Bestcities Global Alliance Announce Financial Benefits For Associations

BestCities Global Alliance, the network of 12 premier international convention bureaus, is launching a range of client financial benefits, thanks to an innovative new partnership with payment solution company, Meeting Escrow.  

A world first for a multi-destination alliance, the three-year strategic collaboration will offer BestCities’ a new portfolio of secure payments, foreign currency budget protection and VAT reclaim services for business event clients globally. BestCities clients will receive preferred pricing on the fees for their services, that are not offered to clients meeting in other destinations.

The Meeting Escrow partnership is the first by BestCities since it announced a new strategic plan and enhancement of the Alliance’s offering earlier this year, ahead of its 20th anniversary in 2020. 

Equipping BestCities with a competitive advantage and market differentiation, the partnership aims to address key challenges faced by clients when trading globally across currencies for event planning. These challenges range from varying exchanges rates, which can have a significant impact on client budgets, to mounting administration costs and time involved in VAT reclaim processes.

The benefits Meetings Escrow has crafted to support BestCities’ clients and partners include:

• Foreign currency budget protection: locking in today’s exchange rate so clients have zero exposure to future rate increases when their event takes place in their destination
• VAT reclaim process: co-ordinating claims, paperwork and regulations on behalf of clients to ensure an effortless process and maintaining a single point of contact for the event planner 
• Preferred pricing: clients that meet in BestCities destinations will receive a 50% discount on the fees for these services, a savings that is exclusive to the Alliance 

Paul Vallee, Managing Director at BestCities Global Alliance, said: “BestCities is always looking for ways to expand our offerings and bring new benefits and solutions to the table for our clients. 

“This important partnership with Meeting Escrow provides tangible benefits to clients by providing solutions to common financial issues that associations face when meeting around the world.

“Meeting Escrow is a company that we are pleased to partner with as they not only provide practical solutions for the marketplace but ensure they give back to the industry. For example, they support the Incredible Impacts programme we jointly operate with ICCA that recognizes associations with $7,500 grants for long-term legacies.”

For more information on the new Meeting Escrow partnership, visit www.bestcities.net or www.meetingescrow.com