By Emma Little, Founder and CEO of ExecSpace

It will come as no surprise to event planners that the power of face to face is critical to great business and that meetings and events are the best way to facilitate this, however, there is a long chain of actions that must take place in the process of organising a great event.

With or without a venue finding agency in place to support, when it comes to booking a venue, sometimes it’s neither practical nor sustainable for the organiser to visit each and every individual venue, especially if they are considering different continents. Predictably, time out of the office and travel costs pose, in my opinion, avoidable barriers.

Technology, such as Venue Directory (particularly after their acquisition of ABC) has enabled agents to have the wealth of global venue knowledge at their disposal, but what it doesn’t do is give customers a true understanding of a venues infrastructure and capabilities. This is where VR comes in.

Being able to visit venues ‘virtually’ can give an amazing immersive experience to clients and prospects, even if the venues are hundreds or thousands of miles from the buyer. The technology demonstrates much more than traditional photos or videos and allows the event planner to get a real feel for the venue, without necessarily having to see it in person.

I think this new way of showcasing venues will really assist event planners when considering global venues and conversely help venues promote their space without necessarily having to spend considerable budgets on familiarisation trips and marketing.

So the truth is, essentially we are all local agents in global playgrounds but with the power of technology, venue-finding agencies can overcome the physical barriers of time and distance and deliver a truly integrated experience for their clients.

Whilst I do believe that having a local supplier is still key to getting the best from your venue-finding partner, we mustn’t forget that the power of bringing global venues to local clients is a key part of this process and indeed to the development of the global meetings industry as a whole.

ExecSpace have recently launched Virtual Tours (VR). For more information visit – www.execspace.co.uk/vr