Accor and Intercontinental Hotels Group have both announced strategies to encourage a return to meetings and events.
Both companies have emphasised safety and wellbeing, while also providing flexible booking.
At IHG, the group has launched Meet with Confidence, with facilities including Clutter-free event spaces configured to allow for social distancing, leveraging outdoor spaces where possible; tables and chairs disinfected before every meeting or event and during breaks and technology solutions to support virtual and hybrid meetings.
To reassure those booking, offers include no cancellation fees, no attrition fees for rooms that are not booked and up to a 5% rebate towards the master bill.
Derek DeCross, SVP, global sales, IHG said: “We’re seeing a number of organisations currently, or looking forward to, holding safe and responsible meetings and events. To support this, IHG is offering meeting planners peace of mind and adaptability in these uncertain times. The Meet with Confidence programme combines a laser focus on cleanliness as well as flexibility where it’s needed most. Whether it’s for a 10-person meeting, an intimate wedding or a virtual global conference, with more than 5,900 properties in over 100 countries, our diverse family of brands provides exceptional spaces to ensure every meeting, event, or celebration is unforgettable.”
At Accor, the company has launched ALL Meet Well, where operational changes include cleaning during evenings and lunch breaks, including disinfecting light switches, door handles, chairs, tables, hangers and consoles; vacuum cleaners will be equipped with HEPA filters; and cleaning checklists will be provided to the event organisers prior to meetings taking place.
To encourage booking, the group has launched Reconnect, which include “flexible and transparent contracts with applicable Covid -19 clauses” (for UK hotels), no cancellation fees for up to 50 delegates if the meeting is cancelled at least 14 days in advance and agents’ commission paid on deposit at the time of payment.
Dana Lewis, director of MICE & leisure, Accor, Northern Europe, said: “ALL Meet Well provides meeting and event planners with the flexibility and hygiene commitment they need to restart live meetings and events with confidence. Every aspect of the delegate’s MICE experience at the hotel has been considered and extensive measures have been taken to protect our planners, delegates, guests and employees. Building trust among our clients is paramount to us, especially in such uncertain times. Our Reconnect campaign will enable agents to enjoy multiple benefits and book with confidence at Accor hotels.”
Richard Short, health, safety and environment director, Accor Northern Europe, added: “Despite lockdown measures being progressively relaxed across the world, the health and safety of guests, delegates, meeting planners and staff remains the number one priority for us. Accor has successfully implemented extensive ALLSAFE protocols to safeguard the health and wellbeing of guests, and now we can extend these to live meetings and events. We want to ensure that when planners organise an event with Accor they feel completely comfortable and safe in the hotel of their choice.”
Insight: Oh how this hack does love to type ‘Accor and IHG’ after last month’s merger rumour. It’s not quite carving their names into a tree trunk, but it’s very sweet nonetheless. That aside, there is no meetings and events business at the moment and, as we heard this week from Dalata and PPHE, it would be great if we could get onto that.
The big operators were hoping that their high-profile cleanliness strategies would draw in guests over the summer and the early numbers suggest that guests were motivated more by price and that Airbnb was seen as the clean choice, because guests could clean it themselves. The new challenge is to prove to meetings bookers that you can rely on a cleanliness stamp and, given the closer relationships between operators and meetings bookers than operators and leisure guests, this may have some success. There may not be large international events yet, but meetings space is very much needed, particularly for companies in smaller offices.
Of course there are other options open to hotels with events space to fill. There has been much talk of what will happen to schools should the autumn blow fair for the virus and hotel with ballrooms and other large spaces which could allow decent social distancing seem an obvious pick. Hotels are learning the gift of flexibility. They may yet need to get more flexible yet - and teach kids about the joys of hotels in the meantime. Won’t parents be pleased.