COST CONTAINMENT TRANSPARENCY

Meetings was invited to view the newly launched system demo for MiceMaster – an online booking tool that takes meetings and events cost-containment and transparency to a whole new level. It is also a first for South Africa. Founder and CEO Andrew Millar sums up the offering.

A TIMEOUS SOLUTION

We have always been aware of the challenges businesses face when it comes to procurement for meetings, events and conferences. Now, there is a new South African travel tech company claiming to be able to cure the pain associated with planning, procuring, cost control, consolidating data and reporting on MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) expenditure.

“As much as 94% of the world’s foremost companies utilise online booking tools for traditional corporate travel; airlines, hotels and car rentals. These tools identify cost-saving opportunities and control travel policy, but importantly, not for the MICE sector. MiceMaster has taken the best-of-breed methodologies and morphed them into the MICE sector,” explains Andrew Millar, founder of MiceMaster.

HOW IT WORKS

In its demonstration, MiceMaster revealed how it makes planners’ and travel managers’ jobs far easier by automating the meetings and events planning, management and financial processes. The system drives transparency through the supply chain quotes and services such as venue hire, accommodation, catering, audiovisual, travel, etc.

The planning module rapidly creates and sends detailed briefs to PCOs, venues and service providers – all at the click of a button. Centralising data in one online platform alleviates the

issue of getting a bird’s-eye view on expenditure, and having a fix on costs before an event adds enormous value.

“There are many capable, predominantly USbased MICE planning systems, delegate registration apps, venue finders, as well as incredible interactive technologies. But we are about controlling the money, compliance and ultimately transparency,” emphasises Andrew.

The benefits and functionality of the MiceMaster system may resonate well with corporates.

AN OBT FOR CORPORATE MEETINGS AND EVENTS

Corporates have been using online booking tools (OBTs) since the 1990s, largely to contain costs and implement travel policy rules for flights, hotels and car rental expenses. Other similarities between these OBTs and the MiceMaster OBT are easy to spot, including managing preferred partnerships, automating communication and providing exception reports to alert management of policy breaches for early intervention.

Travel managers’ jobs have become far more strategic; their top priority now is to analyse data to find new ways to optimise spending, which is where an OBT excels.

A DIFFERENT LEVEL OF TRANSPARENCY

Pre-Covid, companies often set MICE budgets while accepting the age-old process of procuring services. After two years of the pandemic, many businesses have reduced staff numbers, tightened budgets and adopted more stringent cost-containment strategies. Identifying cost-saving opportunities will require greater transparency – from planning to payment.

In Meetings’ MiceMaster demonstration, we were given insight into how company MICE policy is automated; rules are communicated while managers track policy compliance and can either approve, decline or allow the planner to rectify any issues.

The system sends the vendors briefs, who submit their RFQs via MiceMaster; the system translates the quotes into templatised, transparent formats, allowing one to compare apples with apples, check rates, services and product offerings.

Automated notifications allow stakeholders to track progress and spending across divisions, departments and regions while also streamlining the usual hierarchical approval process.

MEETING OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES

Another nifty feature of MiceMaster is that planners can set meeting objectives based on their rationale for holding a meeting. While a strategic sales indaba, team-building session or client engagement conference offers enormous value, tracking the motivation and, more importantly, the outcomes of the gathering is important when gauging ROI. Sadly, many companies have lost significant planner experience due to the pandemic, but even inexperienced organisers can quickly become more efficient and compliant using this software. The question we put to the founder was, how?

“Using MiceMaster, organisers of all levels are guided through the entire planning process to create professional, detailed briefs quickly. The system displays choices, recommendations and considerations

when planning and procuring the myriad services that make up an internal or external event, many of which can easily be overlooked as the planner emails briefs to the various vendors,” comments Andrew.

