News
City conferences on the up
29/04/08
Our 'instant access' culture of fast food, last minute holidays and a wide range of entertainment at our fingertips has now moved into the business world to include booking events at short notice, according to one of Birmingham's top meeting venues.
Ten years after Birmingham hosted perhaps its most high profile meeting ever, the G8 Summit, which brought together leaders from across the world and put the city in the global spotlight, Birmingham is still attracting people as a place to meet.
Conference Aston, whose flagship venue is the ultra stylish Aston Business School Conference Centre, has seen an increase of almost 40% in enquiries compared to 2007. And the demand for drastically quicker turnaround between booking and the planned event has risen sharply.
Whilst the conversion rate from enquiry to booking remains the same, the very noticeable trend has been the number of bookings for just a few weeks ahead, where as previously the majority were for bookings up to two years ahead.
Paul Bunce of Conference Aston explained: "With established meetings and conferences, it's not unusual for dates to be booked a year or two years in advance, but we are noticing a distinct trend for new enquiries to have much shorter lead times, sometimes as little as a few weeks. We are not certain if this is a general business trend, or if what we offer is just more attractive to the last-minute market. Either way, it is a testament to the flexibility of the facilities and the people involved to adapt instantly to an increasingly dynamic meetings industry."
Conference Aston offers extensive residential and non-residential conference, meeting and training facilities in the heart of Birmingham, within an environment conducive to learning, along with a committed and supportive infrastructure that delivers choice, flexibility and quality without compromise.
For more information on Aston Business School Executive Education please contact Clive on 01543 501111