“The Leaders’ Roundtable was a real eye-opener. I heard from hotel groups that are making Instant Book work very effectively. It made me want to get more involved and help our sector to embrace this new way of booking.”
That was the impact that the recent Instant Book Industry Leaders Roundtable made on Kerrin MacPhie, CEO of the Meetings Industry Association before adding “this is needed now. It gives 24/7 accessibility to book small meetings, releases the pressure on venues suffering from staff shortages, helps to raise awareness and helps agencies to find out about availability without having to wait for hard-pressed venues to respond. It’s something that the whole industry can get behind.”
20 senior executives from major hotel groups and venues, industry associations, venue booking agencies, travel management companies and event agencies shared their views and experiences and agreed the next steps in discussions. They were brought together by venuedirectory.com in association with beam at XCHG at 22 Bishopsgate, London.
Juliet Price, Development Consultant at beam observed: “the leaders were absolutely honest, sharing information and ideas that will make this work for everyone. beam is looking to share best practice across the sector and will support both those that are already using it and those who have yet to engage with Instant Book.
“Why can’t you book a simple meeting at any time of day? Instant Book is the next big revolution for the meetings industry.”
Michael Begley, Managing Director of venuedirectory.com concluded; “the responses of the industry leaders capture the powerful impact and excitement that came from these meetings, and everyone agreed to meet again in a few months to discuss further progress.
“From major hotel groups and agencies to independents, the roll-out of Instant Book is gaining momentum quickly as, from meetings like today, organisations realise that, unless they engage with it, they are missing out on the tremendous benefits and business it is bringing.”
