Answers to frequently asked questions about HelmsBriscoe's services.
HelmsBriscoe is a global site selection company that helps organizations find and book the right venues for their meetings, conferences, and events. Our Associates combine local market knowledge, collective buying power, and direct hotel and destination relationships to match each client's meeting with the best venue at the best value.
HelmsBriscoe’s services are provided at no direct cost to the client. Instead, HelmsBriscoe is compensated through commissions paid for by the hotels and venues we book.
HelmsBriscoe represents the client's interests (not the venue’s) while working directly with hotels to negotiate rates and terms. Because our Associates handle a high volume of bookings across a global network, we bring purchasing leverage, real-time market insight, and rate history that an individual planner booking one event typically can't access on their own. We also have extensive partnerships with all major and most independent hotel brands, often affording us the ability to negotiate more favorable terms. These relationships also frequently give us access to exclusive promotions that aren’t available elsewhere.
HelmsBriscoe supports everything from small corporate meetings and private gatherings to large-scale association conferences and government or social events. We have experience booking venues for company offsites, incentive trips, President’s Club meetings, sales kickoffs, annual conferences, board retreats, conventions, city-wide events, weddings, trainings, and more. If your event requires 10 room nights or more, we can help!
HelmsBriscoe operates globally, with Associates who have sourced meetings with 84,500 properties in nearly 170 countries. In addition, our sourcing system features 345,000 venues, and our destination partnerships extend to more than 210 locations throughout the world. This global footprint means clients get local expertise, even for destinations outside their own market.
HelmsBriscoe was founded in 1992 as the first company providing this type of service in the industry. Since then, it has continued to be the largest and most-trusted third-party site selection company in the world.
Yes. HelmsBriscoe offers cruise solutions through our HB Cruises program, in partnership with Landry & Kling. We also have extensive booking history and connections with a variety of non-hotel venues, allowing us to provide numerous meeting solutions for all types of events and gatherings.
To get started, simply submit your event details via our site selection assistance request form, which you can find here. After your form is submitted, a HelmsBriscoe Associate will follow up to understand your needs and begin sourcing options for your event.
Site selection focuses specifically on finding and negotiating the right venue for your event, while full-service meeting management extends further into the planning and execution of the event itself, such as registration, housing, onsite logistics, etc. HelmsBriscoe’s Associates primarily focus on site selection; however, we have extensive partnerships with suppliers who can work with clients that have additional needs, including our own full-service meeting management subsidiary, HelmsBriscoe ResourceOne.
Yes, HelmsBriscoe has decades of experience helping procurement teams centralize meeting and event spend, including Fortune 100 companies across many industries. One consolidated program provides full visibility into total booking volume, strengthening the ability to negotiate rates, concessions, and terms. Savings grow as more spend flows through the program. In addition, every event follows the same standard, which lowers legal and financial risk. Standardized processes and centralized data also support ongoing compliance with internal policies, approval workflows, and reporting requirements. The result is measurable savings, useful reporting, and better protection for your organization.