dmg Middle East, Asia & Africa has acquired Atticus Events, a boutique business forum organiser, and HI Design, the event that focuses on interior design of luxury hotels.
HI Design organises specialist business meetings between key buyers from currently active hotel projects and a curated selection of International FF&E suppliers. With each edition held in a different five-star hotel location, HI Design events are currently run annually in Europe, Asia and MEA.
“The HI Design portfolio dovetails perfectly with the work our teams do with INDEX and the growing selection of Hotel Shows,” explained Matt Denton, president dmg events Middle East, Asia & Africa.
“The acquisition of HI Design gives us another way to serve our market, bringing suppliers together with buyers from four and five-star hotel projects in a well-controlled atmosphere primed for doing good business.”
Distinct features of the HI Design events include the direct contact of the pre-arranged one-on-one meetings and a level playing field created for all suppliers.
These features are combined with a carefully managed delegate list that balances the numbers between supplier companies and buyer companies. Buyers compromise one-third hotel groups and two-thirds interior designers, complimenting and supporting the existing dmg Hospitality and Design portfolio.
International events
In addition, a world-class seminar programme features hotel performance and pipeline reports from leading industry analysts, interviews with some of the top interior designers in the business, thought-provoking left field presentations and entertaining panel discussions. Also, each event includes a supplier product showcase and an abundance of carefully planned networking opportunities.
“It is absolutely fantastic to be able to integrate HI Design’s unique approach to business matching with our own established portfolio of hospitality and design events,” said Denton. “This latest acquisition is just one part of our ongoing expansion plans as we boost the geographic breadth of our portfolio, while delving deeper into the key verticals we serve.
“The model of business matching developed by HI Design’s founders – Jonathan Needs and James Burke – is one that we will continue to evolve as we embrace multi-channel, interactive platforms for getting business done quickly and efficiently, but still with plenty of that vital personal touch.”
HI Design ran for the first time in 2006 in Stockholm. HI Design Asia was launched in 2009, and the MEA edition debuted this year, with a first event held in Oman. The next event is scheduled for March 4-6, 2018 and will be held in Manama, Bahrain.
They continued “We have enjoyed our time immensely working with this wonderfully creative industry and will, of course, miss the many friends we have made. But now is the time for a new chapter and we hope that the many supporters of HI Design around the world will continue to support it with its new owners.”
