Great Hotels Organisation Announces Changes to Great Hotels Meeting Forums

London, United Kingdom, December 18, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Great Hotels Organisation (GHO: http://www.ghorg.com), the London-based luxury sales and marketing alliance representing some of the world’s finest independent hotels, is pleased to announce changes to their Great Hotels Meeting Forums to be implemented from March 2010.

Great Hotels Meeting Forums provide one-to-one, pre-scheduled meetings between member hotels of Great Hotels of the World and Special Hotels of the World and meeting and incentive buyers from a variety of markets around the world.

The Forums will be consolidated from six events per year into three events per year. Previously carried out over two days, the European market Meeting Forums will now take place over four days and will be split into two market sectors each consisting of two days. This gives hoteliers the option to attend one or both of the sectors depending on which market they are targeting. Buyers from each market attend the Forum for two days on a fully hosted basis.

In response to member demands, GHO is also introducing a new market Meeting Forum focusing on the Middle East, Russia and Eastern Europe. This Forum will remain on the original two-day format and will introduce member hotels to buyers from emerging markets not previously targeted by the events.

The events also provide opportunities to develop business contacts through numerous networking activities. GHO has introduced more networking opportunities throughout the Forums including drinks receptions, gala dinners and networking activities enabling contacts and relationships to be made and allowing hosted buyers to learn about the host destination and the member hotel in which the events are hosted.

The combination of these changes will result in more efficient, cost effective Meeting Forums for member hotels and a perfect balance of meetings and networking for hosted buyers.

Great Hotels Meeting Forums dates for 2010 are:

GH March Meeting Forum, UK and Benelux/Scandinavia markets, 16-18 March and 18-20 March, Gran Hotel Elba Estepona, Andalucia, Spain

GH August Meeting Forum, German and French/Italian/Swiss markets, 29-31 August and 31 August – 2 September, Blau Porto Petro Beach Resort, Mallorca, Spain

GH New Market Forum, Middle East/Russia/Eastern Europe, 21-23 November, Istanbul, Turkey - Venue TBC

For more information on Great Hotels Meeting Forums or to register as a buyer please visit www.ghorg.com/forum.

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For media enquiries, images and commissioned visits to the Forums please contact:

Brooke Jester
Marketing and PR Manager
Great Hotels Organisation
bjester@ghorg.com
+44 (0) 20 7380 8561

Editors notes:

Great Hotels Organisation

Great Hotels Organisation (GHO) is part of Big Worldwide, a global, privately owned travel, technology and media company headquartered in London. Great Hotels Organisation’s family of brands include Great Hotels of the World (http://www.ghotw.com), Special Hotels of the World (http://www.shotw.com) and Metro Hotels. GHO provides a range of products, services and innovative technology solutions for over 1,500 hotels worldwide including trade shows, e-marketing, business travel consortia sales, meeting and incentive sales, public relations, Meeting Forums and a private label GDS chain code (GW).

Membership of GHO is by invitation only and hotels must meet strict criteria before being accepted. By acknowledging that each hotel has a different set of marketing requirements, GHO allows its member hotels to choose from a comprehensive collection of sales and marketing initiatives in order to build their own ‘à la carte’ membership programme tailored to meet their individual objectives. By doing this, members are able to choose and purchase only the services they require, thus ensuring that membership fees are focused on their specific requirements.

Further information on Great Hotels Organisation can be found at http://www.ghorg.com.