Mini-Conference Project Report: London Investment Opportunities

This report details a project plan for a "Mini Conference" held in London in January 2017, aiming to attract investment in the travel and tourism sector. It begins with an introduction highlighting the conference's objectives and target audience, including companies like Tata Group, Wal-Mart, Samsung, and Woolworths. Element 1 analyzes the cultural and ethical backgrounds of the invited companies. Element 2 provides an overview of London's context, including opportunities for investment and a PESTLE analysis. Element 3 outlines the project plan, including a reflection on group discussions. Elements 4 and 5 cover the conference sessions, evaluation methods, and recommendations. The report also includes an invitation letter and references. The conference aims to bring together like-minded organizations to foster partnerships and investment in London's tourism industry.

Planning Project

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Element 1: Group cultural dynamics...............................................................................................3
Brief overview of the cultural as well as ethical background considerations of the conference
participants...................................................................................................................................3
Element 2: London's ethical, cultural, political and social context.................................................5
Detailed overview of the London................................................................................................5
Opportunities and benefits of investing in London.....................................................................6
Main attractions in London..........................................................................................................9
PESTLE Analysis......................................................................................................................11
Element 3: Project planning...........................................................................................................12
PART 1:.........................................................................................................................................12
PROJECT PLAN FOR MINI CONFERENCE.............................................................................12
PART 2:.........................................................................................................................................22
Reflection on group discussion on plan.....................................................................................22
ELEMENT 4: CONFERENCE SESSIONS..................................................................................23
ELEMENT 5: CONFERENCE EVALUATION..........................................................................26
Evaluation of Mini-Conference.................................................................................................26
Evaluation of data collected form the Questionnaire................................................................28
Reflection of Conference...........................................................................................................30
Recommendations......................................................................................................................30
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................32

Introduction
The London 2017 “Mini conference” would be held on 23rd January 2017. The
conference is being carried out for the purpose of meeting grounds for likeminded people to
carry out lifetime partnership. The focus of the mini conference would be over bringing the
organizations together to have similar set of goals and work together. The major intention of the
Mini conference is to invite the companies for making investment in travel and tourism sector in
London (Hans, Herroelen and Wullink, 2007). These firms are well known organization who are
making immense amount of profits and are involved in carrying out welfare activities of the
society as well. These firms would be encouraged to make investment of their surplus of funds
into companies in London. It is being recommended that the return on investment would offer
secure fall back plan in the future course of time. The Mini-conference has made an invitation to
150 delegates and 50 has showed their interest in attending as well as making an investment in
the conference.
Certain companies that have been invited involve Tata Group a conglomerate in India that
has ethical and transparent principles. In addition to this another company is Wal-Mart Stores
Inc. The firm is biggest giant retailer that promotes the culture relating with integrity. The
company has developed policies relating with ethical behaviour that assist it in attaining success
to a greater extent. Another firm is Samsung that is conglomerate and works with the aim to
satisfy the needs of the individuals that are residing in London. Wool worth is another business
that is giant retailer. The firm is Australian based and is making efforts to offer fresh food the
individuals.
