ELECTIVE 6 – EVENTS AND CONVENTION MANAGEMENT

MODULE 2
INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS

Introduction

MICE industry offers tourism services in which organizers and suppliers that
manage and deliver meetings, conferences, exhibitions, and other related events held to
achieve a range of professional, business, cultural, or academic objectives. MICE industry
growth shall have a positive impact in the growth of businesses, cities, destinations, and
other covered spectrums.
There has been a surge in presence of corporate industries all around the globe.
This has increased the frequency of business activities such as client meetings, brand
promotions, and employee training activities and has supplemented the growth of global
MICE industry. Moreover, rise in government initiatives to promote SMEs and
liberalization of market entry to increase Foreign Direct Investments has boosted the
growth of this market even further.
Stakeholders refer to the parties who hold a stake or interest in a particular project
or industry. The stakeholders in the events industry can be classified into four major
categories: 1. Professional Congress/Events Organizers (PCO), 2. the Community, 3.
Service Suppliers and 4. government offices and regulatory bodies.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this unit, students should be able to:

• Discuss the different stakeholders of MICE Industry and their role and
importance with one another
• Analyze the relationship among the different stakeholders of MICE
• Identify, compare and contrast the stakeholders of the pre-determined
event by the class

LEARNING CONTENT

This unit covers the following topics:

Topic 1 – Professional Congress Organizers

 ELECTIVE 6 – EVENTS AND CONVENTION MANAGEMENT

Topic 2 – Community
Topic 3 – Suppliers
Topic 4 – Industry Regulators

Topic
PROFESSIONAL CONGRESS ORGANIZERS
1

A professional conference organizer (also called a professional congress

organiser, a PCO, and a conference manager) specializes in planning and executing
conferences on behalf of academics, researchers and associations. Conference
planning is hard work and needs a broad set of shoulders. Ensuring conference goes
smoothly means they need to have a firm grasp on all the little details, but also a stable
understanding of the underlying principles that come into play when they’re making an
event work.

From plenary speakers and delegates to sponsors and exhibitors, a lot of people
count on them to successfully plan, promote and host the conference. But what happens
when the plenary speaker pulls out the week of your conference? Or the Audiovisual
supplier goes missing the day before? A professional conference organizer has seen it
all before and, crucially, knows just what to do to keep things on track.

Services:
a. Negotiate Contracts with suppliers
A professional conference organizer can research solid conference suppliers,
compile quotes and then supply this information to the organizing
committee for a final decision. This will save the organizing committee from
endless online searches trying to spot the reputable-yet-cost-effective supplier
who can meet their needs. The PCO acts as the main point of contact for the
committee and can manage all communication and ensure each supplier
provides their service to the agreed standard.

b. Financial Management
Once the committee has agreed on a conference budget, they can hand this
over to the PCO and they’ll take care of budgeting each element of the
conference. That means negotiating the best prices, managing expenses and
taking care of bookkeeping and tax adherence.

PCOs work every day to reduce costs and increase the efficiency of the
conference they organize. They also have the knowledge to manage your
budget effectively to meet committee objectives all while ensuring the quality
of the conference isn’t compromised. This streamlines the conference
financials and keeps them all in a centralized place (which will come in handy
during the post-conference evaluation).
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c. Marketing and Promotion

One of the biggest struggles they encounter is promoting their conference to
interested researchers. A professional conference organizer will take care of
marketing and promoting the conference to attract authors and delegates. The
service may include website design and content maintenance, social media
management, PR and media releases to relevant publications. Whether they
want advice or marketing and promotion management, PCOs have the
knowledge, skills, tools and contacts to create a successful conference.
Tapping their skills can greatly assist in spreading the word about the
conference.

d. Manage the conference management software

PCOs can also handle setting up and running aspects of the conference
management software. The committee will still be in charge of which topics
authors can submit under, and how the review process works, but the event
pro can do the more admin-focused tasks, like sending reviewer invitations,
configuring your registration form and building your book of proceedings. So
that’s more time for the committee to spend on ensuring your conference has
a high-quality technical program.

e. Reporting and Evaluation

When the conference is over, it’s absolutely essential to complete an end-of-
conference report and evaluate its success. This allows the committee to
identify areas that are working well and areas that need improvement for next
year. This hugely assists next year’s chair and can help ensure the conference
continues to improve in the long term.

