Miss England beauties and perfect conferences at the Hilton

Beauties from across England will soon be making their way to the Hilton Birmingham Metropole for this year's Miss England 2010. It's just one of a range of exciting events that are being held in Hilton hotels over the coming months.

The reason why event organisers, like those planning Miss England, are increasingly opting for a Hilton Worldwide venue is because the chain's venues offer "state-of-the-art facilities and world class, flexible spaces to accommodate events of all shapes and sizes", suggested Andrew Farrow, director of regional marketing UK and Ireland.

Location also plays a key role. "Hilton Worldwide has an unsurpassed global network of big conference and event hotels, whose venues can be found in the heart of the world's most vibrant cities," he said.

The hotel chain has the organisational tools in place to help event planners, thanks to years of experience, while its wide range of venues means that that there is a Hilton to meet everyone's needs, he noted. For example, hotels like the Hilton London Metropole and Hilton Birmingham Metropole have spaces which can cater for a minimum of 600 attendees theatre-style and can accommodate more than 250 guests on any one night, while there are also smaller spaces available in the company's other hotels, which can be adapted to meet "any need".

Its wide range of facilities is helping the Hilton survive the current tough economic climate.
"Our business is very competitive and we are extremely pleased with our strength in the market; we are outperforming our competition and gaining market share in all our brands," Mr Farrow noted.
While a recent MBD study, called the UK Corporate Hospitality Market Development Report, suggested that the corporate hospitality sector will only grow by one per cent this year, following a five per cent decline in 2009, Mr Farrow is also feeling positive about the event industry's future, partly due to the hotel chain's recent financial performance.

"From a financial perspective, recent months have performed above expectations with a number of regions delivering strong results, particularly the London market."

These results are down to successful promotions and continued pickup of the corporate and leisure bookings and suggest "optimism in the market going forward".

The perfect conference
When it comes to conferences, the hotel chain's Hilton London Metropole recently carried out research into what makes the perfect event.

It developed a mathematical formula based on the key factors for a conference's success. Among the important issues are well-trained team members, a selection of different sized conference rooms equipped with the latest technology, easy access to transport links, leisure facilities, and accommodation for conference attendees.

While most of these are down to the venue event organisers' choice, other key factors also include when the conference starts – it's best at 09:00 – and speeches which don't exceed 30 minutes. It's also worth having at least two tea breaks over the course of a full day and ensuring delegates get a good buffet lunch, the hotel claimed.

Avner On, general manager at the Hilton London Metropole, said the special formula, which is available from the hotel, provides an advanced calculation of success, "enabling any potential issues to be flagged early and ensure a seamless conference".

Exciting Events
The Miss England 2010 final, which is taking place on August 31st and September 1st in the Hilton Birmingham Metropole, is one of the biggest events the hotel chain is hosting this year.

It is a great opportunity for the hotel and for Birmingham, Mr Farrow said.

"Miss England will possibly be the most glamorous we've hosted and we are very much looking forward to welcoming all of the finalists and judges to the hotel."

The Birmingham Met will also host Rock with Laughter – an agency networking event – and Miss Bollywood over the coming months, while the chain's Manchester Deansgate hotel also has a number of exciting events lined up, including the Star Ball.

"We have hosted everything from government meetings to fashion shows and themed music weekends. Our expertise, experience and adaptable facilities mean that we are able to accommodate special events of almost any size and style," Mr Farrow advised. 

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