To: %%Name%%,
International Event Organisers Update (IEOU) is published monthly and is an information source circulated FREE to 12000 selected organisers and others interested in keeping abreast of development in the international event industry. It is edited to higher standards than the inadequate ones laid down by the self-regulatory Press Complaints Commission (PCC)
If you have any views on how our newsletter could be more useful to you please e-mail us at info@eou.org.uk
If you wish to unsubscribe, please visit http://www.eou.org.uk or use:
#
Please do NOT use the reply button.
Note: As a matter of policy International Event Organisers Update (IEOU) does not carry any 0870 telephone numbers in entries for the news or Announcements section of IEOU. This is because these numbers operate as covert premium rate lines – misleadingly called “national rate” by BT and others that sell them – and are charged at five or more times the current normal cost to dial a normal geographical UK number.
Readers are advised to visit www.saynoto0870.com for more information about this customer-unfriendly scam, and to ask all suppliers and potential suppliers to provide their normal, cheaper numbers.
In a reminder that back to nature travel does have its risks a British tourist on honeymoon in Kenya has been trampled to death by a herd of elephants in the Masai Mara. (National Press).
The accident happened on Sunday 1 October as Patrick Smith, 34, and his wife Julie were taking an early morning bush walk with a Masai guide, who rightly took them down wind of the elephants. The herd, without showing any of the usual prior signs of aggression (heads up, ears out), suddenly stampeded towards the group. The guide and Mrs Smith were able to run out of the way. Mr Smith wasn’t.
The incident is being put down as a tragic accident rather than an elephant attack – it is thought by representatives of the Kenya Tourist Board that something startled the elephants into stampeding and that they probably, having poor eyesight, never even saw the humans in their path.
This type of accident is more common with the hippopotamus that inadvertently kills dozens of children every year when they get between the animal and water, which causes it to panic and run.
A few days after the above incident the Daily Telegraph reported on a British woman Elaine Jackson, 36, who drowned while trying to cross a river on horseback.
She and a companion and their guide were engulfed by a wave as they crossed the Nxaxo River in Eastern Cape, South Africa.
The owner of the nearby Wavecrest Hotel, Conrad Winterbeach jumped in to try to save her but he and other staff from the hotel were unable to resuscitate her.
Russia’s best known investigative journalist critical of President Vladimir Putin has been murdered.
Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead in a lift at her flat on Saturday 7 October, coincidentally Mr Putin’s 54th birthday, two days before she was due to publish a scathing report on torture by Russian agents in Chechnya. She is thought to be the 12th or 13th journalist victim of contract killing since Mr Putin took power in 2000.
Politkovskaya once told delegates at a conference on press freedom “People sometimes pay with their lives for saying out loud what they think”. She was 48 and a mother of two.
According to Conference and Meetings World magazine, whose owners Expomedia have business interests in Russia, there is still a mafia like flavour to the way the country is run. Editor Paul Colston, writing in the May issue about the embryonic events industry there commented: “While Russia may no longer be living through the metaphorical days of Godfather Don Corleone perhaps rather a fairer analogy would be that we are going through a period of the Michael Corleones”.
The imposition of taxes on tourists in some Italian cities, thought to be up to 5 euros per person per day, (£100 for a family of 4 for a week) is finding favour in Rome, Venice and Florence, though not in Naples. (Daily Telegraph).
The tax, according to Italy’s deputy prime minister and minister of tourism, Francesco Rutelli, is intended to be re-invested back into the tourism industry, rather than just to swell his government’s coffers.
A tax on day trippers to Capri is being introduced next year. And in the UK a general hotel bed tax is still being considered, along with a local authority tax on eating out and take-away meals, all of which particularly target tourists.
“Love your country, hate your people” seems to be the attitude of many people towards the British.
This is the result of research carried out by Visit Britain in which 35 different nationalities voted us a poor 16th in a list of countries likely to give visitors a friendly welcome. (Daily Telegraph). The respondents, particularly the French and Germans with a history of conflict, also rated the famously dry British sense of humour very low and the Italians rated us the second least funny people in the world. The most highly rated people for friendliness were the Canadians, Spanish and Australians.
The Daily Mail has also reported that a French academic, Agnes Poirier, living in Britain with her British boyfriend has written a book in which Brits are described as “vulgar, aggressive, unprincipled, consumerist zombies”, as having “no intellectuals which makes for boring conversation” as having “no understanding of philosophy, beauty or art” and who live in “an immense theme park”.
The historic Green Vault in the Royal Palace in Dresden has re-opened. (The Times).