We also saw how MiceMaster’s Fast Plan functionality works. This is ideal for events such as training courses, which are step-and-repeat affairs. The software can ‘clone’ events, allowing the planner to quickly edit details such as dates and the number of delegates, which is immediately sent to suppliers. It also means that if the event changes location at the last minute, the software will alleviate much admin and stress. Last but not least, with automation, organisers can keep suppliers updated with ever-changing event details.

“It is a small benefit, but it may make a big difference to hotels. Automated notifications let hotels know when they have not been awarded the RFP, allowing them to release the allocated rooms in case of a specific function,” says Andrew.

Andrew Millar, founder of MiceMaster

Companies need to send a clear message that they have policies and systems in place to protect everyone’s health and safety; they also need to understand what all these new health and safety components are costing.”

FURTHER BENEFITS OF MICEMASTER

Ensuring duty of care and safer events

Planning is never a simple process, especially since the pandemic has opened up another can of worms – what precautions and interventions need to be planned and procured to ensure the company meets its duty of care mandate? To this end, MiceMaster has an integrated Covid-19 planning and protocol mechanism to deliver safer meetings and events – a feature many companies would welcome to minimise risk and liabilities.

Easier reconciliations and real-time reporting

For the first time, MICE data and costs are available to stakeholders in real time. Travel managers, auditors and accountants can quickly identify, consolidate and account for MICE spending across the board, not having to wait for different parties to manually report. The software allows businesses to compile reports in real time via the reporting module. They can also parse data and export or integrate directly to the ERP via APIs at the company’s request.

How much does it cost?

MiceMaster offers flexible software-as-aservice (SAAS) plans, details of which are on the www.micemasterglobal.com website. The SAAS model is one of the most common in today’s digital landscape. The company also seems adamant that businesses can rapidly implement the system using minimal corporate management personnel, as opposed to large enterprise resource planning deployments that take time and a lot of money.

AFRICA TRAVEL WEEK IS BACK

Get ready to bump elbows at Africa’s most anticipated travel trade show as registrations open.

The trade show will once again bring together pan-African & international exhibitors as well as buyers from across the globe at headline shows, World Travel Market Africa (WTM Africa) and International Luxury Travel Market Africa (ILTM Africa) taking place from 11 to 13 April in the Host City of Cape Town.

For those buyers who may be unable to travel to Cape Town, Africa Travel Week has created a digital event that will run from 4 to 5 April. Both one-on-one meetings as well as virtual speed networking sessions will be available on the same platform that was successfully used for ATW Virtual 2021. The virtual event is exclusive to exhibitors and buyers only.

Different buyers will attend the live event and the virtual event meaning that exhibitors will receive marked value as the buyers that they will meet online will be different to those that will be attending the physical event thereby offering a diverse and enhanced pool of buyers.

The highly-anticipated live event in the host city of Cape Town will include all the highlights delegates have come to expect in previous events, including a robust speaker programme and associated events like International Business Market Africa, EQUAL Africa, Travel Forward, Sports and Events Tourism Exchange (SETE) and the Africa Tourism Investment Summit (ATIS). Attendees can look forward to attending conference sessions with speakers from around the globe, face-to-face networking, the African Responsible Tourism Awards, press conferences and more!

“Now that skies are reopening and flights to Africa are resuming, Africa Travel Week is ready to welcome travel trade partners to our hybrid event while adhering to all the necessary safety and health requirements that come with running an event during a pandemic. At Africa Travel Week, we are all about connecting people, and so the health and safety of our visitors, exhibitors and staff is of the utmost priority,” says Megan Oberholzer, Portfolio Director: Travel, Tourism and Creative Industries at RX Africa.

Africa Travel Week will at all times adhere to all government guidelines and restriction for entry to the venue to ensure the safety of delegates at all times and information on safety measures will be communicated on a regular basis.

“We are excited to once again bump elbows and connect in person with travel buyers, exhibitors, press and travel trade visitors. We look forward to working together to reignite inbound and outbound travel on the continent,” concludes Oberholzer.