Business Events Sydney (BESydney) has been granted approval by the competition regulator for an alliance with a collection of local hotels, designed to help win more international business events of 2,000-plus participants.
The Hotel Agreement covers a range of minimum hotel accommodation terms such as room release and cancellation policies, free room concessions, force majeure policies, lowest rate guarantees and quote validity policies.
Hotels within the collection include properties such as InterContinental Sydney, Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour, The Westin Sydney, Shangri-La Hotel Sydney and Sofitel Sydney Wentworth, for a total of 13 five-star hotels, six 4.5-star hotels and three four-star hotels. When pitching for the international business events, BESydney expects that bookings would span 10 or more of the members’ hotels for accommodation.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission issued a Draft Determination on BESydney’s flagged arrangement late last month, saying it was satisfied that the proposed conduct “is likely to result in public benefits” that would outweigh any likely detriment to the public, “including any lessening of competition”.
On Wednesday , the ACCC said it had decided to grant approval for the agreement, agreeing that a 20-year authorisation “is appropriate in this matter, given the low likelihood of any detriments arising from the Proposed Conduct and the limited scope of the Proposed Conduct.”
BESydney Chief Executive Officer Lyn Lewis-Smith told LATTE that the organisation was excited to be able to take the new “Team Sydney” approach to the market.
“A key strength of BESydney over the past 50 years has been our global team’s understanding of our clients’ needs and then working with our industry partners to stay a step ahead of the game. This Team Sydney hotel collaboration is the latest in many innovations we’ve been able to offer our clients over the years, and we are very excited to take it to the market with the ACCC’s blessing,” Lewis-Smith said.
Accor’s Scott Boyes, Vice President Operations NSW/ACT told LATTE: “As a Member Director of Business Events Sydney, I am really proud of our hotel members in coming together to work on a project that ultimately makes our city more competitive on the global stage.
“To be one of only a handful of cities to have such a city wide set of conditions is an amazing achievement. We believe it sends a strong message of unity in showcasing the best of our city and the best of Australian hospitality,” Boyes remarked.
If no application for review of the determination is received by the Australian Competition Tribunal, the authorisation will take effect on 17 October, 2019.
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