S

U T T E R W O R T H
E I N E M A N N

0261-5177(95)00020-8

Tourism Management, Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 305-313, 1995

Copyright 1995 Elsevier Science Ltd
Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved
0261-5177/95 $10.00 + 0.00

Business tourism: a study of the

market for hotel-based meetings and
its contribution to Wales's tourism
Glyn Wootton and Terry Stevens
Swansea Institute of Higher Education, Faculty of Leisure, Tourism & Healthcare, Mount Pleasant,
Swansea SA1 6ED, Wales

Wales has always been relatively dependent on the declining seaside holiday market and finding
new and sustainable markets has become a priority. This article looks at the value of
business-related tourism to Wales and reports on a survey of the hotel-based meetings and
conference segment. From a survey of 74 hotels an estimate for the value of this segment in the
order of 294 million is offered; four times as much as official estimates of 'all' business travel to
Wales. It concludes that the importance of business tourism, and of meetings-related travel to
Wales, is significantly underestimated and has potential for further development and promotion.
Keywords: business tourism, hotels, meetings, conferences

A critical aspect of tourism to Wales over the last

decade or more has been the above-average dependence on the domestic seaside holiday market. ' The
decline in this sector has been particularly heavily
felt in Wales and as a result finding new and
sustainable markets has become a priority, z One
such market could be that of business tourism.
Past estimates have suggested that Wales only
attracts a small share of business tourism. The
principal source of statistical data on the volume and
value of tourism within the U K is the United Kingdom Tourism Survey (UKTS). In the UKTS, a
sample of adults (age 15+) are drawn by random
selection throughout the U K and an accumulated
sample of 73 000 U K residents are interviewed by
questionnaire providing information on a range of
tourism characteristics including trip purpose (of one
night or more) and spending. There are, however,
two chronic failings with UKTS for the calculation of
business tourism. First, UKTS does not include
same-day travel in the U K and, second, UKTS is a
household-based survey, when business travellers
are probably one of the most difficult groups to catch
at home for survey purposes, especially since UKTS
response rates for all adults are only around 60%. 3
Information on overseas business travel is given
by International Passenger Survey (IPS), which is a

continuous large-scale survey of visitors entering and

leaving the U K by major air and sea ports. The
survey is generally reliable for the identification of
'purpose of trip' although it is probable that many
smaller meetings, and those that include a 'below the
line' element, are unrecorded.
It is possible that the real size of Wales's business
tourism market is underestimated. The authors
therefore carried out research to look at the contribution that business-related tourism makes to
Wales's tourism industry as a whole.
The research focuses on the market for hotelbased meetings and conferences and offers an estimate of the value of this segment. As there is no
definitive source that lists all of those hotels hosting
meetings and conferences, a sample of hotels was
selected and data collected by means of a telephone
questionnaire survey. The hotels were asked how
many events they had hosted in the previous 12
months, how many delegates had attended, how
long each event had lasted, and what their delegate
rates were. They were also asked a number of other
questions and these are alluded to below. Before
presenting the findings of the research it would be
useful to look at business-related tourism, in particular the meetings and conference sector and at Waies's market for business tourism.
305