A PCO can provide data and an evaluation of each aspect of the conference.
They’ll also likely give their own feedback on how to improve next year’s event.

f. Problem-solving
Professional event planners are natural problem solvers. They also have the
crucial understanding that what works for one event could be disastrous for
another, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for organizations seeking
conference support. PCOs have fantastic contacts, strong relationships with
suppliers, and when things go wrong, they roll up their sleeves and get stuff
done. Almost all events hit roadblocks along the way.

There are two types of Professional Congress Organizers:

I. OUTSOURCED EVENT MANAGERS – refer to event management companies

or individuals who organize events on a per contract basis on behalf of their
clients. PCOs are independent event managers professionally knowledgeable
in their own fields of specialization in MICE who brings in the know-how coupled
with a database of contacts needed in various stages of event organizing. They
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are entrepreneurs. Examples include Global-Link MP Events International and

Worldexco.
Reasons why some organizations choose Outsourced Event Managers:
a. Focus – external event management providers are experts. They know how
to deliver the best results against an event’s objectives. This enables in-
house personnel to focus on areas of the business where they can add most
value.
b. Innovation – the events industry is constantly evolving. Technology is an
everyday feature of event implementation. Visual technologies create
exciting ways to engage with delegates from pre-registration to post-event
follow-up.
c. Risk management – risk comes in many forms, from power failure to
medical emergencies. This demands additional skills. Every event must be
risk assessed and contingency plans must be part of the process.
d. Brand protection – a poorly delivered can damage a company’s brand.
Attending an event is hardly a new experience for most people, so execution
has to be seamless if delegates are not to draw unfavorable comparisons.
e. Saving time and money – outsourcing can drive down costs and increase
efficiency. Event management providers leverage clients’ overall
expenditure on venues, audio visual and other cost items to achieve the
lowest rates for clients. The savings comes in time that members of staff
are not tied up with e-mails, phone calls and labor-intensive tasks.

II. IN-HOUSE EVENT MANAGERS – are positions or departments within an

organization that is not into the business of event management but requires its
own group of event managers or coordinators due to the volume of special
events that the company has, such as executive meetings, strategic planning,
team building, trainings, incentive events for the sales team, and product
launches. They may be either be employed by corporations (for profit
businesses) or associations (non-profit organizations). Examples of in-house
event managers are those employed by companies like Unilever to organize
product launches and other company events.

Topic
COMMUNITY
2

The community represents both the target market and the people living in and around the
MICE destination. Residents of MICE destinations receive the impact of MICE activities
– both positive and negative. They enjoy the resulting economic benefits, job
opportunities and infrastructure developments, but suffer from environmental and other
possible exploitative impacts, too.
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The target market includes EXHIBITORS, VISITORS, SPONSORS and other

ATTENDEES. They bring in the revenues for any p rofit-oriented event. They are those
whom the organizers attract and try to satisfy. They are the raison d’etre for organizing
the event.

ASSOCIATIONS fall under the community because associations hold a number of events
and thus form a major part of the MICE target market.

Association – is a group of individuals or organizations who formed themselves formally

to uphold a common interest. It can also be defined as groups of legal entities and/or
natural persons gathered by mutual ideas and goals.

a. Trade Associations – are non-profit organizations whose aim is to meet

the needs of profit-oriented businesses.
b. Professional Associations – are non-profit organizations that are not
involved with business firms but are organized to assist individuals in the
pursuit of their common goals.
i. Common personal interests – which includes hobbyists like the
UP Mountaineers and the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines
ii. Careers – which includes “learned societies” such as the
Philippine Nurses Association
iii. Desire to do community service - example is the Association of
Foundations

Operation of any association, to put it simply, is based on creating certain benefits for its
members aiming at increasing the number of members and the very influence of the
association.

Benefits of joining associations:

a. Developed database important to the members
b. Enables networking with target/interest group
c. Members can connect and get to know one another, creating the base for
them to cooperate and discuss issues regarding their profession or
interests
d. Educate own members and other parties indirectly affecting the
association
e. Keep up with and promote trends such as market research and prognosis
on various issues relevant for a specific area
f. Impacts the influence of creating and improving of certain industry,
profession or idea depending on the purpose of founding the association
g. Heightens the credibility and status of those who become its members
h. Organizes informal meetings and entertainment for its members.

Based on the above, we can say that the organization of meetings, informal gatherings,
boards, through various forms of education, seminars, workshops, to congresses and
conferences is indispensable activity of any association/society. This means that, by
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the nature of their existence, if they operate as they should and work on fixing their
position and influence they more or less deal with event organization.

