Fáilte Ireland’s Conference Ambassador Programme.
-
Upload
jeffrey-perry -
Category
Documents
-
view
237 -
download
2
Transcript of Fáilte Ireland’s Conference Ambassador Programme.
Business Tourism is a key strategic area for Fáilte Ireland
• Association Conference Market is resilient
• Structured market
• Ireland has a wealth of conference facilities – 4 billion spent on conference infrastructure
• Ease of access
• Professional trade - RCBs, PCOs, DMCs, Hotels, Venues, Universities
• Ireland’s Conference Ambassadors
Economic Value to Local & National Economy
• Overseas business tourism grew by 10% in 2008
• Expenditure by business visitors increased by 7% to €583 million
• Breaking that down we calculate the worth of a conference delegate in Ireland as €1,400
• Out of pocket expenditure of International delegate - €980 (FI 2009)
• Out of pocket expenditure of Leisure tourist €545
Association Conference Research Objectives
• To grow Ireland’s share of the Association Conference Market
• Support and leverage the launch of new Conference product, as a key platform for repositioning Ireland as a leading conference destination.
• Research and measurement – to effectively promote the value of business tourism to the economy
• Generate Demand by develop a rolling pipeline of new international association conference leads
• Reinvigorate the Conference Ambassador programme by ensuring that ambassadors are motivated, educated and supported (practical & financial) in their efforts to bring conferences to Ireland.
6
Business Tourism Structures
Business Tourism unit and Forum
RCBs Cork Convention Bureau
Lead generation process
Co-ordinated implementation
Strategy development
Winning business
Tourism Ireland overseas offices
Business Tourism Working groups
Trade Supports
Conference Ambassador Support
Financial assistance towards:550K Financial Support
• Bid process
• Site inspections
• Marketing costs
Cork Convention Bureau
• Practical supports
Conference Ambassador Support
• No restrictions on size of conference
• No restrictions on subject matter
• Simple application process
• Support agreed over a number years
Practical Supports
• Ireland DVD• Sample ‘Why Ireland’ Presentation• Sample Bid Document• Image Library• Sample programmes• Conference Checklist• Vat Reclaim• Governmental and regional letters
of invitation• Marketing worldwide at preceding
events with Tourism Ireland• Conference bags• Delegate information
• Ongoing research – lead Generation
• University promotions
• Advertorials
• GB & Pan – European Researcher
Conference Ambassador Initiatives
Conference Ambassador supports
Conference Ambassador Initiatives
What is a Conference Ambassador?
• Ambassadors are professional people from fields as varied as academia, science, technology, sport, medicine, law and business ……… who have potential influence over their Association's choice of conference destination
• The decision of an international association on where to host their next conference is most strongly influenced by the input of a local member of that association – 70/30
• The decision is usually based on a bidding process with individual bids spearheaded by local ‘Conference Ambassadors'.
Association Conference Research
• 2 Fulltime staff dedicated to this area
• We undertake database research to identify and secure new Ambassadors
• When we secure the leads we send them to the Regional Convention Bureaux
• Fáilte Ireland monitors the leads
• Fáilte Ireland distributed 28 leads in 2008
• In 2009 we set ourselves an target to contact 60 potential Ambassadors per month and then distribute at least 60 of these Ambassadors to the RCBs per annum
• Fáilte Ireland distributed 74 leads in 2009
Target Markets
Using databases ( ICCA & UIA) & internet we target:
• International Associations based in Ireland
• International Associations with Irish Executive committee members
• International Associations with Irish members
• International Associations with Irish National Associations
• British Societies with Irish members
Association Conference Sizes
• 94% of Global Association conferences have less than 2,000 delegates
• 94% of European Association conferences have less than 2,000 delegates
• 86% of European Association conferences have less than 1,000 delegates
Target Markets
+ Medical Sciences+Pharmaceutical
+Technology
+ Medical Sciences+Pharmaceutical
+Technology
• Awareness Campaign
– Supports available
– Ireland’s capacity to host conferences
– Term “Conference Ambassador”
– Benefits of hosting a conference
– Fáilte Ireland support team
• Generate Conference Leads
Promotional Plan