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industry offers to these
destinations is vital to their
prosperity, creating jobs and
improving communities. However, in
order to host business events,
people still to need to be able to
move around, and it stands to
reason that rail travel is the most
environmentally friendly option
available.
In order to further the
regeneration of the country’s towns
and cities, more investment, and
new lines, are needed alongside
overall improvements to our
antiquated network.
The UK is now embarking on a
world outside of the EU. The future
will see us needing to compete with
rival European destinations for
major conference business, and if
the UK can’t even guarantee that
delegates will be able to move
around, then we are disadvantaged.
As the events industry gains a
clearer identity in the eyes of the
wider public, scrutiny will increase.
The discussion about the size of our
carbon footprint is one that we
must have, and it’s warming to see
so many event organisers factor
sustainable practice into their event
plans. However, we all rely on
moving people around en masse,
and the bad PR of how we do that is
out of our hands. People simply
won’t travel at all if the trains aren’t
working.
changed. However, the return
journey is fully flexible and can be
used to return up to a month later
depending on your post-event
plans.
Is it open to any conference or
event, or is there certain criteria
that needs to be met?
If it is possible to define a
conference, we would say the offer
is open to delegates attending
‘business-related speaking events’.
We partner with a series of venues
which we make this fare available
to, but it is always worth checking
with us if you’re unsure your
conference will be valid, or whether
that definition seems a grey area
for your event and needs
clarification. When travelling with
GWR you will need to show proof of
conference attendance to the train
manager to qualify the
discounted train ticket.
Transport
How can an
event organiser
contact you about conference
rates?
One of the best things about the
Conference Fares is that they are
self-service for delegates to book,
and venues or conference organisers
do not need to register their venue or
event. However, it is always nice to
hear about new events and we are
on hand to support any queries by
emailing [email protected]
Is it available on all routes to all
destinations or is it restricted?
We offer Conference Fares to many
popular destinations across our GWR
network, including: Bath, Bristol,
Cardiff, Cheltenham, Exeter,
Newport, Oxford, Plymouth and
Swansea. For a full list, visit GWR.
com/Conference. Travel can be from
any origin station on the GWR
network, not just London.
“The delay for
HS2 coming
North to
Manchester
and Leeds
should be an
opportunity to
improve and
develop and
improve
current
infrastructure
by focusing on
the country’s
East-West rail
journeys”
Conference fares
Chris Lund is regional marketing
manager at Great Western Railway
(GWR), and Conference News had
the chance to chat to him at MEET
South West in Bristol, 31 January,
about the special delegate rates the
franchise rail operator offers.
Explain the offer you have for
conference delegates
We offer savings of up to 80% off
Anytime fares for delegates booking
our Conference Fares. These are
available at GWR.com/Conference
and we offer fares from most
stations on the GWR network.
Outbound tickets are fixed, and
times and dates cannot be
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