For a good 3-4 years I looked after the marketing for hospitality at RHS Chelsea Flower Show. One focal point for our strategy was to appeal to women – especially as they make up the majority of attendees to the show.

As a female-friendly proposition, being able to enjoy delicious food and drink in a gorgeously green setting and going for a mooch around the show gardens whenever you wished was a relatively easy sell. Jardin Blanc – as it was called - was relaxed, elegant, not too noisy and calm but fun(it always was with Raymond Blanc around!).

Historically though, sport hospitality has tended to bedriven by male attendance, with a big rise over the past decade for female event-goers.

I have noticed with interest that Keith Prowse have released a women-focused sports hospitality offering; female operated and delivered, called ‘Her Story’. They have done their research while developing this proposition, looking to address areas which are important to women, namely education, thought-leadership and strong CSR credentials.

With the boon of women’s sport it’s clear there will continue to be growing demand for experiences which cater for both men’s and women’s needs – after all, hospitality is a social activity and in this day and age, nobody should feel excluded from that.

Personally, I think there are quite simple ways the sport hospitality world can think about their female guests which will shift the dial:

-         providing really nice loos, especially when they are temporary facilities

-         offering lighter options on the menu and also low-carb options

-         ensuring the ‘Ask for Angela’ scheme is trained into every staff member

-         including parking in packages wherever possible

It will be interesting to see how ‘Her Story’ performs and is received by the market. Is it a CSR tick box exercise, or will it solve a real problem? As a marketing positioning play, I think it will do rather well.

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