BestCities alliance offers new payment solution in partnership with Meeting Escrow

BestCities Global Alliance, the network of 12 international convention bureaus, has launched a range of client financial benefits in partnership with payment solution company, Meeting Escrow. The three-year strategic collaboration will offer BestCities’ clients a new portfolio of secure payment, foreign currency budget protection and VAT reclaim services. BestCities says its clients will receive preferred pricing on the fees for their services, prices not offered to clients meeting in other destinations. The Meeting Escrow partnership is the first by BestCities since it announced a new strategic plan and enhancement of the Alliance’s offering earlier this year, ahead of its 20^th anniversary in 2020. BestCities says it is looking for competitive advantage and market differentiation, and that its new partnership aims to address key challenges faced by clients when planning events globally across currencies. These challenges range from varying exchanges rates, which can have a significant impact on client budgets, to mounting administration costs and time involved in VAT reclaim processes. The alliance says opening a foreign currency trust account to lock in an exchange rate means clients have zero exposure to future rate increases when their event takes place in their selected BestCities destination. The alliance argues that it also makes the VAT reclaim process more coordinated, ensuring compliance on behalf of clients and offering a single point of contact for the event planner. Clients that sign on with Meeting Escrow via the alliance are promised a 50% discount on their annual fees for the first three years. Paul Vallee (pictured), Managing Director at BestCities Global Alliance, says: “BestCities is always looking for ways to expand our offerings and bring new benefits and solutions to the table for our clients.” “This important partnership with Meeting Escrow provides tangible benefits to clients by providing solutions to common financial issues that associations face when meeting around the world. “Meeting Escrow is a company that we are pleased to partner with as they not only provide practical solutions for the marketplace but ensure they give back to the industry. For example, they support the Incredible Impacts programme we jointly operate with ICCA that recognises associations with US$7,500 grants for long-term legacies.” Grant Snider, President and CEO at Meeting Escrow, adds: “We are a proud supporter of the BestCities and ICCA Incredible Impacts programme. This new partnership will deepen our collaborative efforts to bring additional value to clients.”