Business tourism: G Wootton and T Stevens

Business tourism
Business tourism usually warrants an albeit brief
mention in today's travel and tourism textbooks. 4-6
Drawing on the wording of resolutions put by the
World Tourism Organisation to the United Nations
in 1992 business tourism denotes the activities of
persons travelling to and staying in places outside
their normal environment for the purposes of
business. 3 It includes all activities, same-day travel
and staying overnight, for which the principal reason
for being away from the 'normal environment' is
business, but it excludes all forms of commuting to
work and the regular working journeys of businessmen in their local areas.
The worldwide business travel market is considered to be enormous, accounting for 750 million
trips with an e s t i m a t e d value in excess of
US$320 000 million. 7 In the UK, according to figures from UKTS, there are something like 19
million business tourism trips taken each year,
equivalent to roughly one in seven or 15% of all
tourism trips and accounting for 8% of all nights and
23% of all tourism spending, s'9 Expenditure on
business travel in the UK is estimated to be worth in
the region of 11.3 billion per annum and, when
added to the overseas component taken from IPS,
that is 2.2 billion, it is reasonable to estimate that
total expenditure for business tourism in the UK
may be worth as much as 13.5 billion per annum. 3
Business tourism has grown strongly since the
1980s 1'11 and despite being buffeted by the downturn in national and international economic activity
in the first half of the 1990s it continues to grow
faster than tourism as a whole, l Business tourists
also spend more than holiday tourists and spending
by business tourists has increased at a faster rate
than for tourism as a whole. It is also less seasonal
and the peaks and troughs of demand are less
marked than for holiday tourism. 12 Furthermore, it
is realistic that as business activity returns to prerecessionary levels there will be considerable growth
in business travel. Business visitors are also a major
source of demand for hotel accommodation, 13 with
hotels relying heavily on business travel to fill beds
during the week. Business tourism accounts for at
least two-thirds of most leading hotels' occupancy,
80-90% of the market of three- and four-star
hotels 14 and 50% of budget hotels.15-17
The main component of business tourism, that is
general business travel, accounts for about 85% of
'all' business tourism, is primarily determined by the
pattern of economic activity and is largely predetermined. ~2 It should, however, be noted that a
proportion of general business travel may involve an
off-site meeting or it may have an incentive or
hospitality element that uses tourism resources such
as hotels. The second component, incentive travel, is
a difficult market to quantify because of its 'below

306

the line' nature; however, it is apparently an expanding market 1s'19 and the Meetings and Incentive
Association estimate that the UK incentive market is
worth 300 million and is growing at a rate of
10-15% each year.* The third component, meetings
and conference travel, accounts for around 12% of
the total business tourism market. 12 This sector
provides the focus for the research and is reviewed in
more detail below.

The meetings and conference sector

Business meetings and conferences havebecome a
feature of modern commercial life. The growth and
significance of meetings is tied to the growth in the
quaternary sector in advanced economies which
corresponds to the transaction of information performed by those in manufacturing, commerce, prof e s s i o n a l a d m i n i s t r a t i v e and h i g h e r level
occupations. 2 This sector of the economy has been
rapidly expanding over the past 20 years in terms of
number and influence and the indication is that
conference and tourism meetings has been growing
faster than business tourism as a whole.12'21
There is, however, a dearth of reliable information about the actual size of the meetings and
conference market and estimates range from 900
million per annum 22 for larger conference centre
events to 6 billion including smaller meetings held
in a range of different types of venue. 23Most conferences and meetings are small in terms of numbers of
delegates with only 1% of conferences having over
500 delegates and only 10% having more than 200
delegates. Two-thirds of conferences have between
11 and 100 participants with 70% having less than 50
delegates. 23 Thus, small meetings are an important
component of this sector.
The number of meetings and conferences taking
place is generally considered to be fairly stable.
However, in the more volatile corporate sector, the
current recession has caused a general levelling-off
in demand for conferences and has led to cancellations, late booking, tighter budgets and downtrading
of venues. The recession has also had the effect of
reducing the number of delegates attending meetings and conferences as well as the duration of
events with d e l e g a t e s b e c o m i n g more cost
c o n s c i o u s . 12"22'24'25 Consequently, the average number of day conferences in 1992 grew by 50%, 46% of
all conferences being single-day events, although, in
spite of the recession, the number of smaller residential conferences has also increased by over 40%. In
the short term, it is likely that the meetings market
will continue to be affected by the recession and,
during this period, day conferences will probably be
more popular. In the long term, however, the outlook is encouraging and with fewer delegates attend* Sarah Webster, Incentive Travel and Meetings Association,
Interview, 1992.

