Skift Take

Uber has the potential to be a big tool for corporate event planners, but the company doesn't do a great job of marketing itself.

Skift has documented many times the increasing popularity of rideshare apps among business travelers. It’s one of the most frequently expensed items on their expense reports, and rental car companies are scrambling to find ways to compete in a rapidly changing market.

This is especially true at events, where travelers are usually in an unfamiliar city for only a couple of days. Attendees line up outside of hotels and convention centers, checking their phones for updates on their Ubers and Lyfts. Rideshare has become one of the main tenets of conference transportation, whether organizers officially include it in their meeting plans or not.

This is where Uber Events comes in. Months in advance, Uber will coordinate with planners and venues to design a holistic event transportation strategy. The problem is that not many business conferences are using it.

Uber’s Niraj Patel talked to Skift about the company’s event capabilities and the difficulties of breaking into the industry.

Check out this story, and many more, below.

If you have any feedback about the newsletter or news tips, feel free to reach out via email at [email protected] or tweet @ikcarey.

Isaac Carey, Travel Reporter

The Future of Events and Meetings

Uber Has an Event Service — Who Knew? Uber knows that it is one of the primary modes of transportation at events — and has designed a service around that. Still, the company doesn’t really advertise this service very well, and it means that lots of planners are unaware of it.

LinkedIn Brings Back Events Product: Event planners rejoice. LinkedIn is launching Events, again. Inasmuch as something related to social media can age you, you kind of need to be a social media veteran to know that this is not the first time LinkedIn has launched Events.

Peninsula Parent’s Thailand Dispute Shows Perils of Owner-Chain Relations: This is a high-profile case that pits a powerful Thai family against a reputable global luxury hotel brand. It also spotlights the reality that this won’t be the last of owner-and-chain disputes, especially not when times are getting harder.

Around the Industry

Luxury Brand Value Surges — But Lags in Hospitality Sector: Within the travel industry, brands like Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons loom large. But according to a just-released study of brand valuation, in the real world, hospitality brand names don’t carry as much weight as their high-end counterparts in other industry sectors. To address this, companies like Marriott and Hilton are focusing on establishing ironclad loyalty offerings.

Accor CEO to Doubters in Asia: Our Brand-Heavy Strategy Is Working: Having more brands when cheap money is chasing real estate is good for Accor, but may not be for its hotel owners. This is especially true in Asia where owners are hoping that in time it won’t be a case of too many Accor hotels chasing too few hotel guests.

White House Drops Plans for Summit at Doral Resort After Outcry: As Skift first reported in September, meetings and events planners found President Trump’s decision to host the G7 summit at his own resort flawed in numerous ways. A little over a month later, backlash to the choice has forced the hard-headed president to reverse course.

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Travel Reporter Isaac Carey [[email protected]] curates the Skift Meetings Innovation Report. Skift emails the newsletter every Wednesday.

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Tags: linkedin, meetings, meetingsiq, mir, uber

Photo credit: Event attendees ride in an Uber. The company sometimes works with event planners to create a transportation strategy. 273747

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