14 Conference+Meetings World November/December 2008

AIPC PERSPECTIVE

For most of its existence, the meetingsindustry has been something of anorphan, falling between the various

sectors that make up more recognisedindustries and as often as not adopted bysome other sector that has something togain by association. Typically, this has beenthe tourism industry, but in this regard it onlyreally shares a need for accommodationand other visitor services, which isn’t verydifferent from any other business activity.

But it does, in fact, have another, muchmore critical role – and it’s ironic that at atime when the industry needs all therecognition and support it can get, this rolehas been largely overlooked both by theindustry itself, as well as by governmentswho need to understand how centres impactwhat is usually their top policy concern. Thisis the key part that meetings, conventionsand exhibitions play in economicdevelopment – a role that has beenregularly ignored in favour of their much lesssignificant role as a tourism product.

The fact is that conventions andexhibitions are all about economicdevelopment and only incidentally abouttourism. They take place in order topromote things like professional andbusiness development, academic andresearch exchange, technical and medicaladvancement and cultural evolution, notsimply to fill hotel rooms. Yet we continue togauge our success – and the value of theindustry – on measures that trivialise the realeconomic benefits a centre generates for thecommunity.

That this is misunderstood by bothgovernment and much of the industry itselfis understandable, given the traditionaltendency of the tourism industry toperpetuate the notion and the fact that thetwo are, in some areas, lumped togetheradministratively for the sake of convenience.However, it has compromised the ability ofthe meetings sector to deliver on one of themost important benefits that meetings andconventions generate – the ability to shapeand advance a region’s economicdevelopment strategies.

So how do meetings and exhibitionsaddress overall economic developmentgoals? It’s a long list, including:

■ Attracting international events that relatedirectly to areas of government economicpriorities

Convention centres– where’s the real value?Rod Cameron, director of programming and international development for AIPC, highlights the critical and often undervalued roleplayed by the meetings industry in economic development.

■ Creating forums for interactions betweenglobal investors and local businesses in avariety of areas

■ Drawing business and professional visitors,creating destination exposure among amuch more mobile, affluent and decision-making group not otherwise likely to visit

■ Attracting top professionals in any givenfield, which delivers global expertise into thehost community where it is available toenhance local professional development andexpertise

■ Creating extensive opportunities for theexposure of local business, investment,research, and cultural products to a globalaudience

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Convention centres do not exist to fill hotels and restaurants, but can shape and advance aregion’s economic development strategies, as AIPC congress delegates know so well

November/December 2008 Conference+Meetings World 17

AIPC PERSPECTIVE

■ Advancing international co-operation andunderstanding by creating forums for highlevel exchanges and helping buildrelationships through direct, personalcontact among participants

This is not to negate the value that acentre has in generating benefits for thetourism sector, but to underline the fact thatthe discussion shouldn’t end there. If it does,the result will be an under appreciation ofthe broader objectives to be served. This isimportant because, like any area ofgovernment investment, convention centresneed to be assessed on the basis of whatthey return to the taxpayer investor, and thiscan hardly be done effectively if a majorarea of significance is simply left out of theequation.

So why has this broader role been largelyignored? Because it isn’t one that lends itselfto direct measurement. There has been atendency to measure benefits on the basisof the immediate economic impacts thatarise from delegate and exhibitor spendingsimply because this is the easiest tocalculate. So, by definition, much of thedirect evaluation of a centre’s effectivenessfocuses on what they contribute to thetourism/hospitality sector – specifically thenumber of hotel room nights generated –ignoring the far greater value generated inoverall economic development.

However, the fact that something is easy tomeasure doesn’t mean it is the mostvaluable component, and the role thatmeetings, conventions and exhibitions playin promoting other areas of the economyalmost certainly outweigh the more tangiblespending benefits. In undervaluing such acontribution there is an unfortunatetendency to discount it in favour of morereadily calculated measures such as directspending.