Tourism Management I995 Volume 16 Number 4

Business tourism: G Wootton and T Stevens

ing conferences it appears that the market for smaller meetings and conferences will be particularly
buoyant.
Conferences and meetings are increasingly used to
promote tourism destinations z1"23'26 since most
towns, resorts and cities feature hotels and other
facilities that can be used as venues. Spa towns and
seaside resorts were among the first to do so in order
to generate off-peak business and have since been
joined by many of the major industrial cities and
heritage destinations. The growing conference market has stimulated the provision of a wide range of
meeting and conference venues and a growing number of local authorities have invested in purposebuilt conference centres. However, purpose-built
conference venues only account for a small share of
the market and the majority of smaller meetings do
not normally require a separate venue and, particularly in the corporate sector, will use the facilities
within a hotel ~
Conferences can be an important source of revenue for hotels and as venues for conferences they
dominate the market accounting for nearly 80% of
all venues, 85% of all delegate days and 68% of all
delegate nights. Meetings and conference guests also
contribute more to a hotel's profit than general
business travellers. 27 In general, meetings and conference business gravitates towards three- and fourstar hotels and 'conference hotels' with large luxury
hotels representing 15% of venues and 50% of all
delegate days. More recently rural hotels, particularly country house hotels, have been diversifying into
the conference and meetings market as venues for
smaller, often upmarket, conferences where style,
beautiful surroundings and a tranquil atmosphere
are the preferred setting accounting for 24% of
venues and 9% of delegate days. 21

Wales's market for business tourism

According to UKTS statistics, Wales currently
under-performs compared with the rest of the UK in
business travel terms. UKTS suggests that Wales's
earnings from business tourism are only half as much
as Scotland, and a tenth of England's earnings. It
also suggests that Wales as a whole earns less from
business tourism than North West England, Heart of
England and London. 9 Moreover, estimates quoted
in Wales Tourist Board 1989 strategic plan 28 suggests
that conference tourism accounts for less than 10%
of all domestic business tourist trips, and IPS s suggests that Wales has only a 1% share of the lucrative
overseas conference market. Estimates of incentive
tourism and other forms of business tourism to
Wales do not appear to be available.
The potential of Wales as a destination for business tourism is closely linked with its economic
geography. South Wales is commercially the most
highly developed area and attracts a significant

Tour&m Management 199.5 Volume 16 N u m b e r 4

volume of independent business travel. Cardiff, particularly, is a dynamic business centre receiving
German, Japanese and American business travellers
because of companies such as Bosch, Toyota and
Hoover. Cardiff is also Wales's principal conference
destination and is rapidly becoming established on
the circuit for larger conferences attracting a share of
the UK associations market, although is less well
established as a destination for European and international events being outstripped overall by other
provincial destinations such as Birmingham and
Manchester.
North Wales does not have the same history of
industrial and commercial development as South
Wales. Consequently the region does not support
the same overall level of commercial activity and
does not attract the same volume of general business
travel. However, because the economic geography
of Wales runs east to west the region's potential as a
destination for business tourism is linked to the
business centres of Manchester, Liverpool and the
Potteries. The recent economic prosperity of these
areas has not been good, but in view of the renewed
importance of the Midlands and the North West as
centres of distribution for the UK within a wide
European market the economic outlook for the
region and the potential for business tourism is likely
to improve.
Mid Wales is predominantly rural, although many
communities, and particularly the accommodation
sector, benefit from tourism. As a destination for
business tourism Mid Wales offers secluded country
house hotels, historic meeting sites, shooting, fishing
etc. In the past, access to Mid Wales destinations has
been restricted but this has now been improved by
the M54, Shrewsbury and Welshpool by-passes linking the business centres adjacent to the Welsh
borders in Cheshire, Shropshire, Hereford and
Worcester where there are a growing number of
businesses that most probably have a frequent need
to hold smaller conferences and meetings and to
entertain clients.
Business tourism in Wales could increase substantially, especially if the underlying economic recovery
of Wales is sustained and especially if stimulated by
international-scale projects such as Cardiff World
Trade Centre and the Cardiff Bay Development.
During the last five years Wales has been the chosen
location for inward investment from overseas-based
companies attracting some 34 companies from Japan
and 140 from North America, bringing the total of
foreign-based companies locating in Wales since
1979 to somewhere in the region of 430. There are,
in addition, a considerable number of overseas and
UK companies located in England adjacent to the
3 29 The larger towns in Wales ha V e
Welsh border.-"
some imbalance between the available overnight
accommodation and the number of delegates for
larger events; in particular, there are few resort

