Sistemas de Información Ejecutiva (EIS)

There is a great deal of business to be obtained from govern-ment sources, in all their many guises. In many instances, the price that may be paid for hotel accommodation is set by gov-ernment ministers or the Civil Service. In such cases, nobody has any room for manoeuvre and you must either take the business at the price offered or let it go to another hotel which will. Only in emergencies, or if the top officials waive the rules, can higher prices be paid. Obviously, the more senior the offi-cial who needs accommodation, the higher the price will be.

Also, if you’re negotiating for a delegation, the price agreed will be the price for the most senior member of it. It is unlikely that junior members will be put in different hotels, though they would be accommodated in less prestigious rooms than their superiors.

National government

There are a number of markets to consider:

Departmental conferences

Within a Department of State – Agriculture, Industry, Defence, etc. – there will be a need for conferences on various subjects. There may well be a Conference Officer within the Department. That is a very valuable contact. Remember, though, that the Conference Officer is the implementer, not necessarily the decision maker. The Officer may make the deci-sion on where to hold the conference or may take instructions,

from someone higher up, to book it at a specific hotel. You, ^BUYERS AND CUSTOMERS

therefore, need to identify which sections of the Department hold regular conferences, who is involved within the section and where the decision maker is located.

While a Conference Officer may come to lunch to see the hotel and test its quality, that may well be the extent of the hos-pitality you can provide. In Britain, bribing an official is a criminal offence and a bottle of champagne at Christmas would probably be returned.

Meetings are also held to discuss how to carry out the man-ifesto pledges of political parties. One government was elected on a manifesto that included maintaining village shops in the face of competition from area supermarkets. The Department concerned was persuaded by a hotel sales department to hold marketing training courses for village shop owners in their hotels. Study party manifestos. Then decide how carrying out these objectives may result in additional hotel business for you.

Lobbying

Before the government takes decisions, it may listen to the views of national experts, association delegations, etc. These delegations will need accommodation because they will be drawn from all over the country and will need to meet in advance to agree their approach to the Minister. Here, the deci-sion makers will be within the lobbying groups – probably the Director General – but the government departments would know who is coming to lobby.

Political conferences

There are political conferences of all kinds, arranged by the political party Conference Officers. Don’t neglect the smaller political parties; they often fit more comfortably into hotels than into vast conference centres.

Emergencies and inquiries

There are many kinds of emergency in which government is involved: natural disasters – floods, cyclones, tornadoes, etc.;

wars abroad may involve getting a country’s citizens

repatri-HOSPITALITY SALES AND PROMOTION

ated. (Who looked after the expats flown out of Sierra Leone by the RAF in 2000 when the civil war broke out?) If there is a major accident, there will be an inquiry. That produces busi-ness. Planning inquiries have to be held somewhere and can bring expert witnesses who need accommodation.

Overseas aid

Many governments offer overseas aid to underdeveloped coun-tries, in terms of advice on how to develop their economies. This involves groups visiting the developed nation to learn of the techniques involved. These delegations need accommodation.

Trade delegations

To improve the level of exports overseas, many trade delega-tions are organized to visit the UK. The list of groups coming will probably be known to the commercial attaché at the Embassy.

Local government

Within local government there are any number of activities;

everything from sewage disposal to schools and fire brigades to policing. For everybody working in these sectors, there is a need to understand best practice and to communicate. These factors lead to the holding of conferences. How is it decided where to hold them? There is no one answer. One possible sce-nario is that it goes in turn; in which case, when is the turn of your region coming? Or it may be decided by who invites the group to meet in their area next time. In which case, you’ll have to persuade your local area to issue an invitation.

Even ordinary council meetings can provide accommoda-tion business. Local councillors may come to meetings from homes a considerable distance away. In which case, they may well need overnight accommodation. Then there are training budgets for fire officers and Income Tax inspectors. There are social clubs, like those for prison officers, who go away for a

Short Break. ^BUYERS AND CUSTOMERS

Town twinning

There are official visits from the towns with which yours is twinned.

Court cases

Court cases involve the attendance of lawyers, experts wit-nesses, witwit-nesses, plaintiffs, defendants and members of the police. Whenever these people come from a long way away to court, there is a need for accommodation.

Much of the information you need can be obtained from the Courts as it is not private. There may also be a department within the Courts which helps to arrange hotel accommoda-tion or, at least, deals with enquiries by recommending local hotels.

Armed services

Again, there are a number of potential markets:

1 Armed services personnel are often on the move. There may be some accommodation on American air bases, some embassies own houses locally, but normally the personnel have to put up in hotels. The military attachés at the embassies will often know of these movements and may well make the hotel bookings.

2 Where there are meetings of alliances – NATO, etc. – the bookings may be done by the organizations holding the con-ferences. Then there are exhibitions of military equipment – the Farnborough Air Show, for example.

3 As the armed services need new recruits, there are often teams of army, navy or air force personnel visiting different parts of the country. They need hotels too.

4 Friendly countries send over marching bands or teams to take part in various shows. That involves hotel accommoda-tion as well.

5 If your hotel is in a naval city, visiting ships may send offi-cers on shore leave to hotels.

HOSPITALITY SALES AND PROMOTION