18
Debate
June 2018
Conference
centres V Hotels
Sarah Byrne, director of Mosaic Events, debates
the merits of a dedicated centre versus the
conferencing charms of hotels
Many association events begin their lives in a
hotel; they are cost eff ective and usually off er
adaptable spaces that will evolve as your event
does.
However, as an event grows and you need
more space, you may fi nd yourself considering
moving to a dedicated, purpose-built
conference centre.
Th e decision should not just be based on the
number of delegates; in my opinion, the crucial
point is when an event gets to the 350–400
delegate mark plus exhibition space, plus a
number of breakout rooms. Many hotels have
a decent main plenary space but then limited
space for an exhibition and only a small
number of syndicate rooms.
It’s a big step for any association and one that
shouldn’t be taken lightly given the additional
cost. Most hotels don’t charge a lot for the
room hire, because of the associated income
from the bedrooms, meals and evening events.
Many conference centres don’t have these
‘add-ons’ so they need to make more of their
income from room hire charges.
Th ere is no major diff erence in the catering
off ered. Many conference centres outsource
their catering so standards are generally good
and they are more ‘on-trend’, but the in-house
catering off ered by a hotel can be good too, so
mostly it’s all down to the individual chef.
Purpose-built conference centres have an
easy-to-navigate, standard layout. Th ey are
built for meetings and events and so have
great accessibility, decent loading bays, lots
of breakout rooms and a huge expanse of
adaptable space. Th ey facilitate conferences
every day so are specialists who really know
what they are doing and run like well oiled
machines.
Hotels off er delegates the chance to stay
onsite – so a quick change for dinner is easily
achieved. For some delegates the thought of
traipsing across town to a hotel to get changed
is simply too much to contemplate, but other
delegates can relish the down time and change
of scenery that staying off -site off ers.
If your conference starts at the weekend, or
includes partners, then the leisure facilities
off ered by a hotel can be very welcoming to
your delegates.
Of course, at the top end, there are also
dedicated centres with many bedrooms and
leisure facilities – eff ectively the best of both
worlds.
If your event is in a growth sector then it may
be worth the jump to a dedicated centre. If
you can secure the extra sponsorship needed to
invest then it also may be worth moving. And,
if the prestige of a conference centre helps
trigger further investment, then the move
could work in your favour, too.
Whatever your reasoning, checking out of a
hotel and into a dedicated centre is certainly
a major decision and I urge you to not take it
lightly.