It contains a priceless collection of 3000 artworks of gold, silver, precious gems, enamel, amber, bronze and, for those who like it, ivory. It was founded in 1729 by the Saxon King August the Strong and represents some of the best craftsmanship from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
The collection was last displayed in its entirety in 1938 and was moved to a castle in the hills around Dresden during the war to protect it from bombing. This was a shrewd move as the Royal Palace was destroyed, along with most of the rest of Dresden, on 13 February 1945 when the Allies successfully carried out a saturation bombing raid intended to start a firestorm, kill tens of thousands of people and terrorise the German civilian population.
Meetings Africa, an exhibition devoted to the events sector in South Africa, takes place at the Sandton Convention Centre, outside Johannesburg on Wednesday 28 February 2007 and Thursday 1 March 2007.
International buyers are being hosted and are expected to attend a one day conference on “Business Tourism” – for some a contradiction in terms – where they can discuss such topics as the way South Africa is sold and what association event organisers, an important market for the country, are looking for. This takes place on Tuesday 27 February, and in the evening there is a ball.
www.meetingsafrica.co.za
If it’s Michelin rated food you’re looking for in your choice of European destination then Monaco, the world’s smallest country after the Vatican, has a winning hand with the three Michelin star Alain Ducasse’s Louis XV and the one Michelin star The Grill, both at the Hotel de Paris. The Hotel Hermitage has Le Vistamar and Le Sporting Club has Bar and Boeuf, both one Michelin star.
And now the four star de luxe Metropole Hotel in Monte Carlo has a Joёl Robuchon restaurant. Robuchon, one of France’s top Michelin starred chefs retired from doing the cooking at two three Michelin starred restaurants and now lends his name, expertise, recipes and gastronomic philosophy to restaurants in Paris, Tokyo, New York, Las Vegas and Monaco, with his latest venture, L Atelier de Joёl Robuchon recently opening for London foodies, in Covent Garden.
So what can diners expect? International Event Organisers Update was given a chance to find out recently in Monaco and tried the “Discovery Menu” (Well, someone has to do it, etc) at 160 euros/£110, with ten courses selected from hundreds.
First off the philosophy is one of small and very small portions of food generally unaccompanied by vegetables and served in a logical order at a respectfully leisurely pace befitting the quality of the offerings. So if your delegates are the types who like a big plate with large slabs of meat or fish and three or four veg and/or they haven’t got three hours for a meal then they may not like this. Secondly if their stomachs are more used to simple plain food then they may find some of Robuchon’s creations, especially those heavy on the dairy, and rich, a digestive challenge. However these are our very personal views on our experience.
Dish number one, the amuse-bouche set the tone. This was a small glass part filled with foie gras with port, foam and parmesan cheese, a perfect combination. Number two was king crab, strong with the salt taste of the sea and complemented with a small tomato stuffed with tart tangy vegetables, which set up the palate for number three, a richer dish of quail egg with sevruga caviar.
This in turn warned the taste buds of the onslaught to come, a piece of meltingly soft super-rich and buttery pan-fried duck foie gras, served with an after thought of hummus and fresh mint. Now volumes could be written about the pleasure, and for some the guilt of this delicacy, for many don’t like the idea of geese or duck being force fed to swell the livers to this stage of dissolving fattiness. Others worry about the sky high cholesterol, so there may well be two reasons why it’s recently been banned in California. For us, personally we are happier with the less sickly taste of the foie without the gras and therefore prefer ordinary duck livers, pan fried and served with some neutralising vegetables.
After the silky rich foie, some simple seared tuna loin with cauliflower tabouleh and a curry sauce, number five and very tender though being sashimi fans we wondered if it would have been better as tuna belly served completely raw, with a soy-based sauce and some Japanese pickled radish. Our same arrogant questioning attitude (sorry, Joёl) applied most of all to course number six, fresh young squid with tasty artichokes but then both completely overpowered, for us by some seriously aggressive chorizo.
Number seven, being the main, was a choice between quail with sliced truffle or grilled cutlets of lamb. We chose the lamb and being rather full by now with courses one to six, were actually relieved to note that this consisted of two tiny, tender, fully trimmed cutlets from an extremely small lamb that could be dispatched in a couple of delicious mouthfuls. These were served with a Joёl speciality, his mashed potato for which he has reportedly won awards and which is rumoured to contain a heart-stoppingly high proportion of butter. For us it was so buttery, almost cheesy, it would have made a great sauce for a pasta.
