Mobile Water Refill Stations for Conferences: How Booking.com Did It

Booking.com used mobile water refill carts branded in its own blue and white at Click 2024, its annual partner conference in Amsterdam. Partners and senior management shared the year’s insights and predictions "on tap", part of the company’s effort to make the event more sustainable.

What was on site

The photo from the venue shows four white carts, each with a Booking.com sign on a mast, a Join the Pipe tap on top and side panels reading "less waste, more water". The carts stand on wheels, so they can be placed where delegates gather and moved when the programme changes.

Why conferences move to refill stations

A conference organiser has to answer one practical question: how do several hundred delegates get water all day without a stack of single-use bottles at the end? A mobile refill station answers it with a tap that fills a reusable bottle or glass, and a branded cart turns the water point into a visible part of the event identity. Join the Pipe's Mobile Tap is built for this: it is one of the few taps that can be rented per event, in standard matte black or matte white.

The EU's Single-Use Plastics Directive (2019/904) is one reason event buyers ask for this now. It limits disposable plastic items in catering, so organisers who used to hand out bottles need an alternative that is visible, easy for delegates and does not slow down the coffee break.

What a comparable buyer should ask

Corporate event teams usually want the same few things settled up front: how many refill points the venue needs for the expected headcount, whether the units are branded, who delivers and collects them, and whether reusable bottles come with the order. Join the Pipe supplies the taps, can print the organiser's logo on bottles from a minimum of 100 units, and shows a digital proof before production. Event rental is available in Europe, with standard lead times of a few weeks for taps and about 10 to 15 working days for printed bottles after artwork approval.

One bottle sold also means one bottle donated to a school child in Africa through the Join the Pipe foundation. Planning a conference, trade fair or company event? See hydration station rental for events and trade fairs, browse the taps collection, or request a quote. Related cases: a mobile refill station at TNW, water refill stations at IMEX America and a branded Water Bar at a Google event.