Leicester & Leicestershire Sales and Marketing Managers Meeting. Tuesday 18 th June 2013 The City Rooms, Leicester. Minutes

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1 Leicester & Leicestershire Sales and Marketing Managers Meeting Tuesday 18 th June 2013 The City Rooms, Leicester Minutes In Attendance: Rachael Betts, Tigers Stadium Sam Blower, The Meeting Centre Faye Clift, National Space Centre Alison Coulham, Belmont Hotel Sam Davies, Hinckley Island Hotel Laura Devlin, Quorn Country Hotel Joanna Goddard, Imago Lee Griffiths, College Court Tom Hamlett, The Meeting Centre Jenny Howse, Hilton Leicester Michelle Matthews, Premier Inn Leicester City Michelle Mayes, Hinckley Island Hotel Nicola Moss, Rockingham Castle Matthew O Callaghan Kiran Parmer, The City Rooms Michelle Pickersgill, Best Western 3 Swans Sarah Sharpe, Premier Inn Leicester City Debbie Skelson, Holiday Inn Leicester Catharine Stilling, Ramada Encore John Tearse, The Meeting Centre Anne Waall, University of Leicester Robin Wheeler, Sketchley Grange Vicky Wilkin, Sysonby Hotel Janine Williams, LPL Helen Bevins, LPL Apologies: Malika Andress, National Space Centre Paul Burgess, Best Western Plus Ullesthorpe Court Hotel Katie Edge, Mercure Leicester Vicky Gregory, Curve Mick Judge, Harborough Innovation Centre Anna Shutt, The Big Shed Conference Centre Jo Taylor, Hothorpe Hall Heather Thornton, Best Western Premier Yew Lodge Hotel

2 1. Leicester Shire Promotions Update Campaigns Stay, Play, Explore Family Fun, Adventure, City, Gourmet and Heritage are going from strength to strength. Currently working with Visit England on an accessibility campaign for the Heritage short break this is to develop a short break that meets the needs of people with accessibility issues such as visual impairment, physical disability - looking to launch Sept 2013 with a national marketing campaign. Richard III Constantly developing campaigns around RIII. LPL have developed The Kings Tour which links the City and Bosworth and is sponsored by Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council. They are running the first Sunday and Wednesday of the month with the last being 4 th September. LPL will be talking with Visit England and Visit Britain regarding developing RIII further for example, domestic and international campaigns at Birmingham International Airport and American Airlines from September onwards. Business Tourism LPL have been working with Visit England and partners regarding marketing internationally with access to Regional Growth Fund (RGF) funding. As a result of this partners such as Imago and Stapleford Park have attended EIBTM and IMEX. LPL and Imago are now members of the International Convention and Congress Association (ICCA) this allows to have access to their extensive database, upload fam trip pr and have profile on their site when event organisers are researching destinations. LPL will be starting ICCA research for Destination Donington and the City Hub and activity around that. Rugby World Cup 2015 Visit England want partners to get involved. A majority of the requirements and requests coming from RWC will be similar to those requested for the World Cup bid. It ll have great impact for both the city and county. LPL will be looking at online accommodation and web pages to support this. The Meetings Show The Meetings Show is taking place on 9-11 July at Olympia, London. Imago are exhibiting LPL developed and confirmed a hosted buyer post event tour but weren t allowed to submit it unless LPL had a stand with pods for partners to buy into, but it proved too expensive and too short notice. LPL are visiting on one of the days for research.

3 Event Bidding Event bidding is picking up with more enquiries coming through recently. LPL can work with partners on bids that they may be working on. Please contact us if you would like to discuss this further, or need support. Destination Familiarisation Visits LPL will be working with Imago on developing a plan in relation to joined up destination familiarisation visits. 2. Round the table updates Hinckley Island Sam Davies and Michelle Mayes are in the 3 rd and 6 th week respectively so will have more of an update for the next meeting. There s a new Head Chef and Restaurant Manager at the hotel. Meeting Centre Steady business although slow on weddings. The centre has been in operation for 12 years and relies on online and word of mouth leads. Ramada Encore Catharine Stilling has been in post for 3 weeks. It has been quiet after a busy May Bank Holiday. Premier Inn Leicester City The last 3 months have operated on target and business seems to be picking up. Belmont Hotel Accommodation bookings have been good over the last 2 months. Private dining is on target and afternoon tea has been good. In July there seems to be a blip on wedding bookings. Best Western Three Swans Michelle Pickersgill has been in post for 2 weeks. Things seem to be ticking over with lots of last minute bookings. National Space Centre Business is going from strength to strength. Family visits are up year on year. Conferences are up 40%. Have launched a new gallery. Lots of Lego activities and events there s a new range launch in October. Holding a Sir Patrick Moore memorial event and Star Wars weekend nd November. Business seems to be quiet for August. Leicester Conferences University of Leicester Anne Waall is new to Leicester Conferences. LC attended the Academic Venue Show which was good for them. LC has rebranded and will be launching a new website. Their Executive Head Chef won a prestigious award and attended an event at Grosvenor House. July and August are busy with Summer Schools. Hosting Hope Against Cancer 10 th Anniversary Ball. Have employed a new team.

4 Tigers Stadium At year end 14% up. Next year looks to be more challenging, enquiries are coming in late. Christmas brochure is out. Holding a hosted buyer open day via Conference News. Underwood Suite is being refurbished to offer more budget conscious hospitality. Sysonby Knoll Hotel Finished the whole of the downstairs refurbishment which started in December and finished in March. There will be a celebration on 4 th July 2013 from 2-6pm. Have refurbished some the bedrooms which is now a rolling project. Christmas menu will be out in the next few weeks. Fully booked for Christmas Day. Not many conferences. Lots of walk-in business or bookings 2-3 days in advance. Focus on rates. City Rooms Really busy June with student events. The Operations Manager has left. The last 5-6 months have been record breaking. Weddings are booked up to 2014/2015. Christmas is looking good. Planning a 300 year celebration of Georgian period. Hilton Leicester Lots of last minute bookings. Christmas brochure will be out in 4 weeks. Imago End of a busy exhibition season attended Prestige Events, IMEX, Conference & Hospitality Show and will be attending the Meetings Show. Main focus is conversion. Need to get through August. Increase in agency bookings and last minute bookings the feedback on event buyers budgets is that there is an increase. Holiday Inn Good quarter 1 and 2. Corporate business is up but could do with more. Short lead times. August is quiet. News on refurbishment of bedrooms. Christmas brochure is out with bookings made. Hosting the Leicester Mercury Business Breakfast Awards. Sketchley Grange Business has been good for the first 6 months of this year. Leisure is good and Christmas bookings are coming in. Rockingham Castle Aren t actively marketing conferencing at the castle is looking better for weddings. Busy with events. Held Brigstock Horse Trials who have booked for a further 3 years. Rolls Royce have confirmed that they are holding their event at the castle again in Seem to be inundated with Car Club enquiries. Just confirming Christmas opening dates. College Court The doors will open 1 st October m of business on the board. Main focus is conferences. Christmas brochure is out in the next couple of weeks. Logo and website are being developed.

5 Quorn Country Up on budget. Uptake from LateRooms and conference bookings. Picking up on weddings. Part of LPL wood fair break and had some bookings. Christmas brochure will be out next week. NYE has been booked out for exclusive hire for a wedding. LPL would like to thank Kiran and his team at The City Rooms for their hospitality. If you are able to host the next meeting on either 3 or 10 th September please let us know.

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