Dishes eight and nine were, respectively a sweet smooth ricotta, iced caramel parfait and honey ice cream confection, and a panna cotta with contrastingly tart and citrus berries of red fruits, figs and blackcurrant sorbet, which cleaned the palate ready for the tenth course, moka with chocolate and caramel bonbon.
Overall? “Discovery menu” was, for us, an entirely appropriate description of the experience which is all about discovering what flavours can be combined and balanced with advantage and which combinations work well, and not so well for ones own individual palate and digestion. Those who have already discovered the very simple pleasures of a mature farmhouse cheddar or salty Roquefort with a good sweet Muscat, or slice of apple pie, a sweet sparkling wine with morcilla blood sausage or paté, white fish with mint or pears paired with dijon mustard will be able to raise their game and extend their repertoire.
The real challenge will then be to find a different wine that really goes with every course. But perhaps that’s another story?
--oOo—
Note: The author enjoyed the above experience as a guest of the Monaco Tourist Board and the Metropole Hotel, Monte Carlo.
Those organisers with delegates who seriously want to get away, right away from it all might want to consider Aisen, one of the 12 regions of Chile, in Northern Patagonia.
The region has recently started to target the European market for business and offers a long-haul back to nature, adventure experience in one of the world’s least populated areas, less than one per square kilometre or less than 100,000 in over 100,000 square kilometres.
For UK travellers the adventure starts with getting there with the favoured route being London to Madrid (2 hours) Madrid to Santiago (14 hours) and Santiago to Coyhaique (3 hours) the regional capital where 50,000 of the 100,000 population live.
From Coyhaique the intrepid can access some wild Andean landscapes with mountains up to 4,000 metres above sea level and snow and glaciers offering a range of snow & ice activities. Lakes and forests and abundant wildlife in its natural habitat cater for fans of hunting, shooting and fishing as well as those who would rather look and take pictures than kill, and there are water sports along with white water rafting and horse riding in a region where 50% of the land is protected.
e-mail: proempler@sernatur.cl
Visit: www.sernatur.cl
www.patagoniachile.cl
Ryanair are building a reputation with the Advertising Standards Authority for untruthfulness, judging by the two separate complaints the ASA have upheld against the company in the last six months.
o In May Ryanair advertised that its “free” ticket offer (excluding as always “taxes and charges”) was unavailable for “major sporting events and holiday periods” but failed to make it clear that travel was also excluded on all Fridays, the mornings of all Mondays and Saturdays and the afternoons and evenings of all Thursdays.
o In August Ryanair told customers they could FLY FOR LESS THAN BA’s FUEL SURCHARGE without making it clear that this claim was based on BA’s surcharge of £35 for long-haul one-way flights, rather than BA’s surcharge of £8 for a one way short-haul flight, the only type Ryanair do.
Ryanair’s chief executive is Michael O’Blarney.
News that Ryanair will be installing on-board mobile phone equipment on all its flights will please those who like using mobiles, and upset those who don’t like having to listen.
The system should be up and running by July next year and chief executive Michael O’Leary has told The Financial Times “If you want a quiet flight use another airline”.
This could soon be more difficult than it sounds given that other airlines, such as Air France, BMI British Midland, TAP Air Portugal and Qantus are all trialling the systems for possible installation in 2007.
Mr O’Leary has not yet announced the fees for the service though some say, given his pricing psychology, that free calls, plus £5 per minute taxes and charges are likely. Also not revealed by Mr O’Leary is the level of commission he will be receiving on the usage of the phones though that news will no doubt be announced any day now.
In a recent survey of 1,500 passengers views on mobiles carried out by Monarch Airlines 67 per cent claimed that having to listen to other people’s ringtones would be one of the most annoying in-flight experiences. (Daily Telegraph).
Haymarket’s event mag Conference and Incentive Travel clearly doesn’t rate the standard of British humour being temporarily exported to Dubai.
Commenting on the five day Dubai Comedy Festival, coming up next month (“Dubai Festival’s no joke”) the mags intellectual hacks describe the mature line up of Jim Davidson, Richard Dignace, Frank Carson, Ronnie Corbett and Bobby Davro as “a Jurassic Park’s worth of comedic antiquity” and poses the question “So the emirate isn’t ready for Bernard Manning yet?”
Ah well, chacun son goût, as they say in Dubai. And we’d have thought Manning’s hilarious “jokes” about non-white people, the ones that some of his Round Table audiences reportedly enjoy, would have them rolling in the sand dunes down there.
Meanwhile let’s all hope Lord Michael Heseltine, Haymarket’s mature owner, (73) doesn’t spot the low standard of editorial criticism and high levels of age discrimination creeping into one of his event magazines. For surely it’s more intelligent and relevant to attack comedians because they are not funny, rather than because they are old, isn’t it?