Why is this a problem?First, because it results in an underutilisationof the potential a convention centre has forperforming a much greater service. Aconvention centre, and the events it hosts,can and should be a primary instrument ofeconomic development for the governmentowner, because with the properencouragement it can selectively pursue thekinds of events that best correspond to theowner’s policy objectives. This is almostnever done effectively, simply because fewowners see a centre in this light.

Second, it raises the question as to how acentre should be marketed, and who shouldbe doing it. The most successful marketingof a centre (and thus the greatest overallreturn to the owner) will be achieved with adedicated effort that fully recognises and

prioritises the unique demands of themarket as well as the broader opportunitiesassociated with economic and businessdevelopment.

One concern in this regard is whether themarketing of a convention centre really hasanything to do with leisure tourism, which isa combination that sometimes comes aboutdue to the way in which destinationmarketing is handled.

Consider that:

■ Conventions and exhibitions are abusiness to business sell, not the kind ofmass market sell applied to the leisure side.Centres seldom, if ever, deal directly with theend user (the delegates) and their marketingmust instead be based on what appeals to ameeting organiser, whose priorities aretypically very different from those of a leisuretraveller.

■ A ‘leisure’ image may not be what manyplanners are looking for as they make theirsite decision. We need to appeal to amarket that increasingly understands theneed for meetings to be seen as seriousbusiness, linked into academic, businessand professional objectives andinstitutions, and as tourism messages areinevitably about leisure, they can actuallyprovoke a negative reaction in this regard.

■ Decision-makers, decision factors andbusiness processes are all fundamentallydifferent in the meetings market fromthose of the leisure travel sector, and theselling process needs to be adjustedaccordingly.

Generating benefitsQuite simply, this means that the job ofselling a centre – and of generating thefull range of benefits it can and should begenerating in the overall economy – needsto take a specialised approach, and onethat is based on an appreciation of therange of objectives to be served. In mostplaces, the economic development role willbe one of the biggest priorities in the mix.

This is not to deny that there is a majordestination component in the conventionsell, but rather to make the point that itdoesn’t end there. Leisure attributes areonly one part of what is an increasinglycomplex combination of factors that gointo the site selection decision, and allmust be addressed for a successfuloutcome.

In any case, the role of centres as

Conferences can create forums for interaction between global investors and local businesses

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‘We continue to gaugeour success – and thevalue of the industry –on measures thattrivialise the realeconomic benefits acentre generates forthe community’

AIPC PERSPECTIVE

importance centres have in addressing oureconomic and community interests.

As long as centres exist, and remaincompetitive, they will continue to benefitthe tourism sector by filling hotels andrestaurants, supporting the creation of newhotel capacity and creating greaterdestination exposure. However, they can’tdo this – particularly in today’s highlycompetitive market – without ongoinginvestment, usually by government.Anything that can further justify thisinvestment will benefit everyone, andthat’s why it’s time we should all be

instruments of economic developmentshould not be seen as substituting one setof priorities for another, but rather ameans of expanding the definition of howa centre generates value for thecommunity. Such an objective should besupported by all industry sectors, aseveryone will benefit from the kind of solidinvestment that a wider appreciation ofthose benefits can create. We will needevery economic justification we can get tomeet the challenges of the future, and todo this we need to seize on every availableargument to expand the perception of the

Meetings are a serious business, linked into academic, business and professional objectives

18 November/December 2008 Conference+Meetings World

embracing – and promoting – a betterunderstanding of the broader role centresplay in overall economic development.

Whether we like it or not, mostgovernments place a much higher priorityon economic development than they do ontourism, and as an industry it’s time wetook better advantage of the importantstory we have to tell in this regard.

AIPC is an international association of160 of the world’s leading conventionand exhibition centres, based inBrussels, Belgium. Its mission is tosupport, encourage and recogniseexcellence in convention centreoperation and management and itsupports this mission with activitiesdesigned to assist members inimproving their level of managementexpertise in such areas as operations,finance, technology, staff development,marketing, client relations andsustainability.

For further information please contactmarianne.de.raay@aipc.org or visitwww.aipc.org