Skift Take
Investing in technology has become crucial for hotels to better meet the needs of event planners who know that solid audiovisual equipment and fast Wi-Fi are more important than ever before.
Flexible meeting spaces have caught on worldwide, but not every market is created equal.
New research shows that meeting planners in Latin America have embraced stronger technology packages for events, while the global trend of flexible meeting spaces is less important in the region. When venues have a more dated technology infrastructure, it can translate to a weaker experience for attendees.
Check out my story below. We also have a deep dive this week on the evolution of tours and activities into experiences, along with the latest on Hilton’s strong commitment to expanding its portfolio of all-inclusive properties.
If you have any feedback about the newsletter or news tips, feel free to reach out to me via email at [email protected] or tweet me @sheivach.
— Andrew Sheivachman, Business Travel Editor
The Future of Events and Meetings
Latin America Meeting Planners Focus on Experience Creation: Latin American event planners think that technology will become vital to their efforts in the future. They also know that crafting memorable experiences is necessary to prove the true value of an event to stakeholders.
Tours and Experiences: The Next Great Untapped Market in Online Travel: Vacationers want to experience something new and are tired of the same old tours and activities. While global tour operators are baking more customization into their products, digital distribution is changing the way local operators do business.
Hilton Commits to Growing Its Portfolio of All-Inclusive Resorts: And it won’t be the only one. Expect Marriott and other global hotel brands to join Hyatt and Hilton in growing their respective all-inclusive resort portfolios, too.
Around the Industry
AccorHotels Expects Voice Search to Be Revolutionary for Travel: Voice search isn’t ubiquitous for travel yet, but as consumers grow more comfortable with the technology, travel brands should be making major inroads too.
Chinese Outbound Travel Is Up While Per-Trip Spending Drops: The good news for destinations around the world is that outbound travel from China is still increasing. But there’s no room for complacency: Competition for those tourists is widespread, and average spending is down.
Growing Pains for Influencer Marketing Raise Questions for Travel Brands: Influencers are still getting a chunk of some travel brands’ marketing budgets, but the amount of pull they have over travelers’ trip decisions is questionable. As the form matures, influencers and brands are still figuring out the rules of the road.
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Skift Business Travel Editor Andrew Sheivachman [[email protected]] curates the Skift Meetings Innovation Report. Skift emails the newsletter every Wednesday.
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Tags: meetings, meetingsiq
Photo credit: Delegates at a World Trade Organization conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina. World Trade Organization / Flickr