‘There are tight purse strings in the MICE industry – at this time – with costs being shaved wherever possible but not always in a practical manner’ so witnesses the Academy in checking the temperature as we go into the final and customary ‘busy’ months of 2013.
**Hidden costs:
Booking a venue with a per person all inclusive package is a popular and simple method of calculating a relatively accurate bottom-line expense. Final bill can be quite another issue (and higher bottom-line) as on-site consumption of electricity, waste and the like were inadvertently excluded from the discussions.
**Commissions
Where declared commissions are payable, some suppliers have adopted the custom to only pay when the client has settled the bill. Although commissions or ‘marketing services fees’ should be included in the quotation as to the terms of payment, it remains a poor business practice to delay payment based on possible credit controls not within the influence of the commissioned recipient.
**Additional Individual costs:
In an independent Value of Satisfaction report published in the UK’s Meetpie, 45 per cent of event organisers had been hit with a final bill that exceeded the quoted amount.
Of these incidents, 26 per cent were due to additional costs for internet access, while parking payments affected over one in five of those questioned.
Also three-quarters of delegates admitted having to pay additional charges on site at the event – costs which are often assigned to travel and expenses accounts rather than assigned to the cost of the event. Although 86 per cent of bookers outlined cost as their primary concern when making a venue decision, half admitted that they did not consider reclaimed expenses when calculating their return on investment.
**Numbers Game
Booking and agreeing to a bottom-line based on 200 attendees, when 250 arrive is a practice MICE venues do not appreciate. Venues have controls where any crockery or cutlery determines the number. Yet platters of food handed around means with more in attendance than booked – the venue usually bears the brunt of poor revues with insufficient food complaints.
The key is in the wording as bookers could decide to interpret attendees – milling around differently from the number that are actually confirmed for the package deal.
In many instances there can be severe long term consequences for short-term, knee-jerk decisions.
The MICE industry’s span of concentration may be short but when it comes to unforeseen expenses and questionable tactics today by both buyer and supplier – their memories can be very long indeed.