307

Business tourism: G Wootton and T Stevens

destinations in Wales that have enough accommodation or which is of a standard to attract large
conferences. However, Wales does have a large
number of country house hotels of four-star standard
in areas such as Brecon, Gower and throughout Mid
and North Wales that are particularly well positioned for the smaller business meetings market
which may well include an incentive element.

Survey of hotel-based meetings and

conference business
It would have been beyond this research to study 'all
business tourism' and, therefore, the authors elected
to concentrate on hotels and on the market for
hotel-based meetings and conferences. Hotels are
also a relatively homogeneous group to survey, and
in this research they are used as a bias for measuring
a 'considerable' segment of the business tourism
market.
A sample of 100 hotel venues for meetings and
conference meetings were selected based on various
publications and discussions with Wales Tourist
Board and others. It is probable that the sample
includes most of those hotels active as venues in the
conference and meetings market, and a sample of
100 hotels was considered to be reasonably reliable.
There are undoubtedly other hotels that accommodate meetings and conference business that were not
included in the sample, and the effect of this is most
likely to be that the number of events taking place
and the value of the hotel-based meetings market
will be underestimated. There will also be some
distortion in the analysis of the various market
characteristics examined but it was considered that
the net effect of this would be small.

Results
Seventy-four of the hotels completed the questionnaire. The distribution of hotels closely matched that
of the sample with 62% located in South Wales, 25%
in North Wales and 13% in Mid Wales. Of the hotels
surveyed, 60% were country house hotels, 32%
were larger modern hotels located particularly in
cities and towns or along routeways, such as the M4
motorway, and 6% of the hotels were seaside resort
hotels. Figure 1 illustrates the relative geographical
distribution of the hotels surveyed by their type.
The total number of events hosted by the hotels in
the sample was 16 249 and the total number of
delegates that attended these events was 606 322.
Taking the number of events and multiplying by
their duration and the number of delegates that
attended, a figure of 3 006 541 is obtained being the
total number of delegate days.
By applying a more detailed calculation separating
non-residential and residential delegate days and
multiplying by the average delegate day rate and the
average residential rate, which were 23 and 79

308

respectively, a reasonable estimate of the value of

meetings and conferences is obtained.
and,

V = V1 + V2
V1 = ( n r t vl)
V2 = (r t v2)

that is:
say 215mn =
206 071 421 =
9 154 966 =

206 071 + 9 154 966

2 608 499 79
398 042 23

where:
V = total income from delegate bookings, V1 =
total income from non-residential bookings, V2 =
total income from residential bookings, n r t = total
non-residential delegate days, r t = total residential
delegate days, vl = average day delegate rate, and
v2 = average residential delegate rate.
Grossing-up these figures for the whole of the sample, i.e. adding a further 26%, a broad estimate for
the value of the hotel-based meetings and conference sector would therefore be 294 million. It
should also be pointed out that this estimate does
not include individual delegate spending on goods
and services not covered by the delegate rate and,
therefore, an all-inclusive estimate is likely to be
much higher. The estimate offered here however,
does not account for hotels discounting delegate
rates which was found to be common amongst the
hotels surveyed.
Sales meetings and training courses were the most
frequently held events accounting for 63% of all
events. Only 3% of all meetings had more than 50
delegates and less than 1% had more than 100
delegates. Figure 2 shows the distribution of delegate days for each type of event and Figure 3
compares the distribution of events, delegates and
delegate days.
The quietest months for meetings and conferences
were July and August although the distribution of
events was fairly evenly spread throughout the year.
Many hotels, however, mentioned that they did not
take bookings for meetings and conferences during
the peak holiday season because the hotel was busy
with holiday tourist trade. Some hotels, particularly
those that attributed more equal importance to both
types of trade, said that they were reluctant to accept
meetings and conference bookings on the basis that
they did not want holiday guests to feel 'second class'
or they felt that they could not give meetings and
conference guests the service and attention they
demanded. Also, the small size and lack of facilities
restricted some hotels from accommodating both
types of business at the same time.
The average occupancy across all hotels in the
sample was 58%, ranging from 47% to 82%, which
is higher than for hotels in Wales as a whole and is
considerably higher than the average for Mid Wales
and North Wales, although not much higher than

