Hidden terms and conditions and unclear additional fees top a list of frustrations event buyers have when considering venue offers and incentives.
Venues failing to tailor offers and incentives, and who provide limited availability when they promote offers are also likely to frustrate event buyers, research by The Delegate Wranglers and CUSTARD has revealed.
The results of a recent survey of event buyers and venues on the topic of offers and incentives provides a useful insight into booking behaviours and is helping to give both parties a clearer understanding of their respective motivations.
What is clear is that exclusive offers and booking incentives matter, with 95% of event bookers saying they would consider a venue for their event if they had them. But what kind of offers or incentives are they seeking?
Price isn’t always the biggest motivator, research revealed. Instead, the majority of event bookers (61%) are looking for value-driven incentives. Incentives whereby they get more bang for their buck, added extras and enhanced packages. And they all expect deals on quieter days, which they highlight as Mondays, Fridays and Tuesdays.
While event venues use offers principally to promote off-peak bookings and attract new clients, they may need to factor in event bookers’ desired lead times when drawing them up.
Last-minute offers to fill spaces are of little interest to almost two-thirds of event bookers (64%), who said they rarely took them. Instead, the majority prefer between one- and four-weeks’ lead time should they be offered a deal.
Being fair and transparent with those deals is also crucial to avoid frustrations down the line, and while value was found to be more important than price, the latter is still important to event bookers.
Indeed, the most attractive deals to event bookers were those offering a discount on venue hire or complimentary services such as AV or catering.
However, discounts or incentives are no contender for location. It is the main criteria in choosing a venue, followed closely by price. A large number of event bookers also select a venue based on reputation.
How all of this is communicated also matters. Venues for instance prefer to use direct email, then email newsletters to promote their offers. By comparison, event bookers’ preference is to receive news of offers via email newsletters, then the venue’s website.
Neil Thompson, founder and managing director of The Delegate Wranglers, said: “This insight provides a 360-degree view of the heavily contested approach to incentives and offers, and is part of wider research into habits of event planners and venues led by CUSTARD and The Delegate Wranglers. It demonstrates that it doesn’t all come down to price and that event planners are seeking value-added incentives while being transparent with any terms and conditions is essential.”
Lesley Whyte, senior account director at CUSTARD, said: “Understanding what it is that event planners are actually after is essential in the ever-evolving MICE sector, so shaping and adapting strategies to recognise this will certainly be key to success for UK venues. It will no doubt provide great insight to venues as to what motivates event buyers as they start their budgeting and planning for 2025.”
