tour guides, which makes our lives more complicated and increases our costs, without any tangible benefit to either the industry or consumer.

MIME: What are the key differences between a DMC and a PCO?

For congresses, you don't have the same terms and conditions that you would have for a MICE group. An incentive group is brought to you by one company and there is a decision-maker in that company who dictates what they want and what budget they have. But with a congress, a company such as Congress Solutions International (CSI) organises the event on behalf of the organisation. You need to know what you are doing. You could have between five thousand and seventy-five thousand individual clients and it's certainly not a case of a one-size-fits-all strategy. You have to deal with many different suppliers, exhibition and conference spaces and plenty of hotels.

MIME: What recent tourism developments will benefit the MICE market?

I want to say thank you to all the guys who have opened two- and three-star hotels.

We have had two- and three-star hotels in the market before, but they were not consistent. You could use them for six months and then you would have to drop them because they wouldn't be maintained or cleaned. The new budget and mid-market hotels from established chains such as Rotana, IHG and PTI will be consistent.

We were approached three years ago to organise a congress for 2009 in Dubai, but didn't get it because of the lack of budget accommodation and public transport. Now we will have more of both.

MIME: Who will stay in budget hotels?

For congresses of 50,000 people, around half of the rooms required or even 60% will be in budget hotels. With medical congresses in particular, some patients will follow the doctors to find out the latest information on their disease and they will want budget accommodation.

Delegates from developing countries will also want cheaper hotels.

MIME: Would your companies choose to use easyHotels?

I don't think so. These are really for the younger leisure travellers who can't afford anything else. I don't think many business people will want to stay in a plastic cell.

MIME: Who is your biggest competitor?

MCI - as a PCO they have been in the market a lot longer, but in Dubai we are much stronger. CSI benefits from the backing of the Emirates Group, whereas MCI started [in Dubai] six months ago and are not quite set up yet. But by 2011 when the 21st World Diabetes Congress (a contract CSI and MCI are bidding for) takes place, they will be.

MIME: What type of business does CSI aim to attract?

Major associations with head offices in Europe, or companies with big European chapters, as well as Asia-based associations. There are three big contracts we are going for at the moment; 75,000 people in 2009, 1000 in 2010 and 12,000 in 2011.

Between 80-90% of all the meetings in the world (of 50 people or more) are organised by US companies and 80% of those happen in the US. But the remainder is still enormous and the Meetings Industry is worth an estimated one trillion dollars.

There is potential for Dubai, which is one of the best Meetings destinations in the world. We have accessibility, quality infrastructure, and we are one of the safest places on the planet, which is very important. The CEO of IBM doesn't want to attend a conference and risk being blown up. We are also good at the ‘wow' factor.

MIME: You have appointed an Arabian Adventures rep in China. Do you plan to tap into other emerging markets?

There are some DMCs that grow with the Indian and Russian markets. We have some top-end Indian and Russian clients, but it's not our bread and butter. Developments like Dubailand will be big enough to attract anyone from across the world. There will also be 15 to 20 golf courses and more than 100,000 hotel rooms including two- and three-star hotels. These will attract people from across the region, particularly those within five hours flying time, including the 300 million middle class Indians.

These people will travel to Dubai maybe once in their lifetime. That's 10 million per year over 30 years, by which time there will be 700 million middle class Indians. China is the same.

Business from the US has started to pick up after the post-9/11 slump, and we are fairly active in Brazil. This will improve once the Emirates flights start. People are trying to get out of Brazil on business and leisure, but can't - there are no seats left on planes.

Print | Email | Discuss this article |

USER COMMENTS (0 COMMENTS)

POST A COMMENT

CLICK HERE TO POST A COMMENT

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Security Code *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.