Raffles aims at Europe expansion

Beyond Certainty managing director Haralambos Stavrou said: "We are getting more enquiries for Latvia and Lithuania and fewer for the more established destinations such as Barcelona and Paris." However, the amount of business secured on the back of pitches for these new destinations is still low. "In the end, clients still feel safer going back to places they know," said Stavrou. "In my opinion, the infrastructure isn't really ready yet in many of these Eastern European countries." First Protocol managing director Mark Riches agrees. "We see a lot of interest in these emerging destinations, but ultimately they are too progressive for most clients." He added: "In terms of Eastern European countries, undeveloped infrastructure is a factor, and service-wise I wouldn't be very comfortable taking a high-end business group there." MCI Group has seen a change in business since May 2004. Marketing director Martti Wichmann said: "Enlargement has added competition to the market and more choice for our clients. "Poland is particularly popular with our pharmaceutical clients. They see it as a huge expansion market. "Pharmaceutical companies are bound by strict regulations regarding how much they can spend on incentives, so these cheaper emerging destinations fit the bill perfectly." He added: "For us, interest is turning away from Spain and the south of France." However, head of sales and marketing for European hotel and DMC representation company Principal Promotions, Alison Whitehead, said: "The DMCs we represent have seen a 15 to 20 per cent rise in business to Budapest since last May."