LOOKING FOR INSPIRATION?
Going to an event industry show and taking time out of your business is a hard thing to do when we are all so busy. However, it’s incredibly important to network with our wonderful friends and suppliers in the industry, from trade associations and specialist recruitment companies to DMC’s and hoteliers in order to find inspiration and keep your finger on the pulse.
Last week I managed to attend the SITE GB Leaders Retreat at the lovingly refurbished Down Hall Hotel and The Meetings Space at the Epic Sana Marques Hotel in Lisbon. Both terrific events with panel discussions, dinners, speeches (standout was Manley Hopkinson who sailed through a hurricane with 17 newbies onboard) and 1:1 meetings. You also learn so much about traditions, culture, cities, countries, new openings and, most importantly, meet new connections.
Who knew that in Portugal and Spain every university has a band – a Tuna Band – a group of university students who play and sing to traditional instruments as a way of earning money. The band I heard were great! There is a restaurant in a hotel in Barcelona that only uses 4 ingredients in their meals – two of those being salt and oil and they have a suite dedicated to the amazing artwork of Ronnie Wood! There is a brand new 632 bed hotel in Copenhagen totally encased in glass – a sustainable initiative to keep heat in / cold out! Munich, the fastest growing city in Germany, was built within a forest, hence being so green, and a hotel airport in the city has its own brewery. All Nhow hotels have a theme – their newest offering is in Berlin and the theme is FINANCE, another is diversity and there’s an airport hotel in Frankfurt where you can park your car on your balcony 10 floors up (yes you can). Frankfurt also has a rush of new beach clubs (of course it’s land locked). The Azores has a tea plantation and dinner can be cooked in a geyser. A hotel in Girona has its own vineyard which produces 4,000 bottles a year to drink in the hotel and a resident biologist that protects it’s wildlife in their grounds. There is a 100% sustainable zero carbon hotel in the Algarve.
I could go on, but you get my drift! I love this industry and am so happy to learn something new at every industry event I go to. To find out more or if you’d like some help in finding that special place, or that unique thing to do, please let us know. We have the connections to make your event sing!
