Flight Centre Travel Group’s global MICE division, cievents, has experienced exceptional growth in the UK over the last six months, winning £3.8 million in new business.
New projects include a £1.4 million 1200-delegate, four-day conference to Rome for a leading online gaming and entertainment company; delivery of a major fashion retail conference, fashion show and gala awards for 950 delegates in Manchester; and a half year incentive to Iceland for a client in the IT sector.
In addition, cievents has managed flights and delegate registration for 600 people attending a pharmaceutical client’s conference in Switzerland, as well as delegate and travel management for 150 people to Thailand for a HR firm’s incentive.
In addition, cievents has expanded its in-house production department in order to grow this aspect of its services, providing clients with bespoke creative design, original content, technical direction and set-development. Faye Davies-Fuller has recently been appointed as Head of Production at cievents UK to drive this growth. She brings extensive experience gained during her 10 year career in executive producer and project director roles.
For 2017, cievents also intends to maximise growth in the group travel sector. In addition to creating and managing full service conferences, events and incentives, the agency has recognised the demand from clients for a service that manages flight reservations and an event’s registration website cost-effectively. As a division of Flight Centre Travel Group, cievents benefits from the £9 billion global negotiation strength of its parent company, meaning staff have access to the widest range of airfares on sale in the UK market.
“We believe there is a gap in the market for providing MICE services to clients who don’t necessarily want a fully managed event and are just looking to get their delegates from A to B, combined with the provision of a straightforward event registration site,” said Jenny Walsh, General Manager, cievents UK. “We have the skills and expertise in-house thanks to our access to our parent company’s supplier deals to arrange cost-effective group travel for our clients, but because we are also MICE specialists we can also provide the online event registration element that these clients need.
“However, we will certainly not be neglecting the fully managed side of our events business. cievents is renowned for being innovative and providing everything from graphics and technical specifications to stage set design and entertainment to create wow factor events. We are delighted to welcome Faye on board as Head of Production. Her experience will be invaluable in helping us to grow this part of our business,” said Walsh.
