Skip to main content
News

05/2021

You are: home > news archive > 05/2021
Comment on Prime Minister's speech issued to media this morning

Tuesday, 11 May, 2021 - 11:46

Juliet Price, Consultant Executive Director of HBAA commented: “At last the meetings events and accommodation sector has the confirmation that it desperately needed to give planners, travellers and delegates the confidence to commit to bookings. Our Meet Safe Meet Smart campaign has highlighted this issue. This is an important step forward and very welcome, as was the Prime Minister’s recognition for Mental Health Awareness Week, an issue that HBAA has been championing for some years.

“Sadly, despite this good news, new pressures on agencies may lead to further redundancies and further business impacts. Many are facing the issue of the increase of the employers’ share of furlough payments and having to start repaying Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) loans. These have come upon them several months before payments from clients reach their bank accounts. An average of 39 per cent of agency jobs have already been lost during the first 12 months of the pandemic – there is a severe danger of more to come.”

#HBAAfuturefit

‘Our industry needs to join forces’ Venuedirectory.com releases statement of support for event agencies

Monday, 10 May, 2021 - 12:32

Ahead of the next week’s planned easing of restrictions, Michael Begley from venuedirectory.com urges meeting and event planners to support their agency colleagues. 

Michael Begley, CEO of venuedirectory.com, the largest booking and data distribution service of venue information in the UK MICE industry, says: 

“Next week – 17th May - marks the next milestone in the recovery of the business events industry. We will see indoor events of up to 1,000 attendees or 50 per cent capacity resume and that’s a real cause for celebration. The gradual and planned easing of restrictions, combined with the successful vaccine roll out is a huge driver of confidence among meeting and event planners. However, in order to ensure our industry continues its path to recovery, I would urge planners to support their agency colleagues for whom business recovery may be slower. 

“The business event booking model means that agencies are often the last to receive a fee from a booking, despite being the first in line to receive the initial enquiry. This adds to the strain on an already fragile agency community with many professionals currently furloughed or redundant.  

“I’m calling on venue event and meeting planners to support their agency colleagues by sharing revenue received prior to the event with all relevant parties. With most venues offering very flexible cancellation or rescheduling terms, they can plan ahead with confidence. 

“Agencies are a vital part of the wider business events ecosystem and our industry needs to join forces and work closely together – supporting each other – to ensure a smooth path to recovery and a bright future.” 

venuedirectory.com was launched in 1993 and now has a database of over 400,000 meeting and event spaces in 300 countries. In 2008 Venuedirectory.com launched the UK’s first end to end solution for meetings management - GRATIS - which is today used by over 50 specialist businesses and organisations throughout the UK.  In addition, the company also developed an open API allowing organisations to implement bespoke online client solutions.  

Demand for outdoor team building reaches all-time-high as Wyboston Lakes Resort’s Ride Leisure activity centre re-opens

Thursday, 6 May, 2021 - 10:03

Wyboston Lakes Resort and its partner Ride Leisure, the water sports and land activity centre based at the Bedfordshire venue, have been extremely busy with enquiries from businesses for outdoor team building and corporate events since they began welcoming groups of six people on 12 April.

From 17 May, the size of groups at the Aqua Park for outdoor and socially distanced activities will increase to 30 people, in line with the government’s lockdown roadmap, with drinks and food available indoors for parties of six people.

Richard Smith, Sales Director at Wyboston Lakes Resort, said: “We’ve never before experienced such a huge demand for these team building activities – it’s at an all-time high! 

“Many organisations feel their teams are fragmented after more than a year of working from home in isolation and meeting by Zoom, that they need these morale-boosting, enjoyable team building events to bring them back together again.

“In particular, we are seeing a clear trend emerging for outdoor and socially distanced activities which are very much in line with government guidance. With rigorous Covid-19 safety and hygiene protocols in place, Wyboston Lakes Resort and Ride Leisure are well-placed to meet this demand and we are looking forward to welcoming teams again in the coming months.”

Socially distanced water activities at Ride Leisure include wakeboarding, stand-up paddle boarding, jet skiing and Jet Lev Flying. Land-based adventures include a 4X4 off-road driving experience and an inflatable ‘It’s a Knockout’-style obstacle course.

Pages

News archive