Accor’s E-Planner to open up a world of MICE opportunities

Nowadays, event-planners are using their network (DMO), their experience and the internet as tools for finding the perfect venue for their event. The goal of a Professional Conference Organizer is to manage the organization of an event in a cost effective manner and to reach the expectations of its client. Consequently the PCO has to study all the opportunities to provide the best event. The internet is full of information and gathers numerous data, sometimes hard to find or simply highly time-consuming. That is why Accor has decided to get involved in the MICE industry gambling on the internet developing a site to facilitate the work of the PCOs and promote their hotels.

“The ultimate tool for any discerning event planner”

Accor Group has announced the launch of a “user-friendly and interactive” meetings site aimed at Professional Conference Organizers. The objective is to provide the best fitted solution for the PCOs giving them the possibility of searching specific information and booking hotels for organizing their event. Based on three main criteria, they can find the necessary data for planning their event. Indeed, the meeting site provides data such as number of available room, venue size and location. Moreover, it indicates the availability of the chosen hotel in the searching area and its catering capacity. The “bonus” relies on a loyalty program called Accor’A/Club Meeting planner program that rewards the loyalty of the PCOs by providing them vouchers that they can use for their own holidays, or as corporate gift. Accord group will provide a large rang of choice among 1700 hotels with MICE facilities, providing more than 10 000 meeting rooms, all over the world in Asia, America, Europe, Africa… in more than 80 countries.

The Mice industry needs to have more visibility and more consistency on the internet. First of all, this is a growing sector that needs a structured framework in term of information. That is why in my point of view, it is interesting to implement a meeting site especially aimed at E-planners, indeed it focuses on the needs of PCOs and allows them to have a better overview of all the potential opportunities. Secondly, for Accor group it is a great strategy for reaching the MICE niche market which is booming. Indeed, they create a site that gathers all the needed information for planning an event, thus it is a gain of time for the event planner. The drawback of that meeting site is that it includes only hotels belonging to Accor Group, consequently it limits the research and maybe lacks of objectivity when it is about to describe the advantage of an hotel. The idea is launched: developing a meeting site that gathers all the Hotels that provide MICE infrastructures all over the world, where PCOs, DMOs and clients could give their opinion on their own experience…

Yves Lemarchand, managing director of Experience Scotland gives its opinion:  “As a conference organiser, I notice something straight away: there is only one paragraph about the rooms, hotel and other facilities of the website…..but there are two paragraphs selling the idea of becoming an AClub member! A professional conference organiser should not have to use such website to book a hotel, he would have all the relevant contacts with DMC’s to get advice and really know what the hotel is about. The internet and websites are amazing tools when it comes to visualise a property – but please never refrain from asking the DMC’s and PCO’s what type of experience they have had with the hotel you are about to book. Our industry is about people: people will make or break your event…..the websites won’t!”   www.experiencescotland.co.uk

 Rob Davidson, senior lecturer in Events Management at the University of Greenwich thinks that: “The new E-planners interactive meeting site developed by Accor group for PCOs is an interesting initiative following the introduction of similar online group booking tools launched by other groups such as Marriott and Hilton Hotels. There is no doubt that this will empower meetings planners, who will appreciate the convenience of the system as well as the geographical spread and strong branding of the various members of the Accor family of hotels. In addition, in these times of cost-cutting, when meetings planners are being asked to do make their budgets go further by organizing more meetings without making greater demands on their employers’ or clients’ financial resources, the ability to cut out the ‘middle-man’ by dealing directly with the supplier will be an attractive option. Generation Y meetings planners, who grew up with the Internet firmly integrated into their DNA, will adapt quickly to using this site. It will, however, be interesting to see how many planners are prepared to go ahead and make the booking without visiting the property in the first place. For incentive travel in particular, I envisage very few planners doing this – the majority of them will at some point wish to visit the venue in person and discuss their event with the staff, face-to-face.”

As future event planner or professional in the hospitality sector, please give your point of view on the meeting site developing by Accor Group.

Sources : Theodore Koumelis (2012, January 13th).  Accor’s E-Planner to open up a world of MICE opportunities, from Travel Daily News website http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/47213-Accor%E2%80%99s-E-Planner-to-open-up-a-world-of-MICE-opportunities)