Transcript from recent interview with Juan Duclos, travel writer and reporter: Arts Hotel, Barcelona.)

In these difficult economic times every forward thinking development that can lead to more bookings from groups and companies hosting conferences and business events here is highly welcomed. Recently I had the opportunity to catch up with Conference Coordinator Spain, a dynamic event management company that has been expanding rapidly throughout Spain over the last few years and were here launching their meeting booking interface.

Conference Coordinator Spain have become of the recognised brands catering for English speaking incoming business tourism. I asked Clive for a few of his thoughts on the state of the economy, the events industry as a whole and about things that they themselves were doing in this current financially difficult situation.

“With the economy and the future of so many in doubt it makes sense that this year is a year of change, one of tightening the belts both for incoming business tourism and our own meetings and events industry here in Spain. What is your own outlook Clive for the coming year or two?”

“It is already more than evident that many businesses have reached crisis point with sales 100′s of percent down on annual benchmarks. Many event planning companies, business hotels, conference venues and service providers have had to lay off staff and are struggling to pay off existing commitments, so quite bleak.”

“All doom and gloom then?”

“It is certainly not going to be over before we know it, I’m not sure things can actually get worse than it is now but a quick recovery is extremely unlikely and the only thing we can do is pull together and hopefully pull through the other end. unfortunately there will be many that fail to last the duration.”

“A chance to be more efficient?”

“Well, There are things that long term can have positive effects, both in the corporate sector and in the meeting and events sector. Looking at where we can save money, create less waste, network more productively and return a better ROI will all have positive consequences for those that do stand the test of time. Using initiative, being forward thinking and providing great value for money for both new and existing loyal clients is paramount to moving forward again”

“Talking of forward thinking, it is my personal belief that marketing events, trade shows, exhibitions, incentives, business meetings and the like are still vitally important to business. I’m sure you agree?”

“Of course, yes. Although the industry has its critics about spending during a recession, it is often the case that there are immediate cutbacks, followed eventually by the re introduction of funds when it is realised that lack of activity is actually being detrimental to the individual business. These types of events will continue to operate, they just will perhaps slightly adapt.”

“It is already adapting of course to many other things, technology, the continued breaking down of international barriers and probably above all the continued snowballing of the internet. Nowadays a multitude of options for clients, from conference and event registration to state of the art venues with wifi all round, easier access to information and all manner of ways to network both online and at live conferences etc”

“The choice for clients is great and ensuring that they are aware of your unique image or individual technology or state of the art venue is more important than ever. Awareness and trust and a great product to go with it are the three key ingredients. As an individual and not just a businessman I am all for a better deal for a customer, old ethics and morals die hard.”

“So what does the year hold?”

“Well, I don’t think many can say for sure what will happen over the short term in the sense of recovery, there are many contradictory reports and altho I like to keep abreast of the situation it seems that many are simply guessing as to the longevity of this current recession. I do predict a tough summer, perhaps it is all relative and the almost guaranteed increase in tourist visitors will help stabilise many of the struggling hotels and venues in particular, I certainly hope so. The ones that were already efficient or the ones that changed many things to be more efficient obviously stand a far better chance of getting through this rough period however long it lasts.”

“It is understandable that many group and company events could not possibly be closed with the future of individual businesses at stake”

“I agree, it is usual for ourselves to be closing events that are at least 6 months in advance, how possibly could a client commit to something that far ahead if their own future is uncertain?”

“So no immediate recovery in your opinion?”

“Later in the year, perhaps in the Autumn, if the economy shows at least ‘an air’ of positivity, then I do see things picking up to a degree. AS we agreed earlier, I do believe that these types of events are extremely important to business. Meetings will still have to be held and conferences will still have to be attended and companies will still need to advertise their wares. So yes I do think it will pick up, circumstances allowing but I also believe that things will be done as cost effective as possible for a while yet, certainly less extravagance, a tighter control of expenses and cutting out a lot of the waste. Perhaps for the important business meeting clients will now fly here to attend and then fly directly home again without taking advantage of accommodation. Perhaps for a company presentation a client will present in a first class meeting room but find his/her accommodation in a budget hotel away from the hotel with the actual meeting room. Perhaps there will even be late rush with a scramble for event space at the last minute. I think that is possible”

“You are here launching your new meeting booking project, tell me a little about it and where it ‘fits’ in todays climate”

“I think that our meeting booking software should suit both parties in respect of a venue and a client. It makes it clear and simple for a client to search for meeting rooms and event space with both live availability and secure live booking integrated if required. I believe that, altho we offer rfp services, that a client would always like to do something themselves, after all it gives one a sense of satisfaction to find something and to make the arrangements yourself, hey, I’m an event planner so I like to think I know what I am talking about in that sense.”

“The meeting room booking software allows clients to search for available rooms and space by either number of pax or by the required size. It’s ingenious if I say so myself. A client can also reserve any refreshments or coffee breaks (even a full dinner service if required) along with any audio and visual needs that an individual event may need from projectors to clip boards.”

“It sounds good, I was actually having a look over on your display area and it seems very easy to understand, I liked it, is it expensive to use? Who is going to be footing the bill? The client or the venues?”

“There is no mark up fee whatsoever from the hotels nor from Conference Coordinator Spain to the client. We also have to swallow the credit cards costs so there is actually a cost to us, we don’t even pass these transaction costs on but we hope that it is very user friendly and that clients find it very useful and keep returning, particularly if they need a meeting room at late notice or something you know?”

“So its the hotel or venue that pays to use the system?”

We are currently offering set up, hosting and management totally free, the economic situation has prevented us at this point of realistically expecting business hotels and event spaces to fork out money that they simply do not have.” On one side we could be stubborn with the realisation that if they (the venues) weren’t wasting so much money on poor avenues of advertising due to either lack of knowledge or misleading information then then wouldn’t be in quite so much a mess. However, we do like to be forward thinking and we do like to look after our clients and our visitors to the website so we will offer it out free and eat the cost ourselves of development and maintenance.”

“So I guess the economy has indeed affected your own growth”

“Absolutely. it affects everybody, no matter how well organised. We realistically have to see this as “putting our bit back in”. I do actually believe that everybody here should be trying to network better with local establishments, Spain is catching up but there is still a lot to be desired when it comes to genuine networking partnerships. We ourselves will continue to drive forward and hope that eventually everyone will catch up and see the benefits of sharing in certain areas. If we stick to our beliefs and keep our quality of service high the better times will come around again”

“and this software will be instrumental in that you hope?”

“The hotels and venues on board the booking software have been very positive about the system and we have been talking with some of them over the last few months ensuring that it is easy to operate and maintain on their side of things too. Most do not have the opportunity to promote their meeting space independently, certainly there are none that we are aware of that offer the live availability for the meeting room side of things and those that we have spoken with and joined us, including for examples the H10 Marina Barcelona and Condes hotel here in Barcelona have been very excited to have this available to them. At the end of the day it makes it easy for the client, easy for the hotel, less costs and less work for all parties.”

I wish Clive and his colleagues at Conference Coordinator Spain the best and hope that our industry and indeed the whole economy picks up sooner rather than later. I think he makes some good points about being efficient and about the value of networking. Websites like linkedin and facebook and twitter all have shown massive increases in usage in recent times and I would recommend that is something that we all should be doing along with measuring how productive our advertising is both from the events and meetings industry and businesses on the whole.

“Heres to a Better 2010 with all Meeting and Event Space Full!”