Far-flung functions

Considering how stressful it can be to organise conferences, meetings and other events in the UK, it may seem odd that so many clients choose to hold them overseas, where language barriers and complicated working legislation can really pile on the pressure. There are advantages to venturing beyond these shores, however.

Sally Mayell, head of venue and incentive management for Bristol-based Mainstream Presentations, a company that specialises in organising conferences overseas, says: “Conferences overseas are more motivational and cost-effective than those held in the UK. If you put people on a plane or take them to an airport, the excitement and anticipation motivates delegates.”

She adds that overseas destinations can offer interesting opportunities for social programmes: “It’s not just a case of ‘Been there, got the T-shirt’. These days, clients look forward to something a bit different; something that they haven’t done before. Sometimes, clients simply want a change. Going abroad offers this.”

Simon Hambley, director of live events agency Acclaim, whose clients include Microsoft and Nortel Networks, agrees. He adds that the overheads associated with hosting an event abroad are often lower than those of a similar event in the UK: “If you are going abroad, it can cost less than the UK because things such as venue and accommodation are so much cheaper. This means that when you put the whole budget together, even with extra organisational expenses, it is still cheaper.”

Mayell agrees that saving money is one of the most important factors. She says: “Although there is a perception that going abroad is expensive, it is often cheaper, particularly with off-peak hotels in Europe. We’ve used Cyprus a couple of times. The hotels don’t charge for use of meeting rooms if you are using the hotel as a venue for a conference. I’ve just done a costing for an event in Cyprus and it came in &£5,000 cheaper than a similar event in the UK. That includes flights, transfers and two nights’ entertainment.”

Warmer climes

Another reason why hosting an event abroad is popular is the weather. Hambley says: “When clients want to do an event in January in Europe, they probably wouldn’t look at the UK; they would look at the South of Spain, the Canary Islands, North Africa, Cyprus or Greece, where you are pretty much guaranteed good weather. This is particularly important if it is a product launch, but people generally like to have good weather at events. If it is raining and miserable, the delegates will be miserable too.”

Mayell adds that organising an overseas conference can be problematic if a client only has a short lead-time for an event. She says: “If a client comes to you in January and says: ‘I want to do an event within three hours’ flight time and I want it to be somewhere hot,’ your shortlist of destinations immediately becomes a very short list indeed.”

Both Mayell and Hambley agree that organising events overseas takes a lot more planning than they would in the UK. One extra factor is security. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, many clients consider some destinations to be unsafe or a security risk. As Hambley says: “We had one specific event that was booked in Dubai, but we ended up moving it to South Africa. Dubai is a safe country, but it isn’t seen as that way by Americans – and the event was for an American client.”

He says that North Africa, which was until recently an up-and-coming destination for conferences and exhibitions, has been hit hard: “Acclaim hasn’t done any events in North Africa since the attacks on New York and Washington. It was quite a popular destination before, but it is now seen as too much of a risk. Over the past 12 months, clients who would ordinarily go to Cyprus or Greece are playing it safe. If there is conflict in Iraq, and you said to a company in New York: ‘We’re going to fly your sales and marketing team to Cyprus,’ the client would see that as a security risk and call the event off. To avoid that, we’ve been looking at keeping things closer to home.”

Mayell has also experienced security issues: Mainstream organised Orange’s Israeli launch event and Mayell was shocked by the level of security. She says: “The level of security getting into and out of the airport was like nothing I’d ever encountered. You were searched three or four times before you could even get on the plane.”

Bit parts, big problems

Factors such as these have to be taken into consideration when planning an event overseas, but there are other, less dramatic issues which can take up time and cause trouble. One of these is visas. Mainstream recently held an event in Russia, and arranging visas proved particularly time-consuming, especially as many delegates responded at the last moment to invitations.

Different countries’ working practices must also be allowed for. Hambley says: “We held an event in Marrakech and spent a lot of time with the ground agent specifying the type of equipment we wanted, when we wanted it delivered and how we wanted it set up. We flew to do the technical set-up on a Thursday, for an event on the Saturday – so we had given ourselves plenty of time – but half the equipment we had ordered and paid for in advance wasn’t there. We ended up having to charter a plane from the UK to fly the equipment out. This led to an argument with the venue over a refund for the money we paid out in advance, in addition to recovering the costs of flying the equipment out.” However, Hambley says that organisers get used to dealing with such issues and learn how to prepare for the unexpected.

Hambley says that a major factor, often overlooked, is exchange rates: “If you quote a budget six months in advance and you are paying in local currency but billing the client in the UK, then exchange rates can fluctuate in the meantime. On an event of any size, a five or ten per cent fluctuation in exchange rates could have a significant effect on your budget. This could easily send a client over budget and even drive the event into a loss.”

Overseas venues may prove motivational, cheaper and more exotic than events at home, but given the logistical problems and the long lead-time needed to organise them, it is no surprise that many clients prefer to remain on these shores.

Wembley Arena Conference and Exhibition Centre recently released results of its annual conference survey, which showed that many UK organisers prefer to hold events in this country. It also revealed that time-pressure and delegate-management are the most stressful elements of organising events.

Wembley Arena Conference and Exhibition Centre senior commercial and marketing manager Julie Warren says: “The lead-time for conferences in the UK is a maximum of a couple of months. Some events that we have sitting in our system are for 2004, though, so it does depend upon the company and the type of meeting. Generally, our survey indicated that lead times are shorter for UK events than for events abroad.”

Time waits for no delegate

Warren says that, although overseas events may appear cheaper at face value, they are less cost-effective for delegates, who have to spend long periods out of the office to attend events. She adds: “We’ve received feedback that shows an unwillingness to travel too far. Clients are looking for added value and they need to justify costs and travel less.”

She adds that, given the problems that can occur with organising an event in the UK, organising one abroad is bound to be more stressful, time-consuming and costly: “Organisers need to travel to the venue two or three times before an event, which will be more expensive as well as taking up more time.”

Many event organisers remain convinced of the benefits of going overseas, tempted by warm weather, excitement and the ability to offer something different. But others claim that going overseas involves taking too many risks, not the least of which is guaranteeing the attendance of delegates, especially at a time of such worldwide political unrest.