Strategic partners from Oxford’s event industry met on Friday 24 July on the rooftop of The Courtyard Marriott in Oxford city centre to discuss next steps for recovery for events in Oxford.
Oxford is reliant on tourism, university students and events, all of which have been heavily affected by the global pandemic. The rise of hybrid events is expected to continue therefore significantly impacting city centre footfall in the future too.
Amy Hewick, Hewick Events and Chris Jones, Boys and Girls Promotions started a lockdown project, by setting up Oxford Events Real Chat, which is held weekly online and brings together the Oxford events community to discuss key issues within the industry. They continue to work together to ease the impact of the pandemic on the events industry in Oxford.
The collaborative group took the next step in their road to recovery on Friday 24 July when they met in person on the top of a roof terrace of the Courtyard Marriott overlooking the Oxford skyline. The group were joined by Oxford University, Experience Oxfordshire, as well as event organisers, AV companies and event caterers.
One of the major outcomes of the gathering was how effective the group has been for individual members since its creation. There was a strong desire to maintain the group as its apparent the Oxford events industry was craving a collaborative approach to grow events in Oxford.
“We do not want to go back to the old normal, we need to listen to our clients and take events down a new route that is more unique and bespoke than ever before,” explains Amy Hewick, Hewick Events.
The group discussed that Oxford is a brand and they want everyone’s experience to be consistently good and consistently safe. They encouraged the use of the Good to Go accreditation initiated by VisitBritain and how to put a local spin on it.
The group will continue to meet weekly online, however, with events of more than 30 being allowed from 1 October as of writing this release, the group plans to meet again in person, in September, to share plans and initiatives to demonstrate how safe the end-to-end event experience in Oxford will be for global visitors.
“Guest safety is our priority, with our enhanced cleanliness procedures that we have implemented throughout every step of the guest journey and by working collaboratively together with other local businesses, we are able to provide an outstanding service. This gives reassurance that together, we are all following the government guidelines to keep delegates and event planners safe making Oxford a stand out location to host your next event” explains Christina Irons, Sales Manager at the Courtyard Marriott who is part of the group.
Events, hospitality, and tourism are on the rise in Oxford, with footfall in Oxford’s city centre increasing in the last month. The aim of this group of strategic partners is to ensure the message that Oxford is open for business reaches the corporate events and social events markets loudly and clearly.
