Twelve luxury hotel brands including Dorchester Collection, Rocco Forte Hotels, Belmond, Accor and Kempinski have joined forces for the first time to hold an event for the UK MICE sector this month.

The event, called GLAM (Global Luxury Aligned for MICE), will take place aboard Bateaux London on 10 March with around 120 corporate and event agency buyers expected to attend.

Corinthia, Four Seasons Hotels, Mandarin Oriental, Marriott International Luxury Brands, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, Shangri-La Group, and The Doyle Collection are also taking part in the initiative.

Representatives for the 12 brands have been collaborating for the past couple of years, after Dorchester Collection’s regional sales manager Chanelle Gale reached out to her counterparts with a view to meeting once a quarter to discuss industry trends, share key calendar dates for events and roadshows to avoid clashing and form relationships across the MICE industry for global hoteliers.

At one of the meetings, Rocco Forte Hotels’ director of global sales Charla Forinton, suggested they work together collaboratively on an event, and the idea for GLAM was born. They have initially committed to one event, with a view to it becoming an annual date in the events calendar.

Gale and Forinton told micebook: “It is no secret that at a five-star luxury level we are dealing with a lot of the same clients, however there is plenty of business to go around. We have recognised through our alliance that we are ‘stronger together’ and especially coming out of a pandemic we have realised we can make a larger impact in the industry if we join forces and show the industry we are aligned. We want to show our industry that we are open for business, and we are here to work together to bring back the luxury hospitality industry bigger and better than ever.”

As well as providing planners with the opportunity to see 12 luxury hotel global contacts under one roof, the event will include entertainment, networking, food and drink, and a silent auction and raffle supporting the charity London Cares through Meeting Needs. London Cares is a charity focused on tackling loneliness and isolation in north and south London by bringing older and younger neighbours together.

Forinton said: “I can’t believe we’ve pulled it off. Hopefully our GLAM event will show how important partnerships are in this new normal.”

Gale added: “We have been so lucky and managed to secure some incredible sponsors for this event.  We are so thankful for the generosity shown to us from our partners Bateaux London, GF Entertainment, Gusbourne, Macallan, Meeting Needs, Our Secret Lab, Rich Reynolds and The Travelling Hands.”