The personal touch

Despite the proliferation of communication tools nothing quite compares to a face-to-face meeting at a conference. To discover more, we sit down with two hotel managers specialising in conferencing facilities: Nicole Spitz, General Manager of the Negresco and Patrizia di Patrizio, Director of UK Sales for The Rocco Forte Collection.

“In today's market, technology is in constant evolution, and companies are continuously integrating new advancements. Hotels need to follow the trends and adapt where the demand becomes increasingly important”
-Nicole Spitz, The Negresco

These are extremely tough economic times for organisations. What benefits can businesses get from arranging conferences at hotels and sending staff to events, even at a time when budgets are tight?

Nicole Spitz. It is especially when times are tough that companies need to focus on improving staff performance. The benefits of organising conferences in luxury venues are numerous. First, efficiency. The various services offered in a luxury establishment go beyond pampering, aiming to enable an optimum efficiency for the participants,  whether it be through flexibility and adaptability to last minute changes in organisation due to unforeseen changes in clients' needs, or through the services offered through our concierge. Our entire staff is at the service of our clients so that they can calmly focus on the objectives of the conference being organised. Another benefit is stimulation. A change in environment has proven to be a strong stimulus to concentration and creativity. And of course, messages that need to be communicated to staff, even the hardest become acceptable in special places and targets can also be linked to the possibility of returning to such venues as a motivational tool.

Patrizia di Patrizio. Even in these challenging times, companies need to communicate, incentivise and educate their clients, partners and employees in inspirational surroundings. However, with reduced budgets they need to work more closely with their hotel partners to find creative and cost effective solutions. Feedback from our customers has been that they continue to want to hold events, meetings, incentives and product launches in luxury hotels, however, they are looking for added value, support, creativity, flexible pricing and ROI to help meet revenue and budget targets. Luxury and quality continues to be very important for all events, for example creating the right impression to potential customers for a product launch is key. It can be short-sighted and a false economy to step down a category when booking an event if it is spoilt by poor service on the day, disappointing surroundings and increased stress due to lack of support in the run-up to the event. 

Apart from the recession, what are the other challenges that the hotel industry faces when encouraging organisations to arrange conferences?

PdP. I think that the environment is obviously an issue that will continue to grow and whilst hotels should do all they can to be as cost-effective as they can in their consumption of energy, the challenge is to do so without compromising the luxury experience that guests are paying for. Time out of the office is something that we would like to keep to a minimum. Our 12 city centre properties are all located in the very heart of their respective cities and are easily accessible from Europe by air and rail, making travelling as efficient as possible. Technology is constantly evolving and there is no doubt that video and web conferencing are becoming increasingly efficient and possibly reduce the number of meetings required. However, leading conference and incentive agencies and corporates agree that technology will not replace face-to-face contact and relationship building. Staying ahead of the competition is obviously key, making sure that we maintain the highest levels of customer service whilst continuing to be innovative with our product offering. Gone are the days where people used to book meetings and events years and months in advance. Today, we are experiencing much shorter lead times for business, which obviously impacts on hotel resources.  This situation has obviously been exacerbated by the recession.

NS. The most important challenge is to offer to these organisations an appropriate response to their operational and technological needs, moreover to anticipate them. Indeed, even if luxury hotels are luxurious and extremely comfortable, they must respond to the technological needs of today, they have to make it possible to use 'the three technologies' solutions, with easier access for videoconferences, and other Wi-Fi solutions. All-inclusive economical solutions help to facilitate the management of these conferences and above all, a lot of 'listening' is always important. In today's market technology is in constant evolution, and companies are continuously integrating new advancements. Hotels need to follow the trends and adapt where the demand becomes increasingly important.

Could you explain about how you market your hotel to attract international business and how do you distinguish yourself from the competition?

PdP. Outstanding customer service and design are the two things that set The Rocco Forte Collection apart from the competition. Service is at the very heart of the brand, providing the highest levels of bespoke customer service, meeting the individual needs of our guests and going that extra mile. Each of our 13 properties has been designed to reflect its location. Sir Rocco Forte's sister, Olga Polizzi, who oversees design for The Rocco Forte Collection, ensures that local art, accessories and furniture are used which give the hotels a real sense of place.  For example the bedrooms in one of our recently opened hotels, The Augustine in Prague, reflect the hotel's monastic past and are decorated with a range of accessories inspired by 1930s Czech cubism. 

At the moment, our clients are looking for increased levels of value, support, creativity and flexible pricing to help meet ROI targets. In response to this we are working extremely closely with meeting planners and agents to develop innovative and cost effective solutions that demonstrate excellent ROI for their meetings, events and incentives whilst retaining high levels of product and service. The success of many of our partnerships can be attributed to our ability to add value to our core product offering in response to our client's budgets and demands.

NS. The legendary name of Le Negresco is a powerful marketing tool in itself, which our sales and marketing team uses in their various actions on the international scene, consolidated by a strong presence in various press supports all over the world. Le Negresco's strategy is above all in its offer, which is unique. Its history, its inestimable art collection, and the aura that is to be found in this hotel make it an unforgettable venue for any event. Each of our nine meetings rooms has its own ambiance, and is decorated corresponding to a different period in history which allows our clients to choose according to their taste as well as to their needs. In addition to the unique décor, we have the chance to have an excellent chef, Jean Denis Rieubland who was awarded one of the Best Crafstmen in France in 2007, and who is not only in charge of our Michelin star restaurant Le Chantecler but also our banqueting menus.

What does the future hold for hotel conferencing and how will the market evolve?

NS. I hope that the future holds an increase in hotel conferencing as it is certainly beneficial for companies, staff and of course the hotel industry. Le Negresco itself is evolving in its structure and has planned an important and renovation project to improve the solutions offered to the companies' needs. These works, both architectural and technical will complete this Palace's offer in order to better respond to our customers' changing needs; in order to continue to represent excellence for all our guests. As we are still in the midst of finalising all the details about this exciting project, I won't elaborate on this quite yet, but do keep an eye open for upcoming press releases.

PdP. I think the future will see the boundaries pushed even further with luxury meetings and event planners looking for something different for their clients.  More unusual destinations will appear on the map as new flight routes open up. Planners will look for hotels that inspire people with their unique surroundings and activities will need to be even more adventurous and adrenalin-fuelled. Our new golf and spa resort, Verdura in south west Sicily is set to be a hot destination for meetings and events in 2010. The surrounding area lends itself perfectly to a whole host of exciting activities, including  watersports, cultural and historical site visits, and vineyard and gastronomy tours. The conference centre is housed in a split-level, standalone building with views of the surrounding olive groves and coastline.

The panel

Nicole Spitz is the General Manager of the Negresco.

Patrizia di Patrizio is Director of UK Sales for The Rocco Forte Collection