CONFERENCE & BANQUETING

Hospitality Management Conference & Banqueting

[Name of the Institute]

Introduction1

Task A: Research report describing the conference and banqueting sector1

Review of the size and scope of the conference and banqueting industry in the UK1

Analysis of the different influences that have shaped the industry (PESTEL)3

Political Environment3

Economic Environment3

Social Environment3

Technological Environment4

Environmental Environment4

Legal Factors4

Conclusion4

References6

Hospitality Management Conference & Banqueting

Introduction

The conference and banqueting industry is one of the major industries in the UK. It has generated enormous revenue for the country. Business travellers travel to UK for the purpose of attending conference, meetings, and trade fairs in enormous numbers on a daily basis. The focus of this study is to present an evaluation of the Conference and Banqueting industry within the overall sector of UK. UK has experienced an enormous amount of growth in this sector. PESTEL analysis is also carried out in order to find the influencing factors that have an impact on this industry in the UK.

Task A: Research report describing the conference and banqueting sector

Review of the size and scope of the conference and banqueting industry in the UK

Within the past couple of decades, the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) industry in the UK has witnessed an enormous amount of growth in scope, strength and size across the globe. UK is a strong competitor in the industry of conferencing and banqueting as well. Business travel has turned out to be an extremely important sector of the tourism industry of the United Kingdom. The British Association of Conference Destinations (BACD) defines business travel as the travelling done by tourists who attend meetings, exhibitions, trade fairs, conferences, corporate business and hospitality travel. The business travellers and visitors in the UK spend an enormous amount of money as compared to the general tourists who arrive in UK for the purpose of spending vacations, travelling to famous places in UK, visiting relatives and friends. . In 1997, the BACD estimated that 6.3 million overseas business visitors came to the UK, and spent a total of £3,501 million.

The United Kingdom has turned out to be an important player in the conference industry worldwide. The International congress and Convention Association (ICCA) found that for the year 2000, the United Kingdom will host around 8.8% of the total meetings of the world. This fact places UK in the second position in the top 10 countries by global meetings' market share. As the convention centres are opening in the UK at an increasing pace, it was witnessed that in the 1990s the market became competitive. This market seems to grow today as well. As competition in this field seems to increase on a continuous basis, the cities and towns of UK have become extremely competitive for winning lucrative conference businesses. In 1998, it was suggested by The British conference Market Trends Survey that the most number of conventions are corporate in nature. These make up to 74% of the total conferences (Anonymous, 2000, p. 76). The delegates who are corporate are the majority spenders. However, the largest conferences in the UK ...