meetings

How do you view the spread of teleworking, which existed long before the health crisis? Michel Font - Teleworking was a fundamental trend, and there was a demand for it among employees. On the other hand, the technological tools were struggling to establish themselves. There was a profusion of solutions with which everything...

As part of its Connect with Confidence programme presented at the end of last year, Marriott is gradually sketching out the contours of the hybrid meeting solutions that will be offered within the group's hotels, initially in the United States and Canada from March 2021, before being extended worldwide. Technology...

Booking meetings online has always been a great expectation of both hoteliers and event organisers. It's almost like a sea serpent for the entire sector. In order to accelerate its development, four of the major hotel groups - Accor, Hilton, IHG and Marriott - together invested 50 million dollars in...

Hilton is strengthening its position in China's business segment with the opening of the only hotel directly connected to the Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center, one of the world's largest MICE venues with 500,000 square metres of indoor space. This position, already advantageous for business travellers, is strengthened by the plethora of...

Patrick Mendes has been in charge of Accor's international sales for some time, before taking over as head of the hotel group's operations in Latin America. He is now heading up a new division which, for the first time, brings together the Sales, Distribution, Marketing and Loyalty divisions. As part of his duties, Patrick Mendes also oversees the eight regional hubs recently created by Accor...

It's been in the air for some time. The Accor group has officially presented its new hybrid meeting concept, All Connect, which will be launched next April in partnership with Microsoft. This new offering, which focuses primarily on small meetings with between 8 and 50 physical participants, is based on the observation that these new methods of...

Faced with the rise of teleworking and the increasing use of virtual meetings, technology players are taking steps to improve employee productivity and maintain a link, albeit virtual, between employees. The launch of Microsoft Viva was made official on 4 February. This new tool integrates with Microsoft 365 and Teams...

The announcement of a new strategic plan in talkshow style, a product launch staged like a television programme, prestigious locations as backdrops: the Barrière group and the TF1 Factory agency are giving hybrid events a guarantee of excellence. The Barrière hotels have teamed up with TF1's subsidiary specialising in...

This was supposed to be a recovery event for Châteauform' after the relaxation of health constraints scheduled for 20 January. Unfortunately, the spread of the pandemic continues unabated, and business at the seminar centres is still at a standstill. Despite its position as France's leading seminar and training venue, Châteauform'...

Like many players in the MICE segment, Hilton is responding to the growing demand for meetings and events in hybrid formats. The American group has just announced the roll-out of a global programme dedicated to this new trend, featuring a series of offerings called Hilton EventReady Hybrid Solutions. The first deployments of Hilton EventReady Hybrid...

So it's in a destination that's well known to French business travellers, and in the prestigious epicentre that is Avenue Louise, that Comet's international career will begin. The meetings and events specialist started the countdown on 6 January: "Passport expired? Fear of flying? Card?

After three-quarters of 2020, what do you expect for the convention and events sector in 2021? Philippe Augier - The situation is serious, because after almost ten months of business interruption due to administrative closures and regular regulatory instability, the events sector as a whole is very much under threat. Above all, it is...

How do you see the Meetings & Events market in 2021? Arnaud Katz - The Meetings & Events market will undoubtedly gradually regain its strength, as the need to get back together will be paramount after the year we've just had. There is a deep-seated desire in the market to get back on its feet, both...

Faced with the boom in video-conferencing solutions and the constraints on event organisation, the hotel industry is stepping up the introduction of hybrid meeting solutions. Melia Hotels turns its attention to hybrid events The Spanish group Melia Hotels has announced the launch of its 'Melia Hybrid Solutions', a range of technological solutions for hybrid meetings...

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is continuing its series of studies to take the temperature of the business travel and MICE markets. A new report - the 14th since the start of the health crisis - has just been unveiled. Focusing on the meetings & events sector, it is reassuring about the market's prospects for the next few years.

PCR tests 72 hours before boarding the plane, antigen tests on arrival: for several months now, strict health measures have been applied to international air transport, both to limit the spread of the virus and to reassure travellers by avoiding the risk of contamination. This desire to restore confidence through tests is now being extended to...

Is the pandemic ushering in a new technological era for the MICE segment, or are the hybrid meeting solutions that are springing up here and there merely an adaptation to the air of a time tainted by the coronavirus? Whatever the case, while we wait for the day when physical meetings can resume as before, the...

It's already clear: hybrid meetings are driving demand in the MICE segment. According to a study carried out for the Accor group last July, 69 % of customers questioned in Europe were planning to organise events that were half virtual and half face-to-face in 2021. In fact, with travel constraints adding to the health situation, large companies...

Having gone without 'traditional' meetings and events for most of 2020, professionals are planning to make up for it in moderation next year. According to the new 2021 Global Meetings and Events Forecast by American Express Meetings & Events, the "all-virtual" trend is set to give way to face-to-face events and, above all, hybrid operations. The latter...

When will business events pick up again? What are the most dynamic sectors in these circumstances? Is France still as attractive a destination as ever? A study carried out by Atout France and EY among agencies, congress organising associations and major companies in Germany, the UK and Belgium,...