Where Business goes, Meetings follow
Patricia Durocher, CEO & Founder, Global Cynergies, has earned recognition for launching a majority women-owned, global hotel and venue sourcing company. Having won the accolade of ‘2017 Smart Women in Meetings’, Durocher reveals more
Global Cynergies offers solutions in sourcing hotel rooms and meeting space for local, regional, and global meetings. Adds Durocher, “My company is headquartered in Arizona Area, we have 140 people in 28 countries. We are in the venue sourcing business, we do hotel, venue and site-selection for companies who have off-site meetings. One of our USPs is that we have people in many countries and we are therefore able to share our experiences. It's a global market place and India is one of the markets that is growing.”
INDIA, THE GROWTH MARKET
India is a prospective market that is ever surging in its potential. Giving her perspective on the India markets, she says, “I was here in Hyderabad as an invitee to the CIC conference. It's really about the developing market in India. We are building a team and we have 10 people in India right now. We are building that team to continue to grow the business both inbound, coming into India from Europe, America, and other parts and our team is also doing outbound. The MICE market is a USD 700-billion market. India plays a big part of that in their travel. I think 1.8 trillion rupees of business is going outside India. Also, the growth in outbound business travel spend is projected at double digit for the next five years, with the number of individuals increasing by 25 per cent per year. There is a popular saying, ‘Where Business Goes Meetings Follow' and its very true.”
Elaborating on the changing product in India, she says, “The last three years there has been almost a 40 per cent increase in hotel rooms. In APAC its almost close to 50 per cent. So, one of the growth markets in the industry is Asia Pacific and certainly India. We are in a maturing industry. As part of that its going from a bundled use full service events, agencies and implants to an unbundled more specialised approach. Basically, you are working with the best in class. Global Cynergies is the best in class in global hotel and venue site selection from assistance with the selection of the hotel to the contracting and it's at no cost to the client. That is relatively new in this market place. So, we are here to educate, to show, to discuss, to talk about some of the new answers about what's going on in the industry. How are meetings being procured? Not only in this market but other markets as well.”
MEETING SPACE AND STANDARDS IN INDIA
India is working on developing its infrastructure. Talking about the meeting space standards in India, she adds, “I think when you have competition it raises the standards. What is lacking or needed is infrastructure and conference facilities. So, the meetings that we do, we are not bringing conferences, like the big PCO type of conferences and winning bids for India, we are bringing the meetings like product launches, trainings, corporate meetings, some association meetings. For that I think the facilities are very good. I think the product is getting better. Why we are here for the next couple of days, is because I am going to experience brands that I was not aware of and that's what our company specialises in. We work with a lot of the national brands in Europe and in other parts of the market. We are building our team base, our client base and then the relationship with the suppliers.”
GLOBAL TRENDS FOR CONFERENCING AND MICE
Technology constantly adds onto the global trends for events and conference. Elaborating on global trends, she adds, “Ease of access, right now is having event Apps, having the technology that is engaging the attendee, before they get to the event, during the event and after the event. It's not about having or communicating with your mobile phone but its actual engagement.
The meetings industry is changing. You have specific purpose rooms, where people engage more and discuss with one another as opposed to being talked to. It's about more networking and having those facilities that are more designed for that. If you see how hotels are being built, more common spaces, as opposed to specific rooms. I've seen some traditional markets, pleasantly making those adaptations and changing that, where you walk in and it really looks like a community.”
The growth in outbound business travel spend is projected at double digit for the next five years
GROWTH OF COMPANY
Talking about her company she adds, “We have been brought up in building international sales and marketing for the hospitality industry. We save our customers, time and money. We provide services to the supply industry and our team, for the most part, works virtually. It's exciting for me because we are building a global community. Technology has allowed that, it's a convergence of these things. Our platforms are 24x7.”
NOT JUST RATES, STATES AND SPACE
On choosing their venues and suppliers, she says, “We do not have special relations with any hotel, we work with all brands, and especially independent hotels. We pride ourselves in knowing the hotels in a city or country. We take it away from being just Rate State Space to what's the total value, including contracts, contractual terms. First priority is what are the objectives of the clients and we try to match that in that particular destination. Brand plays an important part, but a brand is not always a brand in every single destination. That's where the experience and the knowledge comes in. Secondly it's about what the audience is and what they want.”