BestCities Global Alliance sign up on First Global Convention Bureau Certification Program

On Thursday, the BestCities Global Alliance launched its final phase towards achieving their Global Certification Program for convention bureau service standards. The Alliance partners have in Singapore completed a 2 days internal audit training program and jointly agreed and signed the Alliance’s Quality Policy.

The purpose of the internal audit program is to train 10 members of the Alliance to monitor the effectiveness of the Quality Management System and improve the quality and performance of the convention bureau service standards.

The Alliance's primary goal in establishing this certification process is to be the only consortium of convention bureaus offering the world’s state-of-the-art service experience to the global meetings industry.

Throughout the past year, the BestCities Global Alliance has been working closely with Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance (LRQA) and the Mohamed Al Geziry Consultancy (MAGC) to develop and implement its certification program. The program is designed to quantify to meeting planners each convention bureau’s quality of service and assets of value. Together, BestCities Global Alliance, MAGC, which specializes in providing operational direction to the hospitality, leisure and the tourism industry, and LRQA, which focuses on developing quality assurance systems, have put in place the first world-wide certification program for convention bureau organizations.

“The BestCities Global Alliance is winning increasing recognition throughout the industry because of our member’s strong dedication to client service standards,” said Lisa Klint, General Manager, BestCities Global Alliance. “Putting an official Quality Management System and process into place demonstrates our commitment to ensuring a consistent level of service to conventions held at all of our partner’s global destinations.”

The final Certification Audit which will be carried out by LRQA will be scheduled between 4-6 months after a sufficient number of internal audits have taken place amongst all 8 Bureaux.

The new certification process will become a mandatory step in qualifying for membership in the BestCities Global Alliance; a process that includes a stringent peer-review of the destination’s ability to offer a superior international meeting experience, and a bureau's ability to ensure and maintain a consistent level of quality and service excellence.

“The completion of this new certification process assures clients that when they choose BestCities, they receive the highest level of professionalism and commitment to customer service in the meetings industry,” Klint added.

The BestCities Global Alliance has always addressed the growing expectations of clients and convention bureau stakeholders via its collective set of Service Standards, which includes peer evaluation of destination expertise, knowledge management, and responsiveness to meeting planner needs (ie.; bid assistance, convention planning, attendance building, on-site event servicing and post-event support). BestCities has also established the industry’s first global client Service Charter, which guarantees client service levels from partner CVBs in the areas of reliability, assurance, innovations, empathy and responsiveness.

Mike Williams, Chair of BestCities Global Alliance, further emphasised that, “Fulfilment of both the client’s business and personal needs is essential to the way we work. Regular client feedback is analysed and considered, providing us with a unique insight into the specific needs of the clients we are serving.”

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