London’s CVB continues the warm welcome for 2012

Building on the citywide warm welcome experienced this summer at the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, London & Partners, the Mayor of London’s official promotional organisation and convention bureau (CVB) has been voted as the most helpful and welcoming international convention bureau. The results were announced at the tourism trade show IMEX America in Las Vegas and were published in a survey entitled Winning Strategies which surveyed 187 North American meeting planners and was produced by destination marketing specialist Development Counsellors International (DCI).

As well as being voted as the most helpful CVB London also took the top spot as the leading international city for meetings outside the US. London took the majority vote with (20.2%) with Barcelona (10.1%), Paris (10.1%), Singapore (7.3%) and Hong Kong (6.2%) rated after.

The report also highlighted the importance of group fam trips with the majority of event planners (72%) considering fam trips to be important or very important, according to the report.

Tracy Halliwell, Director of Business Tourism and Major Events for London & Partners said: “We are delighted to have been recognised as the most helpful international CVB as well as the most desirable international destination to hold events in. At London & Partners we have a very strong CVB team who are dedicated to engaging and with and supporting event planners across the globe. We are focused on ensuring that London truly uses the experience of this summer to really deliver a lasting legacy to the business tourism industry.”

The study surveyed 187 North American meeting planners and measured key sources of influence, preferred industry conferences, sources of industry news, most effective marketing techniques importance of educational/familiarization trips, ways in which meeting planners interact with destination marketing organisations, best countries for international meetings and best North American locations for meetings.

Key Findings Include:

• The three leading sources of information influencing meeting planner perceptions of international meeting destinations are meeting with destination representatives (58%), dialogue with industry peers (55%), and business/personal travel (53%).
• When evaluating meeting destinations, respondents rely primarily on convention bureaus for information (57%). Meeting planners indicated that speaking to, or emailing, convention bureau staff was by far the most common form of interaction (61%). A majority of respondents (67%) selected e-mail as the preferred method for convention bureau representatives to share information on their destination.
• Only 2% of respondents indicated that social media is currently influential in shaping their perceptions of international destinations.
• A majority of respondents (72%) consider educational trips/familiarization trips as either important or very important. The North American summer season is by far considered the best time to participate in educational trips. Group trips are preferred over individual trips (62% vs. 38%).
• When it came to preferred international convention bureaus, London topped the list (14.8%), followed by Singapore, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Vienna.

The report “Winning Strategies in Destination Marketing: A View from Meeting Planners,” or an executive summary, please visit: www.aboutdci.com/winningstrategiesindestinationmarketing.


Notes to Editors

About London & Partners

London & Partners is the official promotional organisation for London. Our company attracts and delivers value to business, students and visitors. London & Partners is a not-for-profit public private partnership, funded by the Mayor of London and a network of commercial partners.

Our remit is to drive leisure and business visitors as well as bidding to secure major events in London, to unlock the city for overseas businesses who want to set up or expand in London and to promote the capital’s world class universities to international students.

Our intention is to work in partnership with organisations in London and across the world to deliver our goal - that London be globally recognised as the best big city on earth.

For more information visit www.londonandpartners.com