Business travel and meetings buyers are missing out by not making use of national tourist boards, according to one influential figure.
Sarah Mathews, meetings, incentives and conferences manager for the Belgium Convention Bureau for Flanders and Brussels, said tourist boards are “under-used” by buyers.
Mathews, a member of the Oysters (an association of national tourist boards), said that if anyone is planning an overseas business event a national tourist board should be the first port of call.
“We are free of charge,” she said, have all the information buyers need, and there are no strings attached.
“None of us earn commission,” she said, “as it is the national governments that pay for us to represent them.”
Governments are increasingly focussed on business travellers, said Mathews, as they often stay longer over the course of a year and spend more money in a destination than leisure travellers.
“Destinations are really looking into business travel,” she said. “Corporate travellers are important for import and export discussions, and building up the legacy of business and knowledge for a city.”
Tourist boards won’t get involved with contract negotiations, but they can get in touch with a government-vetted company that suits a buyers’ needs, offering peace of mind, said Mathews.
They can also give buyers’ access to services they wouldn’t be able to get on their own, she said: “We can get a city to host your opening reception,” she said, adding that while not for everyone this is something “only a national tourist office can get”.
Tourist boards can help with any size of event, small or large, said Mathews: “For anybody that has to buy an overseas ticket for business, if we can make a travellers’ journey easier, that’s great for us.”
As an Oyster, Mathews can also pass on event details to other tourist boards if her destination is unable to fulfil a buyers’ requirements.
The Oysters is working to improve the quality of service offered by national tourist boards, said Mathews, and has recently welcomed four new members.
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