In the aftermath of the 2012 Olympics, you won’t find a city with a bleary after-party vibe,” according to Lonely Planet. “Rather a fistful of improved facilities and infrastructure, brand new and smartened up hotels? and the buzz of Londoners going about their daily business, secure in the knowledge they live in one of the world’s most captivating cities.”
Following a successful Olympic and Paralympic Games that proved London is equipped and ready to host major events, and with Rio the next Olympic host city in 2016, James Rees, Executive Director at Excel and Co-chair of the International Congress and Convention Association’s (ICCA) Venue Sector, visited Mendoza in Argentina for Cocal 2013 to offer advice and share his experience of the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“My presentation looked at what London learnt during the Games and what being host city meant to the UK meetings and event industry,” said Rees. “Rio has three to four years to really nail the 2016 Games and hopefully hearing what is happening elsewhere, they will see the opportunity that is available to them.”
Olympic venue perspective
Excel London hosted Olympic events including boxing and table tennis last summer and Rees was able to offer a venue perspective on what it was like to go from a conference and events centre to an Olympic venue and back again in a three-month period.
“We learnt a lot about this process, and it was personally rewarding to be invited to speak at Cocal, where there was a real thirst for knowledge, and share the lessons we learnt and offer advice,” he said.
Sharing best practice between Olympic host cities is a key process during the build up to the Games, according to Rees, who said that the Excel teams received advice from Vancouver, Sydney and Beijing prior to London 2012.
In addition to sharing best practice with Cocal, Excel London has already met with the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) in Glasgow prior to them hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2014.
“As a business that works within the events industry, we know that event success or failure depends on the quality of relationships and partnerships,” said Sales Director at the SECC, Ben Goedegebuure. “It was great to see Excel London activated so prominently as part of the Games and, knowing that the SECC and The Hydro will play an equally prominent role in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, we felt it important to reach out to our colleagues in London.”
Changing perceptions
Rees highlighted that hosting any event, whether a major sporting event or otherwise, was both a learning process and a chance to change perceptions. “London delivered and learnt,” he said. “We learnt to be more humble and to welcome the world to our city. Whenever I’ve spoken to clients post-Olympics they have all said that it softened London’s image. London is a big, bold city that is rightly proud of its status, but the Games has shown that we can compete with other cities in the world and can do so in a more humble, welcoming way.”
Rees added that hosting INCON, a global partnership of PCOs, DMCs and event management companies, for its University event at Excel, had reiterated to him how the London Games had changed perceptions of the city. “One of the industry seminar topics was an analysis of London and from the feedback it was made apparent to us that the city is now being seen as an emerging destination and one that is interested in, and bidding for, congress business. Something that was maybe not so evident before.”
Rees said that presentations during Cocal were predominately reflective in nature, with a recognition from the Latin American industry that it needs to do the simple things better and develop in all areas and ensure attention to detail.
“The Latin American meetings industry recognises it needs to change how it operates in some areas. They understand there are issues in service delivery and the perception of service delivery that need changing,” he said. “They are also aware that when they put on a conference it needs to be perfect as this is what the rest of the world is doing.”
Rees was keen to pass on to Rio the need to promote fair pricing, particularly in relation to hotel room rates. London committed to a Fair Pricing Charter to avoid the price hike for hotels, venues and hospitality providers that adversely affected previous Olympic cities. “Put simply, during the Games the greedy caught a cold, while the sensible and fair were full,” said Rees.
Rees also warned about a potential drop in food and beverage revenue for hotels during the Olympic period. “Hotels during the Games are like bed factories. Guests leave early to get to events, eat while they are out and come back late.”
London legacy
London added 20,000 rooms in the lead up to the Games, said Rees, who added there were plans to add 5,000 more this year. In addition, new venue stock including the Olympic Park, improvements across the transport network and future developments such as the Cross Rail in 2018 had further transformed the
London landscape, he noted.
Rees said it was important for London, and Rio, to take advantage of the full window of opportunity, which he saw as opening seven years before the Games and seven years after.
London already claims to be reaping the benefits from hosting the Games and recently won its bid to host the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) annual congress in 2015. Isabel Bardinet, CEO of ESC told CN that six years ago (pre-Olympics) London would not have been considered as host venue for an event that was expected to attract 35,000 medical professionals and worth £80m to the economy.
Rees said his main recommendation for the South American meetings industry was to take full advantage of the opportunity Rio 2016 will present. “South America recognises its slice of the cake is not huge in terms of attracting conferences and events, but if it does a good job hosting the Games, the perception of South America as a destination for events can be changed,” Rees said.
This was first published in the May edition of CN. Any comments? E-mail conferencenews@mashmedia.net
