GO SPORT TRAVEL’S PER GAVELIUS TALKS SPORTS HOSPITALITY

PA Life chatted to Per Gavelius, CEO of Go Sport Travel about getting back to business in 2022 ad the importance of working with reputable, and always official sports hospitality agents.

HOW EXCITED ARE YOU ABOUT 2022 NOW THAT BUSINESS TRAVEL AND EVENTS HAVE OPENED UP ALMOST FULLY?

We’re genuinely excited about the situation in which we now find ourselves. We did everything we could during the pandemic to do the right things and now feel really happy that we were able to keep all of our experienced team together. For 2022 and going into 2023 we are extending the portfolio of events that we can offer to our clients to include, amongst other things, The Open golf and Royal Ascot. With offices in both the UK and Sweden we feel we have a good platform to expand our operation throughout the UK and Scandinavia.

WHAT ADVICE/TOP TIPS WOULD YOU GIVE TO PAS/EAS WHO ARE PLANNING SPORTING/CULTURAL HOSPITALITY EXPERIENCES FOR THEIR TEAMS AND BUSINESS CLIENTS, PERHAPS FOR THE FIRST TIME?

The first and most important thing is to work with the right, authorised companies. Post-pandemic we can see that there are a lot of new companies trying to interact with the market with offerings that are attractive to look at but don’t have their roots in official, actual product. Unfortunately the hospitality and ticket industry has always tended to attract questionable operators and the market can consequently sometimes be seen as something of the “Wild West”. Secondly, particularly with football, we strongly recommend booking early as, historically, prices for games towards the end of the season tend to rise dramatically.

ARE THERE ANY CHALLENGES/OPPORTUNITIES THAT EAS/PAS SHOULD KEEP IN MIND?

Here I have to refer back to my previous answer; make sure you only work with official agents! When it comes to arranging corporate hospitality it’s great if we can be presented with as much information as possible from the outset; the purpose of the project (for example, client entertainment, staff rewards/incentives etc.), the approximate budget and the type of event. The more information we have, the more specific and cost-efficient we can be with what we offer you.

THERE IS SUCH AN ARRAY OF OPTIONS WHEN IT COMES TO SPORTS AND CULTURAL HOSPITALITY IN THE UK AND BEYOND – WHAT ARE YOUR CLIENTS GENERALLY LOOKING FOR WHEN THEY BOOK THROUGH GO SPORT TRAVEL?

Over the last 21 years the backbone of the business has been football, Formula 1, concerts and West End theatre packages. Over the last 6-7 years, however, we have added boxing, The Open golf and horseracing packages amongst other things. We like to think that we now have a range of products that offer something that will appeal to most everyone.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR DECISION TO OPEN OFFICES ON LONDON AND WHAT THAT MEANS FOR THE GO SPORT TRAVEL OFFERING

Moving into the UK market was a huge step for us. It enables us not only to expand our operations in the UK but we believe it also provides even greater reliability and confidence for our Scandinavian clients visiting the UK. Additionally it helps us to develop our global footprint as it´s more natural to contact a London-based company for UK events than a company based in Sweden.

WHAT ARE THE KEY TRENDS TO LOOK OUT FOR IN THE BUSINESS TRAVEL/HOSPITALITY SECTOR IN 2022/23?

The emphasis must be on using authorised, official agents. Don’t rush into the lowest-priced deal – do your homework and place the order with a company you know to be reliable!