Hall 2, a £5 million exhibition hall, the largest in Leeds, is now being built alongside the Royal Armouries Museum.
Hall 2 is due for completion April 2007 and increases available exhibition space at the Royal Armouries to over 27,000 square feet (2500 square metres) as well as complementing the existing range of five galleries and meetings space. There is a secure 1,650 space car park, an on-site 130 bed Express by Holiday Inn hotel, another 700 hotel bedrooms within a five minute walk and another 5,500+ in the rest of Leeds.
Show-rounds are being arranged for organisers of conferences, corporate hospitality, parties and exhibitions in early 2007.
Tel: 0113 220 1990
Fax: 0113 220 1997
e-mail: enquiries@rai-events.co.uk
Visit: www.rai-events.co.uk
The new 492 bedroom Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa opened in June next to the 1,100 acre McKinney Roughs nature park.
There is 5,500 square metres of indoor function space and 21,000 square metres outdoors, eight bars and restaurants, a water park and, ideal for delegates bringing children, the Camp Hyatt children’s programme.
Bedrooms prices are from £100 - £200.
Tel: 001 512 308 1234
www.hyatt.com
A new concert and conference centre is being built in Reykjavik, Iceland for completion in 2009 and will house a 1,800 capacity concert hall, a 750 seater conference hall and a rehearsal hall for up to 450. Also included will be some smaller conference rooms and some exhibition space.
The centre has been designed by renowned artist Olafur Eliasson – best known in the UK for the Weather Project installation at the Tate Modern in 2003 – and has a chrystalline outer form with a façade made from glass, mirrors and steel, to reflect Iceland’s dramatic landscape and weather.
There will be a new 250 room hotel adjacent to the centre.
Visit: www.visiticeland.com
Mocha is an award-winning creative team working with clients in the corporate, association, charity and government sectors. We use film, video, dvd and cd-Rom to create cost-effective solutions for internal and external communications, marketing, sales, public relations, promotions, tenders and bids, and from conception through filming, editing and production.
Recent projects have included filming large conferences and events, promotion of venues, video installations and corporate documentaries and films.
Contact us for an initial no obligation discussion.
Tel: 0151 706 0761 Fax: 0151 706 0762
e-mail: info@mocha.tv
Visit: www.mocha.tv
A new 12 day Diploma in Conference Organisation (DCO) qualification has been launched by the Society of Event Organisers (SEO) for 2007.
This comprises the four current days of the SEO Certificate in Conference Organisation (CCO) and eight additional and mainly practical days held as a summer school at a variety of London venues in August 2007. Delegates already holding the CCO qualification can just take the eight day summer session to sit for the DCO exam. The CCO is being held in Manchester on a residential and non-residential basis this August and in London (non-residential) starting September.
Fees for DCO run from £1,460 to £2,940 plus VAT.
Tel: 01767 316255 Fax: 01767 316430
e-mail: info@eou.org
Visit: www.seoevent.co.uk
o Event Organisers Update (EOU) for those running UK based conferences and seminars.
www.eou.org.uko Corporate Hospitality and Party Update (CHPU) for those organising client hospitality and parties. www.eou.org.uk
o Association Update (AU) for association organisers.
www.eou.org.uko Exhibition Update (EU) for organisations that exhibit themselves.
www.eou.org.uko Live Marketing News (LMN) for live marketers.
www.livemarketing news.como Association News (AN) for those who associate.
www.associationnews.org.uk
A 100-word announcement costs from £95 in this section of International Event Organisers Update (IEOU) and reaches 12,000 organisers.
To download full details and a booking form visit www.eou.org.uk Alternatively call (44) 1767 316255 or fax to (44) 1767 316430.
For more information please contact the organisers directly. You are advised to check that events are appropriate to your needs and still running before finalising travel plans. IEOU only lists the main international exhibitions and events specific to the events market – there are however lots of smaller country-specific presentations and travel industry events that can deliver useful information to organisers.
28-30 BARCELONA EIBTM exhibition
www.eibtm.com
27-29 ABU DHABI GIBTM exhibition
www.reedtravelexhibitions.com
17-19 FRANKFURT IMEX exhibition
www.imex-frankfurt.com
Edited and distributed by:
Society of Event Organisers
29a Market Square, Biggleswade, Beds. SG18 8AQ
Tel: +44(0)1767 316255 Fax: +44(0)1767 316430
Subscription Options
To change your preferred format or to unsubscribe then please visit: www.eou.org.uk