Tourism Management 1995 Volume 16 Number 4

Business tourism: G Wootton and T Stevens

Resort hotels

Country

telhot~e
to =

Modern

North Wales

Resort hotels

Countryhotels
Modern hotels

Mid Wales
hotels

Country h

hotels

South Wales
Figure 1 Geographical distribution of the sample hotels by type
that for South Wales. 3 Figure 4 compares the
occupancy measured here with the occupancy for
Wales and the three regions; it also compares it with
the occupancy noted by Coopers and Lybrand 23
which tends to indicate that hotels in Wales that
offer meetings and conference facilities have higher
than average occupancy.
The relative importance of different areas as
source markets for meetings hosted by the hotels
surveyed is illustrated in Figure 5: 67% of all events
Tourism Management 1995 Volume 16 Number 4

are generated from within Wales, 41% of those were

generated by businesses and organizations local to
the hotel and 17% of events were generated by
organizations from outside the area but within the
same region. Other UK regions are an important
source for meetings business amongst the hotels
surveyed generating 31% of all events. Less than 1%
of events were generated by organizations from
Europe and less than 1% from other international
source markets, although a number of hotels pointed
309

Business tourism: G Wootton and T Stevens

Trainine 54%

[-7

Average

Wales all

13.5

North Wales all

Academic 3%

52

Mid Wales all

47 I

Political 1%

anagement

South Wales all

Association 4%
Product 3'

Hotels surveyed

6%

51

Conference hotelsResort hotels -

Sales 29%

10

Figure 2

2O

I
30

I
40

Low

I
50

I
60

I
70

80

90

Percent

100

High

Figure 4

out that many of the meetings that they hosted

involved delegates from overseas, particularly
corporate meetings where the organizers had links
with overseas companies. They also noted that
events often involved delegates who had come from
all over the UK, and particularly from London.
Some 69% of the hotels had noted that meetings
and conferences are getting shorter and that fewer
delegates were attending. Figure 6 shows the average duration of each type of event. Only 43% of
hotels said that guests attending meetings and con-

ferences spend more per head than other guests.

This would tend to indicate that the 'delegate rate'
accounts for much of the delegate expenditure and
that, although meetings generate more revenue per
head, it may not necessarily be the case that meetings delegates spend more per head than other types
of tourist. Many hotels noted that meetings delegates had spent a lot less on beverages than in
previous years although most hotels felt that this

les 31%

Training 25%

Political 2%

Academic 7%

~ u c t

Management 16%

8%

Association 11%
Delegates
g 54%

Training 31%
ties 32%

Political 1%
Product 3%
Academic 3%

Political 2%
Product 4%

sociation 4%

~cademic 5%
,tion 10%

Management

Management 6%

Sales 29%

16%
Meetings

Delegate

days

Figure 3
310

Tourism Management 1995 Volume 16 Number 4

Business tourism: G Wootton and T Stevens

Out of area/reeional 17%

Other UK region 31%

Other Wales regions 9%

Europe 1%
International 1%

Local area 41%

Figure

area of expenditure would recover with improvements in the economy.

