By Padraic Gilligan – SoolNua – November, 2016
There’s a nice symbiosis between the availability of airlift into previously
“off line” destinations and a new trend – the substantial rise of second
and third tier destinations. This is being driven by many factors.
Capacity issues in tier one cities, particularly in the US where demand
has outstripped supply for a few years now, is causing #eventprofs to
look beyond the tried and tested to discover the delights of Raleigh or
Tampa or Oklahoma City. Demand in tier one cities like Chicago, San
Francisco and New York is also pushing up prices, another compelling
reason to look beyond these usual suspects.
But it’s not all about capacity and price. There’s a change in the zeitgeist
too that leaves delegates ready for new and different experiences and
open to check out the paths less travelled.
Always ahead of the herd, Google brought its EMEA meeting to Killarney
in the South West of Ireland, some years ago having eliminated several
mainstream European cities from the selection process. Getting there
involved planes, trains and automobiles but the destination experience
inspired more stories and forged more connections than any previous event.
Subaru, the Japanese automotive company, passed up on Chicago, San
Francisco and Miami for its recent Annual Business Conference and
instead choose Indianapolis as it offered “something new” along with
great infrastructure and affordable rates.
The availability of low cost carriers on routes has been a key factor in
destination selection for the association sector for many years. With
delegates at association conferences generally paying registration,
accommodation and air out of their own pockets, the presence of a low
cost airline always boosts delegate numbers.
While the corporate meeting and incentive sector has tended to
despise the low cost | poor service model that too is changing now and
will continue to do so in 2017. Low cost carriers are now proactively
targeting the MICE sector with the launch of a business and group
product and that’s set to have a big implication on destination selection.
Low cost carriers are now opening up access to hitherto untrodden paths,
particularly around Europe where Ryanair, EasyJet, Vueling and others
have grabbed so much market share and are connecting meetings and
incentive participants to multiple second and third tier destinations.
