NEWS CONFERENCE REPORT Conrad London St James hosts gl
Luxury travel buyers from around the world gathered at the Conrad London St James hotel for a bespoke business networking event organised by Connections Events. Rose Dykins reports
THE EVENT
Connections’ first white-label event showcased two travel suppliers – the five-star Conrad London St James hotel and HL Adventure, a bespoke Icelandic tour operator. Utilising the Connections
format of focused business meetings based around memorable experiences, buyers and representatives from the two host suppliers met while trying out Conrad London St James’s Stay Inspired 1/3/5 programme. The event culminated in a
five-course Icelandic-themed dinner, supported by HL Adventure and created by the Conrad London St James.
‘How about ladies’ bootmaking?’
Offering travellers a luxury experience need not break the bank, according to staff at the Conrad London St James.
“Simple luxury costs nothing, because it’s about emotion,” said sales director Delia Monfrecola. Conrad’s Stay Inspired 1/3/5 destination experiences offer guests authentic local experiences that last one, three or five hours. “Most of the 1/3/5 experiences
are complimentary for guests,” said Monfrecola. “1/3/5 is not something we are doing to make money. It’s something that we
hope will be the starting point of a guest’s journey in London.” Hotel manager Simon Drake
explained how the 1/3/5 experiences originated. “We started with our director of
inspiration at Conrad’s head office in the US,” he said. “They went across all of the properties in the Conrad portfolio and picked 10 to 15 unique experiences for each hotel. “We also did an internal competition where we asked staff from every department in the Conrad London St James what their families liked to do when they visited
London, and we had a number of unique experiences come back that most Brits wouldn’t think of doing.” He added: “Most concierges
would say ‘Buckingham Palace is that way, and have you been on the Big Bus Tour?’ “Nobody says: ‘Do you fancy ladies’ bootmaking this afternoon? Or do you want to try the best coffee in London – it’s a tiny little cafe in Brixton, where the owner roasts coffee beans in his cellar?’ “Our 1/3/5 experiences came
from our staff being creative and thinking outside of the box.”
Iceland’s HL Adventure says ‘money can’t buy a unique landscape’
Luxury travellers account for an increasingly large share of the market for adventure operators in extreme landscapes. Jon Olafur Magnusson, owner of bespoke Icelandic tour operator HL Adventure, said: “Most of our business came from the Mice sector until a few years back. We understood we were handling high-end FITs [fully
independent travellers] without knowing it. We’d be doing an incentive for a corporate group, and the chief executive would ask if we could take care of their family on a private trip. So, five years ago, we started to promote ourselves as a DMC for not only Mice but also FITs.” Magnusson admitted Iceland’s lack of luxury accommodation
was a challenge, but said: “We decided to find our own way to make five-star accommodation by finding old farms and private properties where we added our personal touches.” He added: “A unique landscape is something money cannot buy. We believe that for the new way of luxury travel, the guest needs to go home with a story to tell.”
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travelweekly.co.uk 15 December 2016
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