VIP Hospitality Events part 1

VIP hospitality is the level of service that you would like to provide to a certain group of people. It is not limited to dignitaries, company executives and entertainers. 


The level of service required varies significantly from individual to individual and from situation to situation.

If you are going to have a VIP group and want to get into the little details well here is a good start!

First of all you have to understand perfectly the group of people that you address.

There are some things that will help you create your group’s profile.

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE GROUP ARRIVAL

1. Nationality
2. Age
3. Profession/Status/Industry
4. Habits
5. Health and diet profile
6. Traveling alone or not?
7. Religion
8. Destination Coming from/Destination going to
9. Means of transportation

To get all of the above information you have to get a really good brief from your customer and a really good participation form.

Client wants and donts!

1. Destination questionnaire:
Are we going out of town?
Do you care if the hotel is on the beach or at the mountain?
Would you like something centrally located?
Do you prefer 4 or 5 star hotels ?
2. Budget per person/per day
3. What is being paid by the company and what’s not?
4. Client philosophy and probable points that the client would like to
stress from this event.
5. Which destinations have already been visited by the same group of
people in the past?
6. What is the maximum time that you would like your journey to last
till you reach your final destination (flights inclusive)?
7. How many days would you like your trip to last?
8. Does your hotel need to have a spa, or golf, or casino etc?
9. Do you want to keep your group inside the hotel, or would you like
us to arrange any extra activities?
10. What type of rooms would you like to have? Will you allow any
upgrades?
11. Is there something that you would like to provide? For Example at
the bus, upon arrival, at the room, during an excursion, at the
airport?
12. If you do not want a destination where people should have a visa
or have to vaccine themselves kindly note.
13. Would you like to inspect the destination/venue prior to your
groups arrival?
14. Do you want it to be high season at the time the group arrives to
the destination?
15. What is the maximum time that we should consider for rest,
shopping and excursions/day?
16. Will there be any VIP transfers?
17. Last but not least you NEED to ask your client about past negative
experiences. That way you can figure out and help your client
understand what he/she thinks is important as a service.

To sum it up, you need to carefully take the following steps,

Step 1: Develop Clear Objectives
Step 2: Understand your Target Audience
Step 3: Identify your Current Group Image
Step 4: Set the Aspirational Client/Group Identity
Step 5: Develop your Plan
Step 6: Create Value for Money Proposals
Step 7: Execute the trip with custom made Strategy
Step 8: Measure Success

All the above helped me more than once in my line of work and believe me not many people take the time to ask these questions.
Having less knowledge of what should happen and what is needed from you for your VIP group, makes you have to constantly fill in gaps in the end, probably be out of budget and stress both you and your customer with phrases like you did not tell me, but you are the professional…etc.

Stay tuned for the next article!