How to brief your travel team for a meeting or event

A venue request becomes a useful event brief when it also explains the people, programme and travel. Gathering the main requirements early makes it easier to compare proposals and understand who is responsible for each part of the event.

State the objective and attendance

Describe the event type, intended outcome, dates and expected participant count. Identify the people who need different arrangements, such as organisers arriving for setup or speakers leaving after a session. If numbers are provisional, say so and ask how changes affect availability, room allocations and the quotation.

Connect the venue with the programme

Include the outline agenda, room layout, breakout spaces, presentation needs and meal breaks. Explain whether accommodation should be at the venue or elsewhere. The brief should identify the required services without assuming every venue supplies them. Ask the proposal to distinguish venue hire, catering, equipment and coordination responsibilities.

Map arrivals and local movement

List delegate origins and the period over which guests are expected to arrive. Identify airport pickups, hotel-to-venue transport and any off-site programme. Agree who maintains the participant schedule and how updated flight details reach the transport team. Separate group arrangements from individual extensions or independently booked journeys.

Include practical sustainability choices

Consider sustainability while options are still being compared. UNEP describes tools for assessing an event's impacts during planning and reporting actual results. Ask suppliers about the measures relevant to your brief and what can be evidenced. Avoid describing an event as sustainable solely because one visible item has changed.

Define the quotation and next steps

Ask for a proposal showing the service scope, assumptions, supplier availability, deadlines and change conditions. Identify one organising contact and how decisions will be approved. Optional excursions or safari extensions can be quoted separately. Sunward's MICE enquiry form captures the initial brief; the agreed proposal establishes the arrangements to be confirmed.

Sources and further reading

UNEP's Green Events Tool announcement supports evaluating sustainability during planning and reporting actual impacts. This article's enquiry checklist is editorial planning guidance, not a certification claim. Read the source guidance. Source checked 13 October 2026.