Tourism is a vast market and the reaching your audience can be a daunting prospect. Matchmaking events, or business workshops, are a quick and efficient way of making connections with new prospects or catching up with long-term partners. This is true whether you are connecting with a new operator, selling platform or even a new technology or marketing provider.
When participating in a speed networking workshop the best approach is to listen and adapt your conversation to the needs and offer of your interlocutor. Don’t rely on a standard pitch – seek to find the most obvious common area of need and supply. Share contact details and be open-minded, even when areas of common interest are not apparent – matchmaking events are intended to create relevant business meetings but serendipity cannot be underestimated. You can always be surprised.
Each matchmaking event will have its own focus and audience – when given the opportunity to list your business profile and make meeting preferences, tailor these to your current and specific objectives. If given an option to select your meeting matches, take care to review their listings too. Don’t rely on your boilerplate business description.
If there’s a downside to the efficiency of matchmaking events, it’s that you’ll meet too many people. Make brief but clear notes on each meeting and always make sure to follow-up after the event summarising your conversation, sharing your contact details and more information about your needs or offer.