Hybrid meetings, highest hygiene and safety measures, digital tools, flexible cancellation policies, and generous spacing are all catering to safe conferences and events. Meeting culture has undergone some significant changes, and these are likely to remain the “New Normal” for some time. With this, the needs of event and conference planners have also shifted. BWH Hotel Group Central Europe has adjusted their offerings accordingly, catering to the new normal with fit new offers and products. The new digital MICE Guide presents a wide range of meeting and event options in more than 200 hotels of the brand families WorldHotels Collection, Best Western Hotels & Resorts, and Sure Hotels. All hotels have responded to the changing expectations of customers in the best possible way. The MICE Guide is premiering as an e-magazine, covering detailed information on 86 selected hotels in Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Luxembourg. The entire guide is designed to accompany and simplify the planning of meetings and events so that all participants can feel completely comfortable and safe. For example, meeting organizers find dedicated information on hybrid events, green meetings, and the group’s international "We Care Clean" promise, which focuses on the increased hygiene and safety needs of guests.

“The revolution of the meeting and event market was greatly accelerated in 2020. All indications are that this trend will continue this year as well. We have already modified our services to react to these developments and will continue to monitor them for our customers and partners. Many of our hotels have already been offering hybrid meetings for a few months and have been working together with technology partners for many years who are very familiar with digital and hybrid events. As a response to the changing meeting culture, they have further enhanced their technical equipment and expertise. We are now presenting this entire range of new meeting and event formats in our new MICE Guide”, says Marina Christensen, Head of Sales BWH Hotel Group Central Europe. In addition to the distancing rules as well as an increased awareness of hygiene, the focus for conference guests is on a safe and simultaneously welcoming ambience. "There are some fundamental changes in meeting culture today that we are already considering as the new normal for the future. For example, we will all emphasize the ability to open windows in the meeting room or even have the meeting room directly adjacent to a terrace. Fresh air and rooms that offer a lot of space and small working islands are in request," Christensen explains further. 

Suitable Locations and Formats for Innovative Events

Thanks to the clear structure of hotel information in the digital MICE Guide, event planners can identify the location that suits their demands best in just a few clicks. Thanks to the tabular overview, it is possible to quickly recognize how many participants can be seated in a meeting room with a distance of one and a half meters between the seats. Whether small meetings, co-creative events, hybrid conference formats or the organization of a multi-site congress: the conference hotels of BWH Hotel Group offer the right rooms and settings for every need.

Hybrid Events and Sustainable Meetings

In addition to the comprehensive hotel offer, BWH’s MICE Guide contains sections with information on hybrid events and sustainable meetings. For hybrid and virtual meetings and presentations in large groups up to the digital broadcast of cultural events, numerous hotels are equipped with state-of-the-art, high-performance technology and in-house streaming studios. For example, the Best Western Plus Palatin Kongresshotel in Wiesloch near Heidelberg broadcasts events live from stage to the screen at home. The Heidelberger Symphony Orchestra have already put this to test and invited the audience at home to participate live in the recording of their new CD. The Atrium Hotel in Mainz, a member of the WorldHotels Collection, is home to a 125-square-metre streaming studio with a modern technical infrastructure and experienced professionals, providing the best conditions for hybrid events. These can be made available via YouTube, Facebook or afterwards as a video.

For guests who pay special attention to their ecological footprint, the MICE Guide summarizes particularly sustainably operated hotels in the chapter "Green Meetings". The sustainable commitment of BWH Hotels has many facets, covering e-charging stations and optimal connections via public transport, fair, regional, and sustainable resource handling in procurement and hotel operations, on-site energy generation, and even breakfast honey from the hotel’s own bees. All this is also considered when planning conferences. As an example, the Hotel Berlin, Berlin, WorldHotels Collection, as one of five certified partner hotels of Sustainable Meetings Berlin, implements environmentally friendly measures in all areas. The Viennese boutique hotel The Harmonie Vienna, BW Premier Collection, has strong ties to its Austrian homeland and, as a particularly environmentally friendly hotel business, not only serves regional, controlled organic food, but also handles resources such as electricity and water in a very sustainable way.

Individual Consulting

The MICE Desk of the BWH Hotel Group is available at any time to anyone who requires comprehensive individual consultation. The team advises on the new meeting normal and customizes flexible offers, plans secure roadshows and series events together with clients and makes recommendations for a suitable on-site social program. "Our goal for 2021 is to continue to expand our collaboration with our clients and to reshape it based on the changes in the market. To achieve this, our central MICE Desk team has a variety of different and new event formats at the ready, offering the greatest possible flexibility," says Thomas Zubac, Director MICE Desk at BWH Hotel Group Central Europe.

Visit the Online MICE Guide here: https://mice.bwhhotelgroup.de/en/home