At the 2019 Hotel Data Conference in Nashville in mid-August, the session “Opportunities to Boost Your Share in the Business Travel Segment” unearthed several perspectives from the supplier side that meeting planners should keep in mind as they coordinate their upcoming events.
Among the most interesting thoughts put forth was this one by Karen McWilliams, vice president of revenue strategy for Concord Hospitality Enterprises: “Our challenge comes when there are specific opportunities for us to grow average daily rate” in high-demand periods, but frequent corporate and meeting clients want to use the property at that time and at rates they are used to paying. “When you can’t lose those accounts,” she said, “what does that mean for the rest of our revenue strategy?” The increasing likelihood of an economic slowdown makes hoteliers even more sensitive to the present needs of their repeat group clients, so that those clients keep coming with their meetings when overall hotel demand decreases considerably.
Other insight from hoteliers—including how they could partner with clients’ procurement departments and also respond more quickly to RFPs—can be found in this article from Hotel News Now.
