The Sky is the limit!

David Ghysels of Dinner in the Sky on how it offers themes and tailor-made solutions so that clients’ events remain etched in their memories.

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times? 

David Ghysels: Strangely, I’m doing fine on a personal level. My family as well too. All of us succeeded in keeping some projects alive, which is the sole option to stay well in this very anxious time.

Tell us about you, your career, how you founded Dinner in the Sky.

David Ghysels: I created Dinner in the Sky with Stefan Kerkhofs in 2006. We had the chance to expand quite quickly and are operating our concept in more than 65 countries.

How does Dinner in the Sky innovate? 

David Ghysels: We innovate on 2 levels :

• The platforms with new designs offering new experiences like Dinner in the Sky 2.0 launched in Brussels last September.

• The experience, meaning the choice of the locations, the Chefs’ selection, the activities on the platforms, the atmosphere created around the Dinner…

How does the coronavirus pandemic affect your business finances?

David Ghysels: For sure, the pandemic was a disaster for our business as for all the event industry, but thanks to the innovation and particularly this new Dinner in the Sky 2.0 platform that allows us to respect the social distancing rules, we succeeded to maintain a certain level of business.

Did you have to make difficult choices regarding human resources, and what are the lessons learned?

David Ghysels: Not really, as we always tried to keep a light structure mainly based on free-lances.

How did your customer relationship management evolve? Do you use any specific tools to be efficient?

David Ghysels: Social Media were already important for us before the pandemic, mainly because Dinner in the Sky is a perfect eye-catcher, but with the pandemic, Social Media became even more crucial for our customer relationship management.

Did you benefit from any government grants, and did that help keep your business afloat?

David Ghysels: Yes, we had some help, but this was a drop in the ocean…

Your final thoughts?

David Ghysels: Innovation, innovation, innovation…Meaning curiosity, daring, acting.

Your website?

www.dinnerinthesky.com