Topic
SUPPLIERS
3

In events management, suppliers refer to those who provide the services necessary
to organize and execute events properly. Tried, tested and trusted suppliers are vital for
the success of an event. Should the PCO lack certain suppliers, he/she must be able to
source them to meet specific client demands. Each search method has its own risks, but
it is the price that a PCO pay for not having the right suppliers in the first place.
Relationships with suppliers begin with trial and error; hence, good relationships with
suppliers are dear.

a. Venues

Venues are facilities where MICE events are held. Venues may be free standing
or attached to other properties like hotel ballrooms and event spaces located
within shopping malls.

CONVENTION CENTERS are by definition huge buildings with flexible spaces

that cater to events of any size from conventions of ten of thousand attendees to
smaller meetings, breakout sessions and other smaller functions. Examples are
Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) which is state owned while
some are privately run like the SMX Convention Center.

It’s smaller and lesser known relative, the CONFERENCE CENTER, provides
attendees with room for more privacy and focus as it offers conference facilities
as well as board, lodging, and leisure activities all in one location.

In addition to the size, architecture and the fast evolving technological/functional

features of MICE venues, location must also be suitable for international events.
Ideally, MICE venues must be near international airports and must be within
walking distance to five star hotels and major shopping areas. It is a challenger
for venue owners to highlight the unique attributes of their property such as their
style, ambience and top of the line facilities. There is a wide variety of venues
today – they range from Sydney-Opera-house-type of architectural wonders, to
underwater meeting rooms with see-through glass walls, to outdoor facilities in
the jungle. Creativity knows no limit; and clients are becoming more and more
precious.

Criteria for Evaluating a MICE Venue

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Three words that start with C can be used to encapsulate the general criteria for
selecting a venue for an event.

i. Cost – a common factor in decision making-not only for event venues.

The venue to be selected must be within the budget of the organizer.
Its payment terms must also match the schedule and cash flow of the
event.
ii. Convenience - encompasses the availability on the target date,
accessibility, proximity to other support services, suitability of space to
the type of event, and its safety features. It is an important factor to
consider when selecting the event venue.
iii. Charm – the appeal of a venue or is commonly known as the “X” factor.
It is the thing that attendees will keep talking about after the event is
over. It can likewise be the charm that appeals aesthetically to the
attendees.

b. Hotels

A hotel is an establishment that provides lodging and usually meals and other
services to the public for a fee. They play an important role in the MICE Industry
as it provides not only accommodations for MICE attendees but also meeting
rooms or other event spaces and MICE related services. For this, PCOs must
treat hotels as partners. As a MICE venue, hotels (and resorts) have an upper
hand in the incentive travel sector compared with other venue options, because
most hotels have more suitable facilities such as spa, swimming pools, specialty
restaurants, and the like.

c. Food and Beverage Suppliers

A restaurant is an establishment that provides meal to the public for a fee. On the
other hand, catering provides the same service that a restaurant does except the
service is provided outside the restaurant premises. the taste, service, and cost
are the major considerations in choosing a supplier for an event.

Nowadays, the “total dining experience” takes a rather bigger consideration,

especially foe an arranging of event’s food and beverage requirements. The food
and event must be a “perfect marriage”. Food is an integral part of most events;
it must enhance the event’s potentials at achieving the event’s objectives. The
guests for instance cannot have a seven-course meal at a rock concert, or
mangga’t bagoong and puto’t dinuguan in a meeting, because these types of food
may restrain meeting attendees from talking and taking notes. Food served at
meetings must help draw sound and creative ideas from the meeting attendees.
Event organizers must likewise pay good attention on special guest requirements
like vegetarian meals or religious restrictions. With the heightened awareness on
health and wellness, healthy options are also trendy.
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d. Airlines

Airlines play an important role in transporting people and goods essential to make
the MICE Industry tick. The number of air seats going to and from a city
contributes to its viability to compete as a MICE destination. There must be a
balance in the supply and demand for air seats and airlines operating in a
destination.

Through the years, the world has been witness to giant leaps in the developments
in this particular mode of transportation. Airlines today offer services and
conveniences which used to be unimaginable, from hotel-like comfortable beds
and gourmet dining to pedicure and such other services and entertainment on
board, all brought about by technological innovation and competition.

