A Phuket conference venue and catering will generally take up the bulk of the budget for your event. However, every experienced conference organiser knows that the final price is of the venue is rarely the same as the first price you were quoted. Leaving a considerable buffer in your budget is definitely advisable, but isn’t the most precise approach. Instead, here are a few of the hidden costs to be aware of. Asking about them in advance can help you get a much more accurate quote from the venue.

Special dietary requirements

It doesn’t seem like that long ago that you could put virtually any food on the table and people would happily tuck in without a second thought. Nowadays, special dietary requirements are simply a fact of life. Nut allergies are particularly prevalent, with gluten and dairy allergies becoming increasingly common, too. Then there are cultural and religious requirements to consider, like not serving beef to Hindus or pork to Muslims. These requirements all need to factored into your catering and some venues may add extra charges for accommodating them.

Utilities

It’s very rare for a hotel to charge their guests extra for using the tap water or disposing of wastes. However, staggeringly enough, it’s a lot less rare for conference venues to charge for such basic utilities. You should check during the planning phase to see if your proposed venue is one such place. If they are, they should be able to provide an estimate of how much it will cost based on previous events of a similar size.

Equipment rental

Some conference venues stand out for being able to provide top-of-the-range facilities – particularly AV equipment like screens, projectors, interactive whiteboards and other such gadgets. However, these aren’t cheap to install and some venues make the money back by charging a separate fee for their use. In some cases, even quite basic stuff like chairs and tables might come at an extra cost.

Security

Some venues – naming no names – can be a little sneaky about their charges for event security. They may say that “basic security” is included in the price, but what exactly their definition of “basic” is can vary wildly from one venue to the next. Additionally, they might feel that your event is big enough to require increased personnel, adding to the overall cost.

How to get an accurate bid?

The best way to avoid getting hit with an unexpectedly large bill is to catch the hidden costs while you’re still in the planning phase. It’s therefore best to approach the conference venue with an exact plan, detailing every last detail of the event. Then, instead of asking how much each element will cost, you’re asking for exactly how much your event will cost and it’s vastly more likely that the bid will be closer to the final bill.