ITCM interviews

Milan is a prime European destination

Details: Category: ITCM interviews; Published: Monday, 22 June 2015 12:30

Riccardo Pilati, of Hotel Principe di Savoia, talks to Sydney Paulden

If you think of the top hotels in cities such as London, Rome, Los Angeles, Paris, Geneva and Milan you will almost always include in your list members of Dorchester Collection. There are ten of these and they refer to themselves as ‘Iconic properties in iconic places’.
The Milan member is the Hotel Principe di Savoia and ITCM was able to interview its Senior Director of Sales on his recent visit to London.

How IBTM straddles the world

Details: Category: ITCM interviews; Published: Thursday, 28 May 2015 12:30

Graeme Barnett, Senior Exhibitions Director at Reed Travel Exhibitions, talks to Sydney Paulden

EIBTM is now known as IBTM World. One of the most notable exhibitions in the MICE sector, it has been not only going but growing since 1988. ITCM asked Graeme Barnett to clarify the reasons behind the change of name. Graeme, who was one of the founders of the exhibition, is now Senior Exhibition Director at Reed Travel Exhibitions.

Terre Blanche - a province within Provence

Details: Category: ITCM interviews; Published: Tuesday, 21 April 2015 12:30

Rachel David of Terre Blanche tells ITCM about the French resort’s unrivalled facilities

The South of France is always an attractive destination and so ITCM was interested to meet Rachel David, Sales & Marketing Director of Terre Blanche Hotel Golf Spa Resort, during her visit to London recently.
‘We are only 45 minutes from Nice Airport’, she told me, ‘or less than half that time to our helipad and, with 300 hectares (750 acres) our estate is about 1.5 times the size of Monaco.’

‘Make sure the UK hospitality industry makes its voice heard’

Details: Category: ITCM interviews; Published: Monday, 13 April 2015 16:30

Ufi Ibrahim, CEO of The British Hospitality Association, talks with Sydney Paulden

Ufi Ibrahim, CEO of The British Hospitality Association, is proud to tell me that it has around 40,000 members. That however, is just a fraction of the number of people in the UK who earn their living in this industry.
‘We are the sector with the biggest number of employees’, she states and that fact underpins a major objective in her mission. She is working towards gaining proper recognition of the role that hospitality plays in the country’s economy. ‘To listen to politicians’, she suggests, ‘you wouldn’t imagine that hospitality is a bigger employer than banking, manufacturing or engineering. We embrace hotels, restaurants, visitor attractions, conference venues. I sum it up as “UK tourism on the ground”. That is everything in hospitality bar the airlines.’

IMEX Frankfurt is a cost-effective visit

Details: Category: ITCM interviews; Published: Thursday, 02 April 2015 16:45

Carina Bauer, CEO IMEX Group, talks to Sydney Paulden

A talk with Carina Bauer, CEO of IMEX Frankfurt, confirms that this is much more than an exhibition. Taking place May 19-21 May, she sees it as an essential experience at the heart of the modern MICE industry.
MICE is an unusual business sector in that it is very important to virtually every country in the world, no matter how big or how small, whether highly developed or just emerging. All are destinations that can offer something unique to event organisers. What is needed is expertise in identifying what a country has to offer and in providing the service and hospitality to make each event a success.