If you’re a UK-based event company, this post is for you.
Organising and executing a successful corporate event takes a great deal of effort, experience and attention. And when you’re trying to do it in an unfamiliar city or country it becomes pretty stressful indeed! Especially when the unexpected happens, which let’s face it, it usually does!
Good destination management companies (DMCs) are the life-savers when it comes to extending your event businesses abroad. And surprisingly for many, they usually actually save you money rather than taking a cut out of your profits. The good ones, that is.
How hiring a DMC saves you money
Any well-established DMC has built up excellent local knowledge and relationships with the best local suppliers, giving you all the advantages of their local supplier contacts and arranged discounts.
They also save you the cost (and stress) of having a coach not turn up on time to take people to the airport to catch a flight. Or if any activity is cancelled or disappointing. A DMC saves you the expenses of hiring bad suppliers – they know who to avoid!
In many foreign countries there are different attitudes towards business, and some people are less reliable than in the UK. Local DMC’s have weeded these ones out a long time ago – but it’s not something you can tell from abroad. Until it’s too late.
Peace of mind is invaluable
With local 24-hour support, a DMC can deal with problems quickly and easily while they’re still small problems. Often with things not possible from London. So you have peace of mind and a phone that stays quiet throughout the night.
Also, we all know events are notorious for last-minute client changes. Or perhaps changes due to bad weather or other unplanned events. A good local DMC can accommodate these changes, and has done so dozens of times before.
If dinners are running late, they can organise the coaches to slightly delay picking up the groups. Or if ten more people suddenly arrive, they can add them on to the event. Hard to do yourself with suppliers you don’t know.
They speak the language
In many Mediterranean countries like Spain, the activities are incomparably fun. But the local suppliers sometimes don’t speak English, and many people based in the UK forget this, leading to all kinds of misunderstandings.
This may seem small but it can actually make or break an event if unplanned for. For example, if you can’t communicate with the suppliers on the day when changes have to be made with meeting points, additions, etc. Or imagine at a meal not being able to explain three people are allergic to something – staff often don’t tell you until the last minute about such matters.
So make good use of a DMC’s language skills!
They’re your hidden angels
A good DMC secretly holds your hand all the way through an event, making sure everything goes swimmingly smooth. And letting you get on with taking all the praise from the Managers & staff.
Need a top notch DMC for Spain?
Get in touch, we’d be delighted to help!