- Corporate hospitality
The UK Corporate Hospitality Market Development defines Corporate Hospitality as “any event for the benefit of an organisation entertaining clients or staff, or prospective clients, at the organisation’s expense”.
“Corporate entertaining and hospitality can be an effective way of creating networking opportunities and cementing business relationships” ["Maximising the value of hospitality", Sport Business, 2004] . It is has become increasingly important in recent years as the cost of
customer acquisition has risen to four or five times the cost of keeping an existing client.Hospitality plays a key role in developing and maintaining customer relationships within business.History of the industry
According to Conrad Lashly (In Search of Hospitality), “The hospitality trades are as old as commerce, migration and pilgrimage, and there is evidence of specialised premises providing refreshment and accommodation in Roman times, and again from the eighth century”. [cite web | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=55pt1-LJupkC&oi=fnd&pg=RA2-PA1934&dq=history+of+corporate+hospitality&ots=gGQ4v4sQOe&sig=jmWHkbI2QUMeTu8aw8R1ggGSyq0#PRA2-PA1935 | title = In Search of Hospitality | author = Conrad Lashley, Alison J. Morrison ]
Today, Corporate Hospitality is big business. In 2006, it is believed that the UK corporate hospitality market increased by 7% to review a period high of £996 million.
Sports events tend to be the most favoured venues for corporate hospitality, particularly football, golf, rugby and horse racing. In fact, spectator sports make up around 85% of all corporate hospitality; however, cultural events such as
opera andballet are becoming increasingly popular and are estimated to make up between 5% and 20% of the market’s total value. Events such as theChelsea Flower Show andHampton Court Palace Festival are proving popular places to entertain guests.Companies are increasingly outsourcing their corporate hospitality services to specialist agencies. The expert knowledge of such agencies saves companies time and money in sourcing and organising events.
It is expected that demand for corporate hospitality will increase over the coming years, particularly with events such as the London 2012 Olympic Games to look forward to. It is anticipated that by 2012, the UK market for corporate hospitality will have increased by 5% to a forecast peak of £1309 billion.
References
*Oxford Dictionary, 2001
External links
* [http://www.corporatehospitalitydirectory.com Corporate Hospitality Directory]
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