UK Conference Delegates' Cognizance of the Importance of Venue Selection Attributes

Abstract The UK meetings industry has grown dramatically over the last ten years. Interest in the industry and competition is increasing and the move towards using venues other than hotels for meetings is growing. The pattern of growth experienced by the industry brings with it the question whether the quality of provision is becoming increasingly important to customers when differentiating between venues. The research forms part of a larger study, which proposes to establish whether gaps exist between conference organizers' and conference delegates' needs when selecting and assessing the quality of a conference venue. This paper presents the findings of a quantitative study of 547 conference delegates. Conference delegates' perceptions of service quality attributes were compared and contrasted by importance of attributes and attribute subsets. The results provide a unique perspective and will be extremely valuable to venue managers.