Why are you placing such a strong emphasis on the seminar market?
Timothée de Roux - Our members associate themselves with a brand to benefit from services and visibility in markets to which they do not have access as independents. In the consumer market, we help to increase hotel bookings with the major online distributors thanks to the presence and recognition of the quality of our brand, and we improve the market share of the direct channel. In the B2B, leisure and corporate markets, we also offer real added value. For example, we share negotiations with key account clients, business travel agencies such as Carlson Wagonlit and American Express, and we generate a significant number of overnight stays. As far as seminars are concerned, we're realising two things: our hotels have a good local presence, but they don't have as much visibility with national or international companies. We want our members to have access to all those SMEs and large companies that are looking for non-standardised products that are off the beaten track, with a little extra soul, while offering a top-of-the-range service; all the elements reflected in our values of quality, authenticity, personality and generosity. We have already organised more than 120 seminars in the first half of 2013, with the volume of business brought to our members in this market doubling compared with the first half of 2012.
What are your concrete actions?
T. de R. - If we want to develop seminars, it's not so much a question of technology as of people. A seminar isn't just about booking rooms. You have to be able to respond to specific requests concerning activities, catering and the equipment needed in the rooms. That's why we're strengthening our team with five 100% people dedicated to this market, and I believe that Châteaux & Hôtels Collection is the only independent hotel brand to offer this. Because we work so closely with our members, our MICE team is committed to responding to all requests within four hours and offering a quote within 24 hours. We will also be present at the sector's major trade shows in the last quarter of 2013. We are in the process of drawing up a seminar charter, which will be published with our next "Seminars & Events" guide in early 2014. It will set out in black and white our commitments concerning, on the one hand, the speed of response and the efficiency of the support offered by our MICE department to our BtoB customers and, on the other hand, concerning the quality of the services offered by our establishments proposing seminars: discretion, reception capacity, tailor-made accommodation services, adapted catering, management of on-site activities by trusted service providers, presence of a dedicated person in case of questions or requests on site.
How many hotels do organisers need?
T. de R. - Out of our 682 addresses, 161 hotels can meet the demand for seminars, whether for conferences of 150 people or small executive committees, a segment for which we offer a very good variety of establishments. Among these, we have some exceptional addresses. For example, Château des Vigiers, near Bergerac and Bordeaux, a sixteenth-century residence in the heart of the countryside, with a 27-hole golf course, two swimming pools and a fitness centre. I'm also thinking of La Réserve in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, with views of the sea and the mountains, Le Parc in Obernai in the heart of Alsace, and Byblos Parc in Verona, Italy, a sixteenth-century villa with an original and sophisticated makeover... We've got lots of houses like that! The great strength of all our establishments lies, of course, in the quality of the food on offer, and this is linked to the fact that the Châteaux & Hôtels Collection brand is chaired by Alain Ducasse.
Châteaux & Hôtels Collection
