Meeting in Europe

BY PEGGY SWISHER

Making Payments

While planners have several options for paying their European vendors, they need to know what to expect in order to stay on budget.

After planning international events for nearly eight years, Beate Ewing, CMP, CMM, finds wire transfers to be the most easy and efficient way to get money to her suppliers abroad. Ewing, a global protocol specialist for by-be Inc. in New York, also serves on the Convention Industry Council’s 2006

CMP Board of Directors representing the international sector. With electronic international wire transfers, both the sending bank and receiving bank may charge fees, but in Ewing’s experience, Capital One is the only bank that doesn’t. Sometimes she must guarantee the transfer with a credit card until the vendor receives the money. Usually all of the vendors in European cities must be paid separately, and many require groups to put down a deposit of 50 percent to 80 percent. “It depends on whom you’re doing business with or if you’re a Fortune 500 company,” she said. She finds it simpler to work with American chains in Europe, but has found success with single family-owned hotels as well.

Planners should also be aware that hotels might charge up to 5 percent extra for the use of credit cards (including when making reservations). Ewing said it’s a good idea to notify attendees up front if this is the case. To guarantee there are no surprise charges in the end, Ewing said she puts everything in writing and makes it known to her vendors that if they add any other charges, they will not apply. “I’m covering myself all the time,”she said.