Almost all (98%) of the hotels said that they
expected competition to become more intense in
future. Most expect the increase in competition to
come from local hotels and for price to be a decisive
factor in taking market share. Some hotels predicted
that competition is likely to intensify as a result of a
wider range of venues entering the market. Only a
few hotels mentioned any other factor as likely to
affect the market in the future. Some that were
mentioned included: companies developing their
own training facilities, general cost cutting because
of the recession and new technology reducing the
need to meet so regularly. Many hotels reported
that, in spite of the recession, the corporate sector
continues to generate meetings and conferences,
although some hotels reported that they had lost
some of their regular bookings as a result of companies going out of business and others had cut back
on the number of events they had booked. Most
hotels thought if the recession continues there would
be more hotels chasing fewer events.
Much of the meetings business being hosted by the
hotels in the survey is repeat business, that is 61%,
although many of the hotels pointed out that in the
last year they had a higher rate of cancellations,
Academic
Trainin

Prodm

Sale:
Management
Political

/
l

All
0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

4.5

5.0

Days
Figure 6

TourL~m Management 1995 Volume 16 Number 4

particularly at short notice, and that some regular

clients were not booking for the year ahead as they
had done in previous years. However, in spite of the
recession, confidence amongst hotels remains high
with 36% expecting an overall increase in business,
and a further 54% expecting demand at least to stay
the same next year. Only 10% of hotels anticipated
that demand will fall in the next couple of years.
Overall, it would appear that the market has become
more volatile, although in general hotels felt that
booking lead times would become longer again as
the economic situation improved and 'confidence'
returned.
Conference and business meetings, in the view of
at least 52% of the hotels questioned, is considered
to be more important than the holiday tourist trade.
Only 29% of hotels said that it was less important
and a further 17% said they considered both markets
to be of equal importance. However, only 8% of the
hotels surveyed specifically targeted meetings and
conferences in their marketing with the vast majority
relying heavily on retaining clients.

Conclusions
The primary objective of this research was to provide an estimate of the size and value of the market
for hotel-based meetings and conferences in Wales.
It was also intended to identify some of the characteristics and trends in this segment and to offer some
informed comment with regard to business tourism
in general, and its importance to tourism and the
economy of Wales.
It should be remembered that the sample of 100
hotels selected for the purposes of this research is
unlikely to include all of those hotels used as venues
for meetings and conferences, and that 26 of the
hotels in the sample did not complete the questionnaire. The estimates of the size and value of the
hotel-based meetings and conference markets
offered here are likely to be understated. Nevertheless, according to this research hotel-based meeting
and conference tourism is worth somewhere in the
region of 294 million to Wales, which is nearly four
31 1

Business tourism: G Wootton and T Stevens

times greater than estimates of 'all business tourism'

taken from UKTS and IPS. It would appear, therefore, that business tourism as a whole is worth
considerably more than previously thought.
Moreover, if it is accepted that 'general' business
travel accounts for somewhere in the region of 85%
of all business tourism, taking the estimate offered
here, which does not include meetings and conferences that take place in venues other than hotels or
incentive travel and therefore represents only 15%
of 'all' business tourism, the total business travel
market to Wales would be worth somewhere in the
region of 1960 million to Wales (excluding spending
on car hire, hospitality, presents etc).
Given that the real size of the business tourism
market is underestimated, it is not surprising that it
does not feature very prominently in Wales's recent
tourism strategy, 'Tourism 2000'?' General business
travel to Wales, which may or may not involve the
use of tourism resources such as hotels for meetings
and conferences, raises issues that go beyond the
accepted role of the national tourist board in tourism
development and promotion. By definition the development of this form of tourism is more closely
linked to Wales's economic development which is
primarily the responsibility of the Welsh Development Agency (WDA) and Wales Development International (WDI). Nevertheless, it should be apparent from this research that there is an important
marketing task to be undertaken to realize the
potential tourism benefits of this activity.
The importance of the economic geography of
Wales is clearly evident given the source markets
identified in the survey. Given the improvements in
infrastructure and the economic revival of Wales and
of the areas that border Welsh regions it is reasonable to suggest that the potential market for meetings and conferences in Wales will continue to
expand. Wales's links with Europe and the USA also
offer considerable untapped potential. Furthermore,
the more even seasonal pattern and the higher than
average occupancy identified amongst the hotels
surveyed would tend to suggest that meetings and
conference tourism is less likely to compound the
adverse effects of tourism, and also goes some way
to making up for the decline in the more traditional
holiday market and is a major source of support for
the hotel sector.
The effects of the current recession remain open
to debate. On the one hand there is the suggestion
that the number of meetings has declined, particularly amongst smaller companies, yet on the other
hand it is suggested that the number of meetings has
stayed the same but the numbers of delegates had
declined and meetings have become shorter. The
results of this research indicate that whilst some
hotels have noticed a decline in the number of events
it is more evident that meetings have become smaller
and shorter. It would also appear that the market

