Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday 12 November 2013: Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, part of the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG®), has released its first-ever Business Meetings in a Modern World global research report, revealing that businesses in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) could be missing out on more than a quarter (26%) of additional revenue because they are not investing enough time in face-to-face contact.

The report surveyed more than 2,000 business men and women across five major markets, the UK, US, UAE, China and India, to better understand how business professionals are using both virtual and face-to-face meetings and the possible economic impact.

The survey found that:

• More than half (57%) of business people surveyed in the UAE believe they have lost a contract or client simply because they didn't have enough face-to-face meetings, which they estimated resulted in the estimated yearly revenue loss of 26% - a significant loss for any business
• 79% of Emirati business men and women state that face-to-face meetings are better for building long-term trust and ensuring strong client relationships than virtual meetings
• More than two thirds (65%) reported that the number of virtual meetings they attended has increased in the past five to ten years, demonstrating that the value of face-to-face meetings is being overlooked in favour of cost and time-saving technologies, such as video conferencing

Dr. Michelle Hunter, Consultant Business Psychologist and Programme Leader on the MSc Business Psychology programme at Heriot-Watt University Dubai, said:

“Face-to-face meetings afford participants opportunities to develop transparency and trust amongst each other, which would be limited through the use of other forms of communications.  Besides this, meeting face-to-face is renowned for its ability to build trust and clarify information in a shorter time. A major reason for this is that contact is a basic human need – this allows members to engage in and observe verbal and non-verbal behavioural styles, which can be captured in real-time”.

According to the findings in the report, not only how a business meeting is conducted, but also when, could change the outcome. The second day of the working week is identified as the optimum time for a successful face-to-face meeting in the UAE (Monday morning), the UK and US (Tuesday morning), while the start of the week (Monday morning) is considered the best time of the week for productive meetings in China and India.

Janis Cannon, Global Vice President, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, IHG added:

“The scale and diversity of our family of brands means that our hotels can meet our guests' needs whatever the occasion.  We listen to our guests closely to ensure we continue to do this and this research has helped us to further understand the needs of business travellers.

'The findings are clear. Virtual meetings can save time and money, but there are times when sealing a deal requires a handshake and 'seeing the whites of the eyes' of a business associate.  At Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, we empower our guests to do both. Our highly trained Crowne Plaza Meetings Directors tailor meetings to individual needs, whether physical or virtual, to ensure they are set up for success.'

Additional findings from the global survey reveal:

-          The past ten years has seen an increase in the number of both virtual and face-to-face meetings Emirati business people attend – with the UAE seeing a bigger increase in face-to-face meetings (55%) than any other country surveyed  (43% global average)

-          Starting a new business relationship (60%), finalising a deal (57%) and contract negotiation (54%) are the top subjects Emirati business people prefer to discuss face-to-face

-          58% of Emirati business people believe that connecting with a business associate on social media can help them develop a stronger and more trusted relationship. Facebook came out more popular than the business networking website LinkedIn, with 56% saying they had used Facebook and 52% had looked at an associate's LinkedIn page

-          Small talk is recognised globally as a good business meeting tool, but in UAE business people spend longer on niceties than any other market surveyed – an average of 9.5 minutes - 2 minutes more than the global average and 3.5 minutes (58%) longer than meetings in the US and UK.

-          News and current affairs are the main small talk topics in the UAE (49%), China (64%), and India (59%), whereas business people in the UK & the US spend the first few minutes of a meeting discussing the weather and their journey.

Crowne Plaza's Business Meetings in a Modern World report includes detailed findings from the global research study and was created in association with business psychologist and meetings expert, Hazel Carter-Showell.

Hazel Carter-Showell, UK business psychologist and body language expert, commented:

“Although developments in technology allow business men and women to make achievements in meetings that would have been impossible a few years back, meeting face-to-face continues to bring significant benefits that are much harder to obtain through virtual channels. One of these benefits is building trust, which research has shown is behind many profitable companies.  Trusted companies have higher morale, productivity, lower employee turnover and create deeper relationships with their customers”.

Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts is part of IHG, one of the world's leading hotel companies. IHG has a broad portfolio of nine brands across over 4,600 hotels, in nearly 100 countries and territories. IHG is also the first and only hotel company to offer free Internet in all hotels to all loyalty programme members globally, starting with Elite IHG® Rewards Club members now and extending to all members during 2014.