Element 1: Group cultural dynamics
Brief overview of the cultural as well as ethical background considerations of the conference
participants
There are several cultural and ethical background from where the conference participants
belongs to. The various companies that are being invited in the conference belongs to different
countries which possess several belief and religion. The detail on cultural and ethical background
considerations of the participants of conference have been enumerated in the manner stated as
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under:
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 Tata group: The Company is Indian multinational conglomerate holding firm that has
headquarter in Mumbai Maharashtra India. The company belongs to India. The languages
that are being spoken here includes Hindi and English. The religion that are being
followed here is comprised of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Jainism, Buddhism as well
as Sikhism. India's population is rich with diverse cultural as well as ethnic groups (Zhao,
You and Zuo, 2010). The diversity in ethnicity as well as cultural origin of the Indian
population are being shared by other individuals of Indian subcontinents that includes
inhabitants of Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan as well as Sri Lanka. Maximum people in India
consume rice as their staple (Yang and Wang, 2009). However other than this takes
wheat, barley, maize and millet. Wheat, pulses with chana and rice are essential staples
within Indian diet. The food preferred by them is rich in curries and spices. The clothing
in India is determined with the colourful silk saris worn by women. Further the traditional
clothing among men is Dhoti. Wal-Mart stores Inc.: It is an American multinational retail firm that carries out its chain
of hypermarket, discount departmental stores and grocery stores. The firm is
headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, United States. There is presence no official
language that is spoken US. The language that is unofficially being spoken within US
includes English and Spanish (Collyer, Warren and Stevens, 2010). United States is
Anglo majority that is economically as well as politically dominant. One of the major
characteristics of the country as nation is its legacy of slavery as well as persistence of
social and cultural inequalities on the basis of race. In US, nearly all the types of religion
are being practiced (Shattuck and et.al., 2011). Most the people are Christian and some
are Muslims. In American style the clothing vary in terms of social status, region,
occupation as well as climate. Jeans, baseball caps, cowboy hats as well as boots are
considered as certain items that are being attached with Americans. The American cuisine
is being affected by Europeans as well as Native Americans in its early times. At present
there is presence of number of foods that is being commonly determined for Americans
(Lee, Pena-Mora and Park, 2006). This includes hamburgers, hot dogs, cheese, meat loaf,
potato chips as well as macaroni. Americans has dysfunctional relationship with the
food. It is well known for its obesity crisis and love for convenience food.
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 Samsung: The Company is South Korean multinational conglomerate firm that has been
headquartered in Samsung Town, Suwon, South Korea. Here the people speak Korean
language. The people of Korea believes in sincerity and follow the protocols while
meeting, eating, praying and even in celebrating which is regarded as the most important.
The Korean adds flavor to their traditional; lifestyle as well as rice malt that is served
with Kimchi which is their specialty (Zhao, You and Zuo, 2010). Cold noodles, bulgogi,
dakgalbi are regarded as some of the famous dishes in Korea. The Hanbok is the name
that is being given to the traditional attire within Korea. It is considered as the official
government and national dress in Korea.
 Woolworths: It is considered as the largest retailer in Australia. It is supermarket shore
chain that forms duopoly of Australian supermarket, that together accounts for about 80%
of the Australian market. The firm is headquartered in Bella Vista, New south Wales
Australia. The dominant language since colonization is English with some
multilingualism between the majorities of population (Finney and Corbett, 2007). The
Australian English varies from that of British as well as American English but this does
not vary to a greater extent regionally. Before colonization, Aboriginal individuals were
sustained through range of flora and fauna. The individuals in Australia consume meat,
bread, vegetables and potatoes (Yang and Wang, 2009). Nearly all the food is eaten
except seafood. In Australia there is no single uniform national costume. The dressing
style in Australia is demonstrated in modern design of dress by emerging as well as
established designers. The local dress that is being worn in Australia includes bushwear
as well as swimwear in addition with the Indigenous and Australian designs.
INVITATION LETTER
Dear Sir or Madam
The London 2017 “Mini conference” would be held on 23rd January 2017. The conference is
being carried out for the purpose of meeting grounds for likeminded people to carry out
lifetime partnership. The focus of the mini conference would be over bringing the
organizations together to have similar set of goals and work together. The major intention of
the Mini conference is to invite the companies for making investment in travel and tourism
sector in London. The conference would be organized by ABC charitable society. The society
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possess the database of the firms that are likely to make investment in the travel and tourism
sector within London UK.
The entry ticket for three day conference will be £ 500. This includes accommodation facilities
at Hilton. Along with this all meals will be offered. Later in night tour of sight seen within
London would be offered.
For the purpose of prior booking kindly provide £ 100 in advance. A with this we would send
you the conference pack that covers all the information on the sessions of the conference.
Further it also includes the letter of invitation that can be presented by you for the purpose of
immigration.
