Home NEWS The first virtual BWH Leisure Expo

The first virtual BWH Leisure Expo

Sep 28, 2020

serhat_goetz — Photo Credit: BWH Hotel Group Central Europe

DIGITAL EUROPEAN SALES PLATFORM

The first virtual BWH Leisure Expo took place from 22 to 24 September 2020. Over the course of three days, the BWH Hotel Group Central Europe GmbH offered its affiliated hotel partners sales and exchange opportunities as well as lectures and virtual networking events with B2B customers from the leisure sector on this virtual platform.

A virtual cross-border event and a successful sales platform to effectively support sales and marketing opportunities: For three days, both the sales teams and individual hotels of the BWH Hotel Group had the opportunity to virtually network with around 40 companies, customers and partners from the leisure and group segment at the first Europe-wide BWH Leisure Expo and to discuss current topics in the leisure market. In addition to the central sales departments of the BWH Hotel Group Central Europe GmbH, which represents hotels from the DACH region as well as hotels from seven other countries, the BWH Hotel sales teams from Scandinavia, Great Britain, France, Italy, Southeast Europe as well as the Netherlands and Belgium and many individual hotels of Best Western and WorldHotels Collection brands were also in attendance. The comprehensive program included workshops, sales appointments as well as lectures by exciting speakers from the industry.

Serhat Goetz

BWH Hotel Group Central Europe GmbH

“We are breaking new ground and taking advantage of the fact that we are positioned internationally. Most of the trade fairs and live events cannot take place this year, so the team of BWH Hotel Group Central Europe wanted to use this virtual event to specifically promote the dialogue between our hotels and partners again, to trigger new impulses and to create a clear outlook for 2021. And this all over Europe with sales teams of the BWH Hotel Group from eight regions. This is the first time we have been able to realize a real virtual cross-border sales event,” explains Serhat Goetz, Director Leisure Sales at BWH Hotel Group Central Europe GmbH, who initiated the BWH Leisure Expo.

“In these times it is important to be creative, to find new communication possibilities and to use our strength as an international group of individual hotels. In the direct dialogue between our hotels, sales departments and customers, targeted solutions and offers could be created and the current challenges could be mastered together. In this way, our hotels generated leads and met potential partners, but also learned and exchanged ideas from top experts in the industry in live webinars and round table discussions,” says Goetz.

Europe-wide virtual sales conference for the leisure market

Among the highlights of the virtual conference was a live event platform where all participants could meet and network online, virtual Face2Face meetings, live presentations and webinars as well as round table discussions on current topics. Many German and European leisure buyers, event customers, but also top-class speakers made the three days an exciting event for hotels and partner companies. On all days there were online lectures and discussion panels of travel experts. Among the industry leaders who gave keynote speeches was Susanne Schick, Vice President of the German Travel Association DRV, Berlin, who gave a presentation entitled “Future of the Travel Industry – Opportunities – Challenges – Perspectives” on the current situation in the market. In addition, Tom Jenkins, CEO ETOA European Tourism Association, London, gave a presentation on “Travel in Europe a View and a Foresight”.