Airline managements strive to make incentive and business travelers feel at

home. Hence it is a great help and advantage for an event organizer to have tie-
up with an airline company, preferable with the national flag carrier, for a particular
event, following are some services which may be provided by airlines to MICE
clients:
i. Attendance promotion in areas service d by the airline (Airline
offices can be an information office for the event. The airline may
also provide shell brochures with blank spaces on which to overprint
information about the event.
ii. Free/discounted tickets or upgrades for delegates
iii. Free/discounted tickets for speakers/VIP whose airfare would have
otherwise been fully shouldered by the organizer
iv. Advance seat reservations for delegates
v. Excess baggage allowance for delegates
vi. A plane bringing the company/event logo of the client (using special
exterior decals which are of course removable)
vii. Menu covers and/or headrest covers bringing the company/event
logo
viii. In flight announcement about the event, welcome message and
signages
ix. Hotel rates, taxi info, city maps and other useful info materials to be
provided on-board

e. Airports

First impression last. In MICE, airports have the responsibility of making a good
first impression. Airports, international gateways in particular, are doors into the
country and provide visitors with the first taste of a country’s culture; and for these
airports must be efficient on top of being attractive.
ELECTIVE 6 – EVENTS AND CONVENTION MANAGEMENT

The simplest way to create a positive image for an airport is to let go of travelers
as fast as possible – pass through immigration and customs procedure without
hassle. Easy to say, but it is a challenge that a lot of ports all over the world are
still trying to overcome today. This is because airport operation is not run by just
one organization. Taking part in the airport’s daily routine are several government
agencies such as the Air Transportation Office, Bureau of Immigration, Bureau of
Customs, Bureau of Quarantine, Department of Tourism, the Police, Airport
Security and others. Likewise, there are privately run passenger and cargo
airlines, concessionaires, broker, hotels, travel agencies and transport services.
Overseeing everything is the airport administration, which takes care of things
from replenishing toilet paper to implementing airport policies. It is all a matter of
efficient coordination.

f. Transportation Suppliers

Movement of goods and people are an integral part of MICE; hence, providers of
transportation services are important suppliers as well.

MODE OF
NOTES
TRANSPORTATION
Use of cruise liner are mobile hotels that take
passengers to exotic locations; in MICE, cruise liners
Cruise Liner
may either serve as the main event venue or just as
a transportation component in the event program.
Use of railways to move passengers from one point
of origin to destination; it provides passengers with
Train unique sceneries and thus ideal for incentive travel; it
is fast but access is limited by the networks of
railways
Use of local bus or coach to move passengers and
explore cities/countries; this is the most common
Tour bus/coach
mode of transportation in MICE due to flexibility and
wide availability.
Use of local ferries or small motorized boats (locally
Ferry/Local Water-based known as bancas) for short inter-island trips or river
Transport cruises; this mode of transportation is particularly
important for the Philippines being an archipelago
Use of chauffeur-driven cars to move passengers
from origin to destination; special arrangements with
Car rentals
car rental companies can be made to personalize
transport service for MICE events.
Use of manually-operated or non-motorized vehicles
in exploring the city or countryside such as bicycle
Manually-operated vehicles
pedicab (rickshaw), carabao or horse drawn carriage,
and others.
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Use of unique mode of transportation to add novelty

to the event and stir excitement among the guests,
Others
such as jeepneys, trams, hot air balloons, helicopters
and the like.

g. Ground Handlers

Ground Handlers are travel agencies and tour operators which assist event
organizers for the tours and travel arrangement for event participants.

h. Freight Forwarders

The freight forwarder’s main role in MICE is to bring goods for exhibit or for use
in conference from their point of origin to the evetn venue in good condition and
in time for the event. These goods may range from preserved butterflies to
hovercrafts. The following are simplified steps undertaken by freight forwarders:
i. Pick up goods from exhibitors/presenters
ii. Book the goods for transport to the country where the event is
going to be held
iii. Pack the goods properly as some equipment or materials require
special packaging which only professionals can do
iv. Prepare departure documents and permits
v. Continuously monitor movements of goods until arrival in the
destination
vi. Prepare arrival documents and custom entries, and secure
special permits /clearances and re-export bond/waiver
vii. Transport goods from custom to forwarder’s warehouse for
storage until the exhibit/conference venue is open for ingress
operation or move in.
viii. Transport good from the warehouse to event venue
ix. After the event closes, repack the goods for egress operations or
move out, and transport goods to forwarder’s warehouse for
storage until re-export process is completed and good are loaded
into the craft.
x. Facilitate customs processing again until goods are released and
delivered back to owners

All goods entering the Philippines from a foreign country, even if they are
previously exported or brought out from the Philippines, are subject to custom
duties and taxes upon each entry into the country, except otherwise indicated in
the Tariff and Customs Code of the Philippines.