Looking Forward to see you at conference
Sincerely
XYZ
Manager of conference
Element 2: London's ethical, cultural, political and social context
Detailed overview of the London
London has always been a dream city for every individual. It is the most populous city of
England and United Kingdom. It is a leading global city which is having strengths in areas such
as arts, commerce, education, fashion, finance, healthcare, research, entertainment, tourism etc.
From the investment point of view, it is one of the leading financial centres. The city comes on
sixth position in terms of GDP measurement. Many tourism bodies have regarded London as the
most visited city in terms of the international arrivals. The city also has a diverse range of people
and cultures (Batini, Viscusi and Cherubini, 2009). There are more than 300 languages spoken
within the greater London. The urban area is the second most populated area in the entire
European Union.
Opportunities and benefits of investing in London
There can be high number of benefits and opportunities of making investment in Travel
and tourism sector in London. These are as follows:
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Rich in various segments – One the major benefit of investing in London is that the city is very
rich in different types of areas. It includes finance, arts, commerce, fashion, media, healthcare,
tourism, research, transportation etc. This sounds a great opportunity for the investors. It is
evident from the facts that there are about 392400 people employed in London (Tasevska, Damij
and Damij, 2014). More than 530 foreign companies are being listed in London and it represent
20% of the global foreign equity listings. Apart from that there are 251 foreign banks in the city
which adds to the strength greatly. It forms the largest concentration of the higher education as
there are 43 Universities (Yang and Wang, 2009). The city also holds first position in terms of
software, multimedia development and design. Technology readiness is another factor which can
act as great opportunity for the investors.
Tourism – Tourism has always been a major strengths for London. It has provided huge amount
of popularity to the government of the city (Jahangirian, Eldabi, Naseer, Stergioulas and Young,
2010). In the year 2015 it was ranked as the most visited city across the glove with having almost
65 million visits. London also holds a good position in terms of cross border spending. Tourism
can be considered as one of the prime industry for the city.
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Figure 1: Number of Tourists spending city wise 2015
(Source: MasterCard)

The above graphs shows the overnight international visitor spending. It can be noticed
that London top the charts. This shows the popularity of the destination with regard to tourism. It
is expected that this popularity will increase in the upcoming years. Hence investing in the city
can be a profitable venture for the investors.
Best talent in UK- Another good reason that why the investors should invest in London is the
availability of best talent. It offers one of the best and most diverse workforce. This is because
the city is a highly cultured and it consists of people from various ethnics (Aloini, Dulmin and
Mininno, 2007). There is availability of some of the best professional services. Hence this can be
very exciting for the investing companies. Employees play a very important role in the success of
the organization. They are highly responsible for enhancing the level of profits. So availability of
wide range of people can be very exciting for the investors.
Various ethnic groups – London is a destination enclosed with various kinds of ethnic groups.
60%18%
13% 1%5% 2%
percentage of ethic groups
white Asian Black Arab mixed others
Figure 2: Ethnic Groups in 2011 Census
The above graph discloses the percentage of the various ethnic groups existing within the
place. According to the Office for National Statistics, 59.8% of the population is white, 18.4% is
Asian, 13.3% is Black, 1.3% is Arab, 5% is mixed and 2.1% are others. According to the reports
36.7% of the Greater London is born outside the UK. There are more than 300 languages spoken.
Hence this gain sounds a great opportunity for the investors. Presence of so many ethnic groups
increases the availability of potential customers for the investing companies (Collyer, Warren
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and Stevens, 2010). It is anticipated that their products and services will be availed in good
numbers. Hence it can be said that there are many things which are present from business point
of view in London.
First choice for the headquarters – London has also been identified as the first preference for
establishing headquarters. It is evident from the fact that many bigger brands are having their
respective headquarters in the country. The major reason for this preference is the availability of
the large amount of resources within the city. It is quite easy to establish a base when the
conditions are favourable (Aloini, Dulmin and Mininno, 2007). Another major reason is that the
city is a catalyst to Europe which is the biggest single market in the world. The dominance of the
London as the business capital of Europe can be noticed. As per the reports 40% of the globe’s
biggest companies selects to base themselves at the above destination. Hence it sound great from
the investment point of view.
