IPCAA NEWSLETTER
Edition 32 - We Have Reservations on Housing!
In times of increased regulatory and financial constraints, it has become clear that certain global housing issues are generating difficulty for healthcare industry sponsors of medical meetings.
Announcing plans to review the general situation, and to create a vehicle for improved communication and discussion with all parties involved, Sylvia Fondanèche, IPCAA Vice President, said "We intend to set up a long term project – the IPCAA Housing Forum – to facilitate interaction with bodies such as hotels and hotel chains, housing bureaux, agencies, PCOs and of course relevant medical associations. Only by open and detailed discussion, can the various parties ensure that their specific viewpoints are aired and understood. There is clearly much misunderstanding of the needs and interests involved here, and with so much change to traditional approaches to medical congresses in prospect, we see a very urgent need to facilitate ongoing discussion and improve collaboration between the diverse groups concerned."
Among various subjects to be reviewed in conjunction with invited representatives from organisations active in congress accommodation issues are:
IPCAA strongly feels, that active discussion and interaction in respect of policies and conditions applied to medical congress housing, have the potential to contribute substantially to ensuring positive developments which will support the interests of the various parties involved in medical meetings into the future.
With increasing discussion on the form of continuing relationships between pharmaceutical industry and medical societies and their membership, reasonable and economically priced accommodation at events is assuming growing importance.
It is not impossible to expect that delegates may receive very limited direct support from industry to attend meetings in future, so the, in some cases, extreme costs of hotel rooms and the often cumbersome conditions attached will create severe difficulties for meetings organisers.
Even today, pricing policies for housing are tending to rapidly exceed industry hospitality limits dictated by compliance considerations. The discussion to be pursued by IPCAA is ultimately in the interests of all parties involved in future congresses.