One such exception is for goods intended to be brought back to their country of
origin within six months from the date of acceptance of the port of entry. Items for
display in public exhibitions and for use in workshops and conferences qualify
ELECTIVE 6 – EVENTS AND CONVENTION MANAGEMENT

under this category. The Bureau of Customs must be properly informed upon
entry of such items. In this case, the consignee or the owner of the goods may
be required to accomplish a re-export commitment form duly secured by a cash
bond deposit equal to one and a half times the ascertained duties and taxes on
the particular goods. The bond is refundable if and only if the exact item leaves
the country within specified time. To make sure it is the same item, photos, serial
numbers, and such other identification measures are upon entry.

On the other hand, goods leaving the Philippines for the same purpose and with
the same intention bringing them back must be properly identified as well. A
certificate of identification must be accomplished and submitted to the Bureau of
Customs. This same certificate will serve as the basis upon the good’s re-entry,
to make sure that they are the same goods that left the country, should the
customs fail to match the goods with those in the certificate, all items not included
in the certificate of identification shall be charged with the rightful duties and
taxes.

i. Booth Contractors

Booth contractors supply the necessary materials for the exhibition booth –
particularly the panels and octanorms or the metal frame needed to put up the
booth for the exhibitors. Some of the booth contractors in the Philippines are
Centrex Corporation, City Neon Philippines and Danex Signs Inc.

The best booth space in trade fairs is an island booth, with all sides facing aisles.
The booth must have a good design, theme and clear presentation of the product
that it is showcasing. It must also be able to easily to catch the attention of visitors
and draw them towards the booth. Booth contractors are responsible for
executing booth design, no matter how complicated it is. Exhibitors may also ask
the contractor to design the booth, but it is the exhibitor’s responsibility to choose
or produce the best design in order to make the most of its participation in the
event.

Event organizers may assign an official booth contractor for each event. The
official booth contractor may in turn levy a certain fee on exhibitors who choose
to use the services of other contractors instead of the official one. The reason for
assigning an official booth contractor includes easier coordination and economies
of scale. The booth contractor is the one that coordinates with the venue
regarding the electricity load and other technical requirements of each exhibitor;
therefore, if there is no officially designated contractor, the venue and event
organizer will have to coordinate and facilitate demands coming from several
exhibitors and contractors.

j. Meeting Technology Suppliers

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Reed Travel Exhibition’s 2008 data showed that 57.4% of event managers use
online registration, 20.4% use videoconferencing, 17.7% use social networks,
and 14.2% use blogs.

Online Registration Technology can be e-mail based wherein the form you fill out
is sent to an electronic mail address and a real person keeps track of these emails
or it can be database-driven wherein the form you fill out is received by a
database or a content management system (CMS) which functions like an
electronic logbook. In simple terms, e-mail based registration is like receiving
guest confirmation by postal mail, while CMS is like allowing the attendee to write
his confirmation directly in the attendance logbook himself. Since it is online,
registration can be done from halfway across the globe in just a few seconds.
Moreover, CMS also allows making payments online.

Video conferencing is a real-time meeting between two or more people who are
in two or more locations, using special audio visual equipment. Earlier versions
are made up of analog television sets and satellites. Today, data sounds and
images are mostly transmitted using the Internet. The use of video conferencing
saves time and travel costs and is said to support the “green” movement, as it
eliminates the carbon gases emitted when a person travels, especially by air.
There are a number of cheap ways to do videoconferencing nowadays, like
Skype and Viber, and such means keep on increasing and improving fast.

Online social networks are also helpful in events, especially in marketing. These
are internet sites which include Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Blog, which is
short for “web logs”, meaning “regular log-in in the world wide web”, is also
commonly used nowadays. The popularity of social networks and blogs made
them noteworthy promotional tools for events.

Podcast is another technology brainchild that is starting to play an important role

in MICE. These are recorded electronic learning materials such as lectures and
language tutorials, usually in the form of mp3 files played using ipods. Podcast
came from the words iPod and the verb “to cast” (or to transmit).

Mobile phone technologies play an invaluable role in MICE. They function as

watch, mirror, means of communication, calculator, organizer, currency
converter, address book, camera, audiovisual player, data storage, processor,
and they can easily connect to the Internet. Thus, a number of events provide
programs and updates that can be simply accessed by attendees using their
mobile phones with wireless access (Wifi) provided.