312

has become more volatile with an increase in late

bookings and evidence of cancellations.
It is most likely to be the case that the decline in
volume noted by others is greater in respect of the
market for larger events and that the trend towards
smaller meetings has sustained the number of events
hosted by hotels. Perhaps more important is that the
outlook for meetings is encouraging with 90% of the
hotels surveyed expecting business to remain the
same or to improve in line with improvements in the
economy and there being a return to longer lead
times and higher levels of delegate Spending.
However, the research suggests that the meetings
market has become increasingly competitive with
more venues and destinations entering the market.
Thus, it is reasonable to suggest that those venues
that can genuinely satisfy organizers' needs and
which market themselves effectively will be most
successful in attracting business.
In spite of the recession, business and meetings
tourism is a substantial and buoyant sector of 'all'
tourism; it is also a more sustainable form of tourism
than holiday tourism. In Wales, it is likely that the
hotel-based meetings market is larger than existing
estimates of 'all' business tourism and the suggestion
is that the overall business tourism sector is worth
several times more than previously thought. Given
the relative decline in the traditional seaside holiday
market, shifts in demand and growing pressure to
protect the environment, whereas other forms of
tourism may require control, business and meetings
has potential for further development and promotion.

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Tourism Management 1995 Volume 16 Number 4

Business tourism: G Wootton and T Stevens

1989 9 (2) 61-63

~Touche Ross, 'Budget Hotel and Inn Developments in the
Valleys Initiative Area" (unpublished report) Wales Tourist
Board (1990)
~7Wooder, S 'Boom in budgets" Leisure Management 1991 (July)
52-53
~Cuff, M "Incentive travel in Europe: Survey of a rapidly growing
market', Travel and Tourism Analyst, May 1986, pp 37-45
~Woodward, S 'That's entertainment' Leisure Management 1991
(July) 48-51
2Marsh, S F and Burtenshaw, D 'The British conference industry: an introductory paper' Portsmouth Polytechnic (19851
2~English Tourist Board 'Conference hotels" Insight 1991
(November) B39-B45
22Hartley, J S and Witt, S F 'Hotel cancellation policies in respect
of conference and function bookings" Int J Hospitality Management 199119 (4) 335-346

Tourism Management 1995 Volume 16 Number 4

23Coopers and Lybrand Deloittes 'The UK Conference Market

Survey', Tourism and Leisure Services Consultancy, 1990
24CCC Research 'How conference organisers choose meetings
venues' The Queen Elizabeth Ill Conference Centre, Meetings
Industry Association and Michael Rines Associates, 1992
25Travel Business Consulting 'Trends in UK corporate travel
management' Travel Industry Monitor 1992 (23)
26Middleton, V T C 'Seaside resorts' Insights 1989, B5:1-13
27Quain, W J "Analyzing sales-mix profitability" Cornell Hotel and
Restaurant Administration Quarterly 1992 33 (2) 57-62
28Wales Tourist Board Tourism in Wales: Developing the Potential A Wales Tourist Board Strategy (1989)
2*~Middletom V T C 'Marketing Wales to overseas tourists"
unpublished (1990)
3Wales Tourist Board Accommodation Occupancy in Wales
(199l)
~lWales Tourist Board Tourism 2000: A Strategy jbr Wah's (1994)

313