We asked lifestyle manager and tickets specialist Tom Miller how our Tickets team can help you to enjoy some of the best international sporting events.
What can lifestyle concierge arrange for members?
We can organise varying levels of group and corporate hospitality for many spectator sports. The most popular ones for this are cricket, racing and rugby – typically members who ask for ideas on entertaining clients will lean towards these as they involve a whole day out.
This week, for example, we’ve arranged for a member to spend a VIP day at this year’s Wimbledon tournament. This includes coffee and pastries on arrival at the golf club opposite the All England Tennis Club, a complimentary bar serving champagne throughout the day, a four-course lunch, strawberries and cream, afternoon tea, and debenture seats on Centre Court or Court No. 1. This package can be arranged for two people or more.
Why should I use lifestyle concierge for this?
You could organise it yourself, but the biggest advantage of asking us to take on the task is the great time savings it brings. The range of packages available and the number of suppliers providing them creates a vast minefield that needs considerable research and thought. Having made many bookings before, we have the expertise and experience to be able to compare packages and choose the right ones to fit a member’s budget and requirements. We know which ones members have given positive feedback on before and are well-placed to judge which ones will suit a particular request, without it taking too much time.
Another great benefit of using lifestyle concierge is that we can arrange unique experiences that you won’t see advertised. With Formula One, for example, through our contacts within the teams we can access garage tours, seats in the paddock and the opportunity to meet the drivers. This can be organised for individuals or groups at any of the Grands Prix worldwide.
Is everything you organise high-end and very expensive?
No. Hospitality comes at all levels, starting with ‘pie and pint’, as it’s known, which is affordable food and drink inside a facility such as a marquee. At the other end of the scale, there are high levels of exclusivity such as luxury corporate boxes with a personal host, fine dining and unlimited champagne. At every level there can be opportunities to meet sports personalities, who will usually be former professionals rather than current stars.
Members will often call saying that they have clients or friends to entertain and are looking for an event to do so. Racing is great for this as it lasts all day and is relatively inexpensive compared with an event like Wimbledon.
Don’t most suppliers offer the same experiences?
The packages on offer from different suppliers are often similar, but they will be held within varying facilities. For example, at Cheltenham racecourse, you could be hosted inside a luxury private box or a marquee, but other elements of the experience might be similar.
The London Olympics and Euro finals are this year – what can you do?
We can arrange special hospitality at small events, starting from £1,000 per person. If a member called us today and asked us to get them tickets for the opening ceremony, we could do that.
For Euro 2012, we have access to official hospitality boxes. Of course, our Travel team are also on hand to organise everything a trip to Poland or Ukraine (the host countries) entails.
Anything else?
We can organise hospitality for any Six Nations rugby fixture in London, Dublin, Paris, Rome and beyond. Cricket, being an all-day event, is also popular – we can get members into Lord's and the Oval. Basically, just about any major sporting event can be arranged – even the Superbowl.
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