It is true that technology development has gone leaps and bounds in the past
three decades since the coming of internet age. This rendered a number of good
old equipment almost obsolete, to give ways to better ones. A good meeting
planner should therefore be able to provide the materials with which speakers
and guest would be most comfortable.
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k. Security

According to studies, security is one of the most important factors considered by

organizers when choosing a venue and planning for an event. All MICE venues
have their own safety measures installed and their own security personnel to
implement these measures. However, it is advisable to contract the services of a
security company to provide additional security guards.

Security requirements vary depending on the number, nationality and political

status of event attendee and/or speakers, such as dignitaries, celebrities and the
like. It is important to know the protocol for different types of attendees.

l. Manpower Agencies

Other than security personnel, additional manpower may be required for an

event, such as registration staff, marshall/usherettes, telemarketers, encoders,
interpreters, extra waiters, messengers and janitorial staff. These positions
created by the event may not necessarily be permanent but are still needed, thus
the event organizer may employ or contract such additional services temporarily,
directly or through manpower agencies.

Procurement is the jargon for getting or “purchasing” something from supplier. You
can do this through shopping or bidding. Bidding is a process wherein you announce the
details of what you need, which can either be goods or services, and interested suppliers
will give you an offer. Usually, it is the cheapest offer that is accepted, as long as it
satisfies the specifications indicated in your announcement, request for quotation, or
invitations to bid.

Topic
INDUSTRY REGULATORS
4

a. Associations as Regulatory Bodies

Some associations regulate the staging of some events in order to

maintain certain standards. They likewise do studies and train members to
improve the service that the members deliver.

a.1. Union de Faire Internationales – established in the 1960s, is an

international network representing 248 member organizations – composed
of 200 exhibition organizers and venue owners and 48 associations of trade
show partners from 74 countries. It has been conducting educational
seminars on different topics. It has also been conducting surveys and
studies on subjects of common interest for its members and for industry
professionals, such as marketing trends and new exhibition technologies. It
ELECTIVE 6 – EVENTS AND CONVENTION MANAGEMENT

accredits and helps promote shows staged by its members, as it advocates

the effectiveness of trade shows as a marketing tool.

a.2. Bureau of International Expositions – governs the staging of World

Expositions. It regulates 2 types of expositions:
• Registered Expositions which are commonly called
Universal Expositions
• Recognized Exhibitions which are commonly called
International Expositions.

b. Convention and Visitors Bureau

Or tourism board in many countries – are primarily non-profit, usually

membership organizations representing a specific destination and assisting in its
strategic development. A destination promoted by a CVB can be a country, a
state or city. It is the CVB’s responsibility to encourage local associations to host
international events, and to undertake overseas marketing activities directed at
international associations, corporate executives, and event managers. CVBs
serve as the official contact point for event managers, tour operators, and
individual visitors; they can provide comprehensive, up-to-date unbiased
information on the destination they represent. There services are free of charge
and they save event organizers the time and effort, as they are a one-stop-shop
of services for local tourism interests. However, a CVB does not actually organize
meetings and conventions; it helps the best possible use of all the services which
CVBs can provide depending on the size of the bureau and the magnitude of an
event:
• CVBs can assist in (but not fully take charge of) all areas of event
preparation and provide organizers with reference materials
• CVBs can establish room blocks at local hotels
• CVBs can keep track of room counts as well as other meetings
coming in the area. In this way, they can help event organizers avoid
conflicts with other events.
• CVBs can help locate an event venue, check its availability and
arranger for site inspections or provide assistance in site
inspections and familiarization tours. Moreover, as CVBs has
firsthand familiarity with the hotels with meeting space in the areas,
they can help planners match properties to specific meeting
requirements and budgets.
• CVBs can link event organizers with suppliers, like car rentals and
tour operators
• CVBs can market the destination to attendees through tourism
promotional materials. They can provide shell brochures and shell
posters with blank spaces on which to overprint information about
the event, thereby encouraging attendance
• CVBs can act as liaison between the event organizer and the local
officials which may include assistance in securing special permits,
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street closure, use of state-owned parks and/or museums and

others.
• CVBs can assist in obtaining special letters of endorsement and
welcome messages from high ranking government officials like the
president of the Philippines and Cabinet members, and in some
cases can bring officials to speak at an event.
• CVBs can offer suggestions about ways meeting attendees can
maximize their free time as well as in developing spouse programs
and pre/post event tours
• CVBs can assist in the development of and signing of a cooperation
agreement or contract between the local and international
association which defines