Event managers who plan six months ahead and think volume will get the best deals when booking in 2013, according to the Sales and Marketing Manager at Lane End Conference Centre, Heni Fourie.
With uncertainty over budgets during the recession leading many event managers to reduce their lead times for bookings to less than three months, Fourie says: “They would have had a better deal if they opted for a date six months or more ahead”.
The Buckinghamshire-based centre runs a provisional booking system allowing organisers to pencil in future dates, while still finalising their budgets, and Fourie claims some clients have booked in events at the centre for 2014.
“Many of them have precise requirements and they know that the shorter notice they give, the less likely they would have been able to secure the specific conference rooms they need.
“We always try to be as flexible as we can with dates because we appreciate how difficult it is to firm up budgets.”
Another tip from Fourie for planners is to think about booking a series of conferences, training and company teambuilding events all in one go to benefit from bulk discounts.
Getting a date in the diary early on can enable planners to benefit from free advice: “We offer complementary accommodation for event planners when they come a long distance and attend a planning meeting with at least one of our team members for an upcoming event,” says Fourie.
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