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Figure 3 Dominance of London

Main attractions in London
Looking at the present world tourism, London is leading the chart of most popular place
in the world. However, there are several tourist attraction places in London which attracts high
number of people from around the globe (Batini, Viscusi and Cherubini, 2009). In terms of
investment, varied companies are targeting to expand their business in London because it holds
the maximum number of footfall during the season as well as without season as compared to the
other destinations in the world.
One of which is British Museum which exhibits the works of man from prehistoric to
modern times from different parts of the world. It highlights the Rosetta stone, the Parthenon
sculptures and the mummies in the ancient Egypt collection. It is visited by 6 million people
every year which is one of the biggest attraction point in London.
Similar to this, National Gallery of London is another major stop for visitors as it
showcase the crowning glory of Trafalgar square which consist of Western European Painting
from 13th to the 19th Centuries. People pay for this place to see the paintings of Van Gogh, Da
Vinci, Botticelli, Constable, Renoir, Titian and Stubbs etc (Collyer, Warren and Stevens, 2010).
However, the collection of this Gallery is so unique that people pay lot of money to visit the
place.
Adding to the tally, Natural History Museum is another popular and tourist attraction
point in London. However, it is the permanent dinosaur exhibition as well as boasts its collection
through showcasing biggest, tallest and rarest animals in the world. Herein, people visits the
place to see a life sized blue whale, a 40 million year old spider, and the beautiful central hall
(Collyer, Warren and Stevens, 2010). For kids this is considered as the most attractive
destination. Apart from this, the most attractive part of this place is that it provides free entry due
to which large number of audience visits this place during the visit to London.
Coca-Cola London Eye is the major feature of London’s skyline. It boasts some of the
city’s best views through its 32 capsules. However, with 10 tonnes and 25 people capacity these
capsules showcase the finest experience to the people. The gradual rotation in one of the 32 high-
tech glass capsules takes approximately 30 minutes and gives person an ever-changing
perspective of London.
These are some of the major attraction of London where it generates the maximum
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number of footfall from around the globe. In context to expand business or invest in the capital
historical places like these assist in generating better chance of attracting large number of people
while making their visit to such place (Finney and Corbett, 2007). On the basis of these places
companies like Samsung, Walmart, Tata and Woolworth can invest in the capital. For instance,
opening a retail outlet of Walmart or Woolworth or the store of Samsung or Tata will help the
course of companies to showcase their products and services to such large number of audience.
By the means of expanding business operations in London, cited companies can easily enhance
the revenue generation which indeed leads to generate higher profits and long term sustainability.
PESTLE Analysis
There is presence of several external factors that has greater impact on the economy of
UK. These have been enumerated in the manner stated as under:
 Political factors: Since 2001 terrorists attacks the security has taken a step within
London. The government of UK has taken several steps in order to increase security
within UK. In addition to this regulatory authority has developed various policies relating
with taxation that can affect the operations of the companies that are operating in London
to a greater extent (Yang and Wang, 2009).
 Economic factors: The attacks of terrorists affected the economy of world and UK. The
economy of UK is affected by the factors that includes inflation and rate of interest. By
the means of growing strengths of sterling and especially Euro has made the financial
market stronger in UK (Batini, Viscusi and Cherubini, 2009). Thus this has increased
capabilities of investment within UK. Socio-cultural factors: Social immersion within the determination in addition to the
patriotic commitment as well as loyalty in relation to the nation is the thing that is being
constituted by National identity. The society members are able to get bonded by the sense
of belongingness that assist in enrichment of the national pride. This results in motivation
of the people to work. Therefore as an aspect of entertainment the tourist would be
attracted to a greater extend. Technological factors: There is most advanced technologies that are being used in
London while carrying out the games for the entertainment of the tourists as well as
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