Business matchmaking and tourism

Tourism is a long chain, and that is what makes the sector pay off so well at business matchmaking events. A single itinerary involves transport, accommodation, catering, guides, ground handling, insurance, crafts, the outbound agency and the inbound agency. Every link buys from the others.

When you put that chain in a room with controlled time, the buying happens inside the event itself. That is quite different from an event where everyone sells to the end consumer and nobody buys from anybody.

Who has to be in the room

A tourism matchmaking event that works usually has these profiles:

• Local ground operators, who build the itinerary at the destination.
• Outbound agencies, who sell the destination in another market.
• Hotels and guesthouses, who need occupancy in the low season.
• Restaurants and local producers, who go into the gastronomic itinerary.
• Transport, from coach hire to transfers.
• Attractions and experiences, including rural and adventure tourism.
• Crafts and regional producers, who complete the shopping experience.
• Public bodies and trade organisations, which usually come in as an

institutional anchor.

Without the outbound agencies, the room becomes a meeting of people from the same destination talking among themselves. Without the ground operators, the outbound agencies have nothing to buy. Both sides have to be present, and in balanced proportion.

The design of the event, with numbers

One format that works well is the anchor format, where the outbound agencies stay fixed at the table and the local suppliers circulate.

Example: 6 outbound agencies as anchors, 60 local suppliers, tables of 6 seats with one chair for the anchor. Each anchor receives 5 suppliers per round. Over 10 rounds, each one sees 50 suppliers, and the 6 together add up to 300 meetings.

With 5 minutes of presentation per supplier, each round takes 25 minutes plus 3 for the change: 28 minutes. Ten rounds give 4 hours and 40 minutes of the format, which calls for a full day with a break and lunch.

If the time available is shorter, reduce the rounds rather than the speaking time. In tourism, 5 minutes is close to the minimum, because the product needs describing. See how many rounds fit in your event and anchor companies.

How to prepare, if you sell a destination

• Bring prices, not just a brochure. The question the agency asks is "how

much does it cost and what is the commission". With no answer, the conversation ends.

• Have a rate sheet and booking deadlines defined. A vague commercial

condition means the operator cannot build the package.

• Talk about capacity. How many people per group, how many groups per week,

when the low season is. That is what matters to whoever is going to sell it.

• Bring an image, not a description. One good photograph on the table is

worth more than three minutes of adjectives.

• Prepare the ask. "I am looking for operators who work with school groups"

generates a referral. "I am looking for partnerships" generates nothing.

Mistakes that appear at tourism matchmaking events

• A room of suppliers from the same destination only. With no buyer from

outside, the event becomes a gathering of neighbours.

• Speaking time that is too short. A tourism product does not fit in 2

minutes.

• Ignoring seasonality. Holding the event in the middle of high season is

the most efficient way to empty it, because everyone is operating.

• Not asking the agencies for their demand. If they say in advance what they

are looking for, the suppliers arrive with a proposal ready.

• Not measuring the result. Without a record, the next edition has no

argument for attracting operators from outside.

Trends that change the conversation at the table

Two changes in behaviour directly affect what is negotiated at these events.

Experience tourism. The buyer is looking for an experience, not a tour. Whoever describes what the person is going to do, feel and learn sells better than whoever describes what they are going to see.

Sustainability and origin. Foreign and domestic operators increasingly ask for information about impact, the community involved and the origin of the products. Having that information organised is a concrete advantage at the table.

That does not replace the basics: price, capacity and lead time remain what closes business.

What the operation has to deliver

A tourism matchmaking event usually has participants from outside the city, which raises the cost of a mistake. Two things cannot fail.

The schedule has to be reliable. In Rodada de Sucesso, it is generated with zero repetition as a hard rule, also avoiding colleagues from the same company at the same table. Every meeting carries a compatibility score from 0 to 100, explainable, that cross-references supply, demand, interests, segment, priority and history.

The day has to be run. The operation controls the speaking time, the interval and the change, with configurable audible alerts and a second screen projecting the round, the clock and the instruction. The operational sweep warns about absences, an absent anchor, a table with one person only and meetings that should not happen. When someone is absent, the minimal-adjustment recalculation redoes what is necessary without touching the rounds already held.

At the end, the reports carry attendance, conversations planned against held, table utilisation and how many people each participant met, alongside the material in PDF and Excel.

After the event

Tourism works with a long cycle. A contact made at the event can become a contract for the following season. That is why the follow-up has to be organised: the list sent within 48 hours, a proposal within a week, a return within 30 days.

Continue with business matchmaking and tourism, how to adapt matchmaking for different sectors and tips for